[Dixielandjazz] Top 10/Dixieland--cut to the chase

[TCASHWIGG at aol.com]

Hi Charles:

Now if some of these folks who do all the complaining and bitching about 
Dixieland dying would go start their own club and promote this kind of music again 
they would indeed find a willing audience that would continue to grow and 
appreciate it.

But it is much easier to sit around and bitch about it with the old "There 
ought be a Law mentality" Or somebody, or the Government should do something 
about it.

They always blame everyone but themselves and stay in total and complete 
denial about the situation.

Well, the Big Yellow gig Bus ain't gonna stop at their house and take em off 
to a good gig.

What will soon stop there is a long shiny Black vehicle to take them on their 
last ride, oh but they would have the courage to take the words from "The 
House of The Rising Sun"

Oh musos don't do it they way I have done, spend your life pining and waiting 
for them to reopen the House of The Rising Sun.  Get off your duff and go 
open one of your own, and you can play seven nights a week for as many hours as 
you care to stay open, and if you pay for your own drinks and food and all your 
FANS and friends do too you can afford to have all the fun you can handle and 
make a profit too.

But no most Jazz societies would rather go rent a hall with no decor, or 
ambiance, put in old long banquet tables and sit around in the bright lights of 
florescent, and paying out all their money for somebody else's liquor.   

The end result is they have a party and the hall gets paid, the bartender 
gets paid, the janitor gets paid, the tables get paid for, the cook gets paid, 
the waitresses get paid, but the poor underemployed musicians are expected to 
work for minimum wage or less to attract and entertain everyone.

It is way past High time for the Single most important ingredient of this 
mixture for happiness and good times to reverse this situation and demand that 
Only the Best professional bands be hired, and the others can play for free, but 
at least let some professional guys make a decent living and support their 
families.

Try to get a Lawyer or Doctor to do legal work or Brain surgery for you on 
the wages they expect to pay for professional musicians.


We have fun too, making everyone else have fun, that is our job and we do it 
well.
We do get paid very well to do it too, so if you don't want to pay for 
quality then you will get what you pay for.

We have a money back guarantee on our show folks, If your audience does not 
like our show and have a good time we will give you back our fee, minus 
expenses of course.

Since 1990 Not one person has ever legitimately asked for any money back, so 
we must be doing it correct.  And we ain't cheap either.

We have met the enemy and it is US. 
Cheers,

Tom Wiggins,

Saint Gabriel's Celestial Brass Band