[Dixielandjazz] Charity Gigs for Free

[Steve Barbone]

The sidemen in my band never play for nothing. On those gigs in December
which the band plays free for the nearly destitute, I pay them, though the
band does not get paid from the venue. I believe that as professionals, they
deserve to be compensated.

Every year there are some gigs where I make a LARGE leader/booking fee. I
put that money aside to pay for the charity gigs above. And when I say
charity, I mean folks who have NO MONEY, or are in charity wards in
hospitals, folks who are really down and out. Not the charity organizations
like Red Cross, Cancer Society, etc.

Because the band is highly visible locally, we are besieged by requests to
donate time to Charity organizations. In those instances, I simply say that
the musicians I hire are professionals who make their living through
performance fees. And that we have a large commitment for charitable
donations for the coming year and no room to add more.

However, I then add that I would be happy to donate my time, my leader fee,
and my sound equipment fee which reduces the cost considerably. And then I
quote a "non profit" fee of $600 for one hour during the week, and go from
there. Works like a charm and we all make $100/man.

As previous posters have said: We play free for a charity and then when they
have their yearly ball, they hire another band saying they only use
"professionals" on that gig. Many of us have learned that lesson. Once we
devalue "our" music by playing free, in most situations we are no longer
considered worthy of the important, paying gigs booked by the client.

Radio & TV is another matter and as Bob Ringwald says, promotion is
promotion. Plus, if you are promotion oriented, you can easily get Radio, TV
and Newspaper coverage of your local gigs wherein you are already being
paid. That is invaluable. Remember to ask them to include a blurb on TV or
Radio mentioning you name & website, or a visual of the band banner/poster.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone