[Dixielandjazz] Music and money

[Bob Loomis]

   OK, I'm not a pro musician, I'm an amateur
coffeehouse string band musician who happens to
love OKOM, too. 
   One thing I seem to notice even at the lowly
level at which our band has played and plays (The
best gigs we get are weddings and birthday
parties, and they are few and far between)is that
musicians today (except for those who are stars
in the Big Bucks Music Industry) are viewed
pretty much as little better than gypsies,
ne'er-do-wells, hired help, and less important
even than waiters and waitresses. Plus live music
is no longer a part of the normal fabric of
day-to-day life in most of the cities, suburbs
and towns of our nation. TV and satellite radio
and computers and MP3s are replacing actual live
cultural activity. It's a far cry from when local
people who knew everybody in their town or 'hood
played weekend dances that were a high point of
social life.
   Of course there are exceptions, but they
usually don't pay real well. IMHO part of the
reason for that is that many people don't know or
care how much work goes into making music even
rudimentarily well. They perceive musicians as
people who do nothing but have fun, as people who
never work. (OK, maybe they're partly right <GGG>
...)
   And of course the people who hire musicians
are another whole topic. Many of them don't give
a rat's ass for music, they just want to increase
their business and they think maybe music will
help do that.
   Just a few random thoughts from an amateur who
still loves playing and listening to music,
whether by TCash's groups, Steve's band,
Preservation Hall, whoever is putting out a
soulful bit of music that conveys life's
emotional complexity.

Happy Webtrails, Bob Loomis
"So Many Tunes, So Little Time!"

   
   


		
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