LeftyBassist.com

...ask them this right back!

Brilliant!!!

BRAVO!!!

Posted this on my FB page and got great feedback from people who aren't musicians!

That's awesome!

I worked with a guitarist when I was much, much younger, and he was always happy to play for free. In a year, I made $20.

I saw that story floating around FB for a while and shared it over there as well.

The many bands around my city are willing to PAY the bar to play, sell tickets and give some of that cash back to the bar just to walk thru the doors so it does become more difficult for any band, good/bad/young/old to try and get cash out of the bars. We play what they generally want to hear and have a great following so it don't affect us for the places we book as they know we will have at least our own built in crowd, but the selection of places is limited or we would be playing all over the place 4-6 times a month still.

It does suck indeed, now it is pretty much a supply/demand issue. There are way more musicians (for the most part wanna be and mediocre musicians) and less and less places featuring live music. I have always been on the side of those who believe we should ignore dumb club owners and focus on offering a great show. Now, If your band plays this same "brick house" BS night over night, then you are just one band amongst a million playing the same old stuff.
If you have a terrific Michael Jackson tribute band with some bad ass players (I just happen to know one that's why I give this example) you charge $3 or 4K per show and don't have to worry about this dingy restaurant. Or better the name of your band is Black Keys and you make some awesome original music!
Competition is fierce for who wants to make a living out of playing music. It's not what it was 20 yrs ago and it won't go back, there's no point in moaning. You got to find a niche or this edge that will make your band or yourself sought after or forget about being a professional musician (I did). This increase of competition is felt throughout the artistic world and the professional world. Everyone can hop on Youtube and see all those incredible players and performers even though many of them are just "Bedroom professional". Truthfully it's better to focus on your goals and look for this edge. Sorry if I sound harsh but it is the new reality whether we like it or not.

frenchy, I left a metal band playing stuff I liked of 3 years for a top-40...Do I like playing that type of music? not really but I make it fun and improvise a lot so it stays fun and is marketable and cashworthy around here.

Do I watch myself and others on youtube shredding it up in their basements and wish I was doing that live still? sure do but after 3 years of failed bar gigs with miniscule pay or freebee shows, I said f*** it. I suppose if I WANTED to jam highspeed metal for free again, I could do it every week but to PAY-TO-PLAY is not me anymore.

The bitch is that if you show a bar owner a fantastic band in a demo DVD and say we charge 500 minimum, they still say "play for the door" or we will get a DJ that charges 100 for the night.

Amimbari, I actually do believe there can be a niche in Metal but again you really got to come up with a unique sound and it ain't easy and you have to be willing to tour. In my experience 90% of musicians are too close minded and not willing to get out their old stuff.
Personally, I have been fighting for the past 10 years to NOT get into this top 40 week-end warrior stuff although here in the Bay Area you can find a lot of gigs (with a mediocre pay). I almost did it a few times but stuck doing my own stuff not expecting making money anyway.
My uncle who lives in Maui is a bad ass professional bass player who had played with some jazz legends but his gigs/income have declined a lot over the years. Not many Hotel/Jazz gigs left. It sucks indeed.
Now my point, my former band mates in France who play a great original music have been touring for the past 12 years making a decent living. 3 yrs ago they created a very original show for kids and toured everywhere filling some pretty large venues.

well, I'm 52 years old so hauling gear knowing I'll get 10-20 bucks out of it and not caring just is not as attractive as it used to be

Likewise.

Pre-depression (early 2008) it wasn't too hard to make $100 per musician per night in Phoenix, even for mediocre bands. Now, what with the toughest DUI laws in the country, anti-smoking bans in bars, and struggling bar owners, a musician is lucky to clear $40/$50 per night until you are a "proven commodity".

Pay for play is alive and well in metro Phx too, but I refuse to get caught up in that business model, unless I'm paying to support bands who are friends.

Friends, that's where wisdom lies, seeing the irony all this nonsense! Let's look at it this way, if we were high-demand session players we would probably not have time to hang out on LB and we would kind of miss that...or not..

You forgot those tough immigration laws...it's just a matter of time before bars post a "No Latinos allowed" at their door over there...

I remember reading Woody Guthrie's biography and at the time he already was not impressed by the hospitality of people in the state of Arizona...

Amen to that.

In Woody's day, the vast majority of Arizonan's were native (i.e. born here). The population is now a vast majority of non-native Arizonans, especially here in Maricopa county. I don't think the situation will deteriorate to the point where "no Latinos allowed" becomes the norm. Latino population is growing by leaps and bounds cause us white folk ain't reproducing.

don't let the noise of the vocal political majority distract you. It is the last gasps of a dying breed. In 20 years you're more likely to see "no white card-carrying Republicans allowed" signs. the walls will start crumbling once Sheriff Joe Arpaio either dies in office, gets nailed by the Feds, or eventually gets replaced.

Sorry man, I was somewhat kidding around, political matters have no place in this forum and those issues are owed much more than bumper sticker type debates anyhow. Although it's called "Lefty"Bassist isn't it?

On Woody Guthrie, I really enjoyed his bio, a true jewel of Americana culture!

eh, was I being too serious? Not my intention at all!

Back to our regularly scheduled programming ...

... trying to be in a classic rock cover band in this town sucks ....

howz that?

Funny you say that, I have tons of friends here solliciting me to play in classic rock bands and I am like "nah, I just want to play Reggae or some rootsy stuff". So you should just move to San Jose. No classic rock shortage here.

The sad truth is that it's not even the bar owners, it's the audience. I grew up on the East coast of Florida, and the bar crowds there just weren't interested in 'new' music. We were stuck playing the same old crap ("Margaritaville", "Cocaine", "Wonderful Tonight", etc.) over and over. A lot of the guys I would play or jam with gave up and started playing country. No shortage of places to play, but unless you were willing to slog over to Orlando (and fight it out with their larger number of local bands), there was no audience for an "original high-energy show". People don't want to hear that, they want to go out and hear songs they know.