Members MartinC Posted January 30, 2013 Members Share Posted January 30, 2013 Spoiler (Highlight to read) Why am I doing this? For the money. My very first solo background gig in 1983. I made 450.00 I was playing in a band at the time that opened for a whole list of superstar level acts. We made maybe 100. a man opening for people like Linda Ronstat, Santana, Los lobos,etc. We were never gonna take a place among that level of acts-we simply weren't that good. We also played dive bars for 50.00 a man and all the beer we could drink. By 1993 I had a wife and kid and a day gig business that didn't earn me that much money. If someone offered me anywhere north of 250. to play solo I didn't care if they listened or not. I just played the best I could and usually something good happened. Someone would enjoy what I was doing, and that led to still more contacts and work. As time went on I did more and more of this type of work-sometimes earning more than a grand for a gig. It didn't stop me from playing clubs, but it's true that as time went on, it became harder to get guys to play clubs for 100. when the other gigs were paying so much more. I made sure to make the very best use of the money possible-invested it, made mortgage payments, paid for vacations, etc. I've played gigs just like your girl from i gig, and much worse ones too. And I've played ones that were a blast and we made bank. It's all part of it. As you get older you either get well known, or move into privates, or keep playing the clubs. Or some combo of the above. Or you stop playing out. I've never had a problem booking pro full time musicians, many of whom were either playing or played in name bands, to do these gigs. It's easy money. I'll never claim that playing a snooze wedding is more fun that playing a concert. But after those terrible background/wedding/corporate gigs, I'd be driving home thinking I just made X for playing the guitar. SWEEET! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GtrGeorge! Posted January 31, 2013 Author Members Share Posted January 31, 2013 I now somewhat regret making my post. Why? Because 1) While I respect Guido's comments.( I really do) ..I have already learned the lesson contained in his post and hence, don't need the advice (although I hope someone else will benefit from the post.) 2. The second poster likes MONEY. That's good to know. That's great. Everybody from the Pope to a Prostitute does,too. Have a nice time with that. The point of my original post was " what was the last situation that really motivated you to move on to a better thing?".... I was hoping people would share THEIR experiences, instead of judge MINE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members StratGuy22 Posted January 31, 2013 Members Share Posted January 31, 2013 We played a few curling bonspiels (tournament) a fri - sat thing. Fri night the curling was on full force until 2am so we played and it was petty much background almost like we were being ignored. It was weird, but talking to people during the breaks, they loved us. Nothing but compliments. The sat everything wrapped up by supper. Then the party was on. Great gig but when we increased our price they went with a DJ. That's ok. I don't miss the stairs!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GtrGeorge! Posted February 1, 2013 Author Members Share Posted February 1, 2013 Guido. I dont know why..but you still missed the point.. what turned YOU around. Enough about me. This post is not about me. its about how we all can learn from things..and sometimes that worst thing (and yeah, it varies) leads you to a EUREKA moment and you jump that stumbling block. Ostrich-Guy: I totally hear you. I think sometimes a place just attracts an audience that you just cannot connect to..and if better options can be found, probably best to cultivate those. ...and of course..of course...try to make them fun. I do. (Even before Guido's advice). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members StratGuy22 Posted February 2, 2013 Members Share Posted February 2, 2013 I don't listen to much of what we play beyond learning the songs, but I have a good time playing all our material. No, I have a {censored}ing awesome time playing our material. Country, rock, whatever. It's a blast, I love playing, all the band members truly like each other, we have a lot of fun and it shows. If we are having a hoot up there it's hard to NOT have fun. I remember this one wedding, there was this old guy with a cane, I would guess in his 80's he was having a helluva good time, dancing, air guitaring with his cane. I had a little chat with him between sets and he said he couldn't remember having so much fun! It's things like that that really makes for a great night! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted February 2, 2013 Members Share Posted February 2, 2013 StratGuy22 wrote: I don't listen to much of what we play beyond learning the songs, but I have a good time playing all our material. No, I have a {censored}ing awesome time playing our material. Country, rock, whatever. It's a blast, I love playing, all the band members truly like each other, we have a lot of fun and it shows. If we are having a hoot up there it's hard to NOT have fun. I remember this one wedding, there was this old guy with a cane, I would guess in his 80's he was having a helluva good time, dancing, air guitaring with his cane. I had a little chat with him between sets and he said he couldn't remember having so much fun! It's things like that that really makes for a great night! This really is the key. I could have written this post myself. We all have a great time together and love playing the music and performing. The material really is secondary at that point. The song itself is just the starting off point. You have to really love being a BAND and being on stage more than anything really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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