[Dixielandjazz] Doing the Best We Can?

[Larry Walton Entertainment]

It is true that different sections of the country seem to live in 
different worlds concerning musician pay.  The three highest paying 
areas seem to be LA, Chicago and New York.  Other cities are on a 
rapidly declining scale from there.  St. Louis is way down the list of 
cities that pay well.  As we have discussed before is the number of New 
Years Eve musicians that play once a year.  I can't believe that the 
cities I named don't have hordes of those people competing with the 
musicians that play all the time and who depend on music for at least a 
substantial portion of their income.

When I was a Teen I played with a band that was four old guys that 
proceeded to get very drunk two of which barely made it to 12 o'clock.

A musician has to be willing to sit at home on NYE or any other  night 
if the pay isn't adequate.  There are a few years that I haven't played 
and this might be one of them.  I sent out a contract two weeks ago that 
fell through.  The guy didn't want to pay the $325 a man and got a piano 
player that's a friend of his and was willing to play free.  That's hard 
to beat. He has hired me three times before.  While this isn't a lot for 
NY,  people balk at it here.  I just won't go out of the house unless 
I'm paid fairly and that I can pay my guys well.  I suggest that 
everyone do the same.

You get what you pay for in music.  There is plenty of money out there a 
lot of the time musicians are afraid to ask for it.  Believe it or not 
there are people out there that think you aren't any good if you ask for 
too little and will go with a more expensive group.  Why do some people 
buy the most expensive cars?  I can tell you right now it's not for 
basic transportation.  It's the same with music.  Now don't 
misunderstand you have to deliver a good product but assuming that you 
do then it's all in marketing.
Larry
St. Louis

While
Dan Augustine wrote:
> Steve and others--
>     "The best we can"?  Certainly you're right, we can always do 
> somewhat better, but i also said that
> "While it is certainly true that one might be able to build up those 
> parameters in any given city, it also seems likely that, as Yogi Berra 
> is reputed to have said, 'If people don't want to come to the ball 
> park, nothing's going to stop them.'" "Doing our best" wasn't what i 
> was talking about.
>     My major point was that people, bands, and places are different, 
> and we shouldn't expect to get as much work for as much money in 
> Brownsville, Texas, as someone could in the New York City area, and no 
> amount of friendly exhortations can make the situation the same. Good 
> ideas are always welcome, and you've contributed a tremendous number, 
> but there's a limit to how much can be done, and we might as well 
> relax, keep trying of course, but not knock ourselves out fretting 
> about it.
>
>     Dan
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
>
>> Date: Tue, 29 Nov 2005 16:24:22 -0500
>> From: Steve barbone <barbonestreet at earthlink.net>
>> To: <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
>> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Doing the Best We Can?
>>
>> Dan Augustine <ds.augustine at mail.utexas.edu> wrote (polite snip)
>>>  Agonizing over the
>>>  lack of dixieland in one place, berating others for not being able to
>>>  increase the presence of dixieland in another place, complaining
>>>  about pay-scales in other regions--hey, let's give it a rest, huh?
>>>  Relax.  We do the best we can in the time we have and where we are.
>>
>> Hi Dan:
>>
>> Let me be devil's advocate here and state from a business management 
>> point
>> of view, that "We do the best we can in the time we have and where we 
>> are."
>> is simply not what most of us are doing.
>>
>> Every business course I ever took (many) and every business mentor I 
>> ever
>> had (some of the best in the world, e.g. W.E. Deming & Peter 
>> Drucker)  would
>> unequivocally state that when someone said "I'm doing the best I can;"
>> beware, because it is usually not true, and is the most popular cop-out
>> uttered by those who aren't doing it. "I'm doing the best I can." 
>> justifies
>> all sorts of inactivity and/or questionable activities.
>>
>> Over the past 45 years, I've heard those words said a lot of times. 
>> ,Mostly
>> they've been hogwash. Virtually always totally wrong. Except for 
>> folks like
>> Don Ingle who lives with the bears in the woods, opportunity to do 
>> something
>> positive about the music, knocks every day.
>>
>> Those of us who push others to become change agents are simply 
>> saying, "for
>> goodness sake, answer the door". Some on the DJML have done so, 
>> others will
>> do so and some will say "I'm doing the best I can." and blame their 
>> lack of
>> musical performances on external factors. Not unique, but simply a 
>> fact of
>> life, with Dixieland as well as in every other business/artistic 
>> situation.
>>
>> You can bet the ranch, even in California, that for every dummy band 
>> doing a
>> swing dance for $400, there is a band doing a swing dance for $4000. 
>> Same
>> here in Philadelphia, or in Texas etc.
>>
>> There are bands in Texas right now who are making things happen. It 
>> doesn't
>> happen over night. Took me ten years to get where I am now. But, in 
>> order to
>> get there I had to develop a plan and then take that first step.
>>
>> Had I relaxed, saying "I'm doing the best I can", like the rest of 
>> the pack,
>> I wouldn't  be playing near as much today and wouldn't be having the 
>> time of
>> my life at 71. (and wouldn't be paying so much income taxes ;-) VBG))
>>
>> You may not want that, OK I can dig it, but please don't speak for 
>> those on
>> the DJML that are doing something about the music, or want to do 
>> something
>> about it.  
>> Cheers,
>> Steve
>