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a nice score!


pogo97

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I sometimes play at the local bakery/cafe -- piano and singing songs from before 1950. I have a following of hip people who just happen to be a lot older than me. Today, we tried having me play just piano on a Friday afternoon. It went well -- a fair house (this is March in Gananoque and it was the first try) and a happy audience.

 

When I finished playing, the owner said he'd like to keep the Friday afternoon music going. I said, then, that I'd look for someone for next week and he replied, "No, just you for now. Until people get sick of you." Which means, as long as it lasts, a weekly gig close to home in a nice place in the afternoon for an audience that likes what I do. Yay!

 

 

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A bakery sounds like a different kind of venue. There's a bakery here that was looking for a Jazz guitarist' date=' but no pay. That would be sad to be let go from a gig that doesn't pay anything![/quote']

 

it would be sadder still to take that gig....for no pay....I'm jus'sayin'

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You did say Friday AFTERNOON?! This fascinates me! I'm wondering how he'll promote it so that what he pays you is exceeded by the increase in paying traffic by . . . . whom, exactly? Not the 9-5 types, unless this is more of a happy hour sort of thing.

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It's a happy hour sort of thing. They want music because they like music and I don't know that he's trying to nickel and dime the afternoon so much as elevate their status as a classy place to go for a light meal or dessert.

 

Gananoque is not a big 9-5er place. This is a community of retirees (many many retirees) and a summer tourist/cottage destination, so he's hoping to tap into that. Ray explicitly wanted something different from the normal 60s to 80s stuff enjoyed locally at the bars.

 

They also get a fair trade of people who stop enroute from Toronto to Ottawa or Montreal. Right now the bakery closes at 5 (they're bakers -- the get up at 5) with the hours extending a bit in the summer.

 

I don't play 9-5er music anyway. I play pre-50s pop/jazz/blues and the older patrons really like that -- they sing along and thank me and stuff. My music makes them happy. No one else in town plays anything like it (or could). For this gig it's wallpaper music and no vocals, which means that I'm not competing directly with myself should I play somewhere else and sing.

 

We'll see. . .

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I now live in a small town with a lot of retirees and summer folks. My repertoire isn't quite as old as yours - a lot of sixties, but also some earlier material - but it's aimed at a similar demographic.

 

I like the idea of being part of their overall marketing efforts Hope it works for you and the establishment.

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Our 7 years and running Tuesday afternoon gig is for retirees (who else has Tuesday afternoon off?). They sell beer, wine, hot deli sandwiches (made there), convenience store items, plus bait and tackle (it's on a lagoon). They have entertainment 7 days a week in the afternoon, and we pull the biggest crowd of the week. That's good for job security, and Tuesday gigs are not plentiful around here, so we're glad we got it.

 

We played in a bakery once, one of those chains like Panera (Atlanta Bread Company). Smelled much better than a bar ;) but since I am on a low-carb diet, it was nothing but tempting. That gig lasted a year. Unfortunately the store didn't last through the slow, summer season. Here in South Florida, August and September are the doldrums.

 

Again, I hope your new gig lasts as long as you like, and that you make a lot of bread there.

 

Notes

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