[Dixielandjazz] The Don't Play for Free movement is moving

[tcashwigg at aol.com]

Well:  the musicians in San Francisco started it, now it apparently has 
spread to Sacramento.
Get ready Los Angeles, & San Diego  you will probably be next.   And 
these are not East Coast know it alls but bonafide players trying to 
make a living at their profession who have had about all they can take.

They are Driving their Chevy's to the Levies because they have seen the 
day the Music Died.  My My Miss American Pie!

Everybody needs to wake up and pay attention before there is no more 
attention to pay to.

Tom Wiggins  ( Been watching it for years now, and trust me folks this 
is not just in San francisco and Sacramento that this has been going 
on, it is all over the USA)   The letter below just appeared on a 
public site for musicians.


Subject: The Don't Play for Free movement is moving

      Open letter to the Sacramento Music community(Long)
 Reply to: see below
  Date: 2006-01-06, 11:26PM PST


 An open letter to musicians and fans of live music;

   This letter is not a diss or a rant, just my own experience and 
history with my chosen life as a working musician. There is no right or 
wrong in the content only the facts as I have lived them.
   I'll start with a little history to qualify myself. My great 
grandfather was a nationally known composer and symphony director in 
the 20's and 30's on the east coast. He made a very good living for his 
family of five doing this until he passed away. My grandfather (his 
son) picked up the sax at an early age and became very successful as a 
jazz musician both on sax and keys playing with one of the best jazz 
quartets of the 40's and 50's. He continued his musical career into the 
early 70's and like his father was more than able to support his family 
of four. They both loved what they did and I don't remember my 
grandfather ever bitching about his path of music.
   I was four when I was given a guitar and by the time I was six I knew 
what I was going to do when I grew up, be a musician. I had no pressure 
 from my family to play music. This was something I wanted to do. I 
lived and breathed music from that time forward, consuming many hours a 
day learning music and bettering my craft/gift. I don't believe I was 
born with anymore or any less talent then anybody else, I just worked 
hard to be my best. I was very fortunate to have been around at a time 
when there were some great musicians to be influenced by in all genres 
of music. I performed my first paid gig in 1974, I was 13 and it was a 
solo folk gig at an art gallery. I was paid $50.00 for an hour and a 
half of music. Now I am sure that I was not anywhere near the best at 
what I was doing but that was the going rate for a gig like this.
   From that time until the late 80's and early 90's, I kept real busy 
doing music and making a living doing it. I played no less than 8-10 
gigs a month and never walked off stage with less then a 'C' note in my 
pocket. Now I could lie to you and tell you I was the best thing since 
sliced bread, hence the reason I was able to make good money at it, but 
I was not; in fact every musician I knew was making that kind of money, 
good or bad (IMO). A typical, regular public (club/bar) gig for me and 
a lot of others looked like this -no percentages, no cover, the band 
paid for NOTHING (beer includedJ). Sure we had a small following but 
the club paid for the advertising. We understood our job was not so 
much to bring in the people but to keep them there. The club owners 
understood this too (not that they weren't tightwads, something's never 
change). The fans could buy a beer for a buck and rarely did the drink 
prices exceed 2 dollars.
   In 1992, I picked up a gig as a rhythm guitarist/backup singer for a 
nationally known multi-platinum artist and made the most consistent 
money I have ever made in the business to date. On tour I made $533.25 
plus per-diem and expenses per performance after the tax man. We were 
performing an average of 4 nights a week. I did this for almost three 
years. Now this may sound like a lot of money but keep in mind I paid 
for my own instruments, union dues and ASCAP fees.
   I still pay ASCAP and union dues but I pay my union dues to Nevada, 
not Sacramento. The reason I do not belong to the Sacramento union is 
simple, unlike Nevada, they offer me very little if nothing in the way 
of gigs or bennys (sad). In fact the last time I tried to reach them 
was like trying to find a needle in a haystack. ASCAP offsets its fee 
with the royalties I receive (win-win).
   If you have read this far I thank you for you patience. Really, I do. 
So if you're wondering "What's the point?" Please hang on just a little 
longer. Things in the music world began to change around 2000. I 
noticed more and more upcoming musicians began to except less and less 
pay, many talented musicians and bands started to play for free and in 
the club scene the owners (not being dummies) played this to the hilt. 
Now I am not knocking club owners, they are in the business to make 
money and had the earlier musicians started performing for free they 
would have ran with it then. So therein starts the current problem with 
making a decent living in Sacramento. Before you get upset, I say 
Sacramento because I have not experienced this in other parts of this 
state/country.
   What I have learned is that the only thing a free gig will get you 
is, more free gigs. I have further learned that whether my music is 
good or it sucks if I play for free I will be taking gigs from the paid 
bands/musicians. Since I don't play in public to boost my ego (can't 
spend $$ ego), I choose to play for compensation.
   Don't the Sacramento musicians think it's time to take back our 
profession; I do. To all the musicians out there and the fans of live 
music ask yourself this question - Would I go to this or that club/bar 
if they did not have live music the same as I do when they have live 
music? I know I wouldn't! The jukebox is not what I'm looking for.
   The fix is simple but, not easy. There are enough open mic's out 
there for those that need a free ego shot. Drinks don't cost a buck 
anymore why should we. By current pricing standards a musician should 
be charging at least $100.00 per hour. Not that we would get it soon 
but, free and next to nothing gigs will have to stop before things can 
get better and change. Don't think the clubs will pay? Well they did 
and still do in other communities. Sure if you remove all the 
free/low-cost music some of the venues will close but I would whether 
see 15 decent paying clubs than 30 free ones. It's up to the musicians 
in Sacramento to take charge.
   I have purposely left out names and places, this is not about me, nor 
is it about the genre of music. This affects all types of music. You 
don't have to believe a single word I type (and I hate to type). I do 
this as a responsible working musician passing down what I have 
learned, just as was done for me. Your mileage may vary.

           this is in or around Sacramento, CA.