[Dixielandjazz] The good gigs - was Hobby Bands

[Steve Barbone]

<mike at railroadstjazzwest.com> wrote (polite snip)
  
> The real good gigs.
> 
> I am learning what it takes to get those gigs musicially and on
> the business end. You can practice tunes and scales and chords
> from now until the day they put you six feet under but you have
> to combine the musicality with business sense. Those are the
> guys who will get the good gigs. That's the kind of businessman
> and performer I am striving to be.

Amen Mike.

There are tons of good gigs out there. Once you position yourself and your
band correctly, they will flow like wine from a 10,000 gallon cask.

Heck, I just found myself competing with a Lester Lanin Band for a gig. We
lost it to them, but then, how many other Dixieland bands bid for gigs in
that high rent district?

Yep, Lester Lanin Band(s) are still going strong after his death. Why? See:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/08/fashion/08lanin.html

On the social end, I just got an invite to the gig event that I lost to
Lanin's ghost band. A mere $250 per person for one night of dinner/dancing
at Winterthur, a former DuPont estate.

Noted on the bottom of the invite was "We've engaged Lester Lanin's Band for
this event." Yeah, isn't that where we all would like to be positioned in
the minds of the client?

Cheers,
Steve Barbone