[Dixielandjazz] If I could play an instrument (I'd play for $50)

[tcashwigg at aol.com]

Hey guys:

Just last week I had two of my vehicles go down at the same time,  
whoops  big trouble,

I took one of them to a repair shop because I had no time to deal with 
the problem myself, and to make things worse I had no additional 
vehicle available to go get the parts for the first disabled one.  
*(&(*&*%%   I hate it when that happens, and yes at the worst possible 
time, Friday morning,  I needed the first vehicle running  because I 
had a gig on Saturday and Sunday and needed  it to transport the 
equipment and several guys to the gig.   I barely got it to the shop 
and was told that they could not even get to it till Monday because 
they were gong home at 1:30 for the weekend, and I probably wouyld not 
get it back until Tuesday.  )(*)(*(*^*&&*%

I had to go next door and rent a 7 passenger SUV to handle my gigs for 
the weekend and an extra day )(*)(*&(*  another $380.00
and when I got the vehicle back on Monday too late to have taken the 
rental vehicle  back and save a day. it was of course 2&1/2 times the 
original  quoted estimate.  And as Steve said $100.00 an hour for labor 
for a mechanic, + they also have at least a 40% markup on parts, as 
total profit as well.   The fun part came when the mechanic tried to 
justify the additional labor costs telling me that he had to disconnect 
several things to get to the problem etc. and I know better because I 
have done the same repair on the same vehicle in 1/2 the time this 
professional claims it took him to do it.   Then I discovered that he 
charged me  $60.00 for a belt for an air conditioner  that has not 
worked in five years and he should have known it since he has serviced 
the vehicle for that long.   I was far too busy and needed the vehicle 
back to argue with his ass over it.   So a job that I could have done 
myself for about 2 hours of my time and $140.00 in parts cost me 
$550.00 + 380.00 for the rental vehicle for three days and oh yes 
$60.00 in Gasoline and $8.00 in bridge tolls.

Now you see why I can't and don't do gigs for $40.00 an hour per man.

Do I play as many dates as many of my friends  no but not because I 
don't want to I can't afford to.  But I'll bet anybody that I make more 
money a year than most OKOM bands do doing it the way I do it.  And my 
sidemen do too.  Ask any of them you may know about the economics of 
any gig they worked for me.

Bottom line guys if we all raised the bar and demanded more respect we 
could get it  if we have a good show and treat it like a business.

There is a Buyers market out there but we created it they did not,  The 
supply side needs to stand up and be accountable and demand better 
compensation and if it is not available walk away.   Many of us have 
been far too generous with our favors over the years and now they are 
an expected normal situation for all gigs.

Cheers,

Tom Wiggins




-----Original Message-----
From: barbonestreet at earthlink.net
To: Tcashwigg at aol.com
Cc: dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
Sent: Wed, 4 Apr 2007 1:43 PM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] If I could play an instrument (I'd play for 
$50)

   Great Post Tom. Great reply Dave.

One thing we all forget is the distance we drive to gigs and the cost of
operating a car these days.

The accepted cost of operating a car, according to the fleet 
specialists, is
a little more than 50 cents a mile. So if you drive 100 miles round 
trip to
the gig you've just spent at least $50.00. If the gig paid $50 you made
absolutely nothing. If you play free, you just paid $50 to play.

And forget about the write off, the best that does for you is eliminate 
your
income tax. You still spent the 50 cents a mile.

Sure, many folks with day gigs drive a car to work, but how many of them
work for $50 a day? (below minimum wage) If that's what they made, they
wouldn't be able to afford a car because $50 a day is $250 a week is 
$13,000
a year.

I'd guess that most folks driving to work make a fairly substantial 
living
at their jobs in order to be able to afford to drive.

Speaking about cars, I just bought a new Honda Pilot to haul my 
equipment. I
asked what the labor charge was at the Dealer on repairs. $96 an hour. 
Why
the hell should any musician work for less . . . especially since we 
don't
have the luxury of a 35 or 40 hour week? $96 times 40 hours = $3840. And
most repairs are quoted at a flat rate, the amount of hours allowed in 
the
repair book. Even if done in less than the "standard" amount of time 
allowed
in the book, you still pay the time allowed or flat rate.

Heck, we'll do a three hour gig in 2 hours if we can still pocket the 
three
hour rate, no? :-) VBG.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone


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