[Dixielandjazz] Bag Piper needed for event

[ross anderson]

Dear Tom,
Well done . I for one agree with what you have done and said,
Cheers, Ross,
New Melbourne Jazz Band ,Australia.
www.newmelbournejazzband.com 

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <tcashwigg at aol.com>
To: <rossanmjband at iprimus.com.au>
Cc: "Dixieland Jazz Mailing List" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Thursday, May 03, 2007 11:22 AM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Bag Piper needed for event


>  This folks from one of the largest Non-Profit organizations in the 
> country:
> The American Cancer Society:     Who will also have a big self 
> congratulatory party at the end of the year and hire a very big over 
> paid Celebrity to appear at their Gala Fundraiser for the A list.
> 
> They are one of the worst in the USA at this, and it is High time we 
> all stood up and started to educate them, or at least negotiate free 
> Cancer treatment for ourselves.   Stop rolling over and playing their 
> game.   I might march in their walka-thon parade but I ain't gonna play 
>  it without getting paid.   If they really want to entertain all those 
> hard working volunteers, then they should take some of the proceeds 
> they raised and pay for it.   Just shows once again that they do not 
> value your time as worth anything if you don't charge them for it, same 
> goes for all those well meaning volunteers that they continue to 
> brainwash and lay guilt trips on.
> 
> 
> Sent: Tuesday, May 01, 2007 8:32 PM
>  
>  Subject: Volunteer musicians & Bag Piper needed for event (rohnert pk 
> / cotati)
> 
> 
> My reply to their ad for volunteer musicians:
>  
> 
>  "If I could play an instrument … I'd love to play for a couple of 
> hours for $50. Heck, I'd even do it for free, I'd just be so happy to 
> be playing music. You're so lucky!"
>  
>  Sound familiar? It's the voice of the uninitiated non-musician, the 
> fan, the admirer, the "Regular Josephine," the "Regular Joe." They're 
> right. We are lucky that we play music, but it's bad luck that most 
> people look at our profession in that way.
>  
> 
>  We are professionals. We chose music as a career, we work hard at it, 
> and we want to make a decent living at it.
>  
> 
>  Here's another familiar sound: "It's just not in the budget. Look, 
> you love to play, why don't you just do it for that amount? It's 
> better than nothing…" Or these: "Take it or leave it;" "It's great 
> exposure."
>  
>  Sound painfully familiar? It's the voice of the purchaser. The club 
> owner, the restaurateur, the agent, the promoter. The sad thing is 
> that the purchaser is in the music business to make money, but 
> somehow, they don't want to pay the people who make the music that 
> makes the money.
>  
>  This article is addressed to the "Regular Joes," the "Regular 
> Josephines," and the purchasers. It's also to us, the professionals. 
> We need to think about this, and remind ourselves of how specialized 
> what we do is, and set the bar a little higher in order to survive 
> and--dare I say this?--prosper. Let's go with the $50 gig. Most of us 
> won't take them, and people are surprised when we don't. But let's use 
> that figure
> and do a little math to illustrate why we're not happy to play a 
> couple of hours for 50 bucks.
>  
>  "Two hour gig, $50 each, cash. What's wrong with that? That's $25 an 
> hour." Hmmm-m-m-m. Let's say the gig is from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m., and 
> let's not take into consideration practicing or warming up. 
>  
>  Start with the drive to the gig. What? Everyone has to drive to work! 
> True, so we won't count the drive. Keep in mind that most people
> drive the distance, and then walk in to work five minutes early, grab 
> a cup of coffee, and start working. We have to pack up the car with 
> equipment (half an hour) and drive to the site. Unload the car, load 
> the equipment onto the stage (half hour), go park the car (15 
> minutes), come back and set up (1 hour). 
>  
>  Let's say that you timed it so you had 15 minutes before the gig 
> starts. That's two and a half hours. Add the gig, and you've got four 
> and a half hours.
> 
>  
>  Now pack up. If you're lucky, and nobody wants to talk to you after 
> the gig, you can tear down in one hour, go get your car, load your 
> equipment (another half hour), and drive home.
>  
> 
>  Nobody counts the drive home, but when you get home, you unpack your 
> car, and load your stuff into the house, another half-hour,
> easy.
>  
>  That's six hours work, for $50 cash. More like $8.33 an hour, not $25 
> an hour.
> 
>  Let's look at making a living with that same amount. To make $1500 a 
> month, you would have to do one $50 gig a day, every day of the month. 
> If you did that every day, every month of the year, no vacation, no 
> holidays, you would make about $18,000 per year, and that's before 
> taxes.
> 
>  
>  Paying federal and state income tax, general excise tax, and full 
> social security tax (no employer contributions), knocks it down to 
> about $11,880. By the way, you're not eligible for unemployment or 
> workers' comp, but that's okay, it's not really work, right?
>  
>  Let's double that to $36,000 gross, which is $23,760 after taxes. For 
> that, you would need to do two of those gigs a day. Two gigs taking up 
> 6 hours each is 12 hours a day, every day of the year.
>  
>  It's a simplistic formula, but it makes a point. The point is, that's 
> why we're not "happy to play for a couple of hours for $50," even
> though we are lucky to be able to play music.
> 
>  
>  The next time someone says something like the opening line of this 
> article to you, turn it around. Say: "If I could be a dentist, I'd 
> love to do it for $8.33 an hour. I'd just be so happy to be able to 
> practice dentistry. You're so lucky!" I'm sure the reply would be: 
> "What do you
> mean, lucky? I studied for years, and I still study. I worked long, 
> hard hours to perfect my craft, and still do.
> 
>  
>  My equipment cost me an arm and a leg, and it's very specialized 
> work. I'm a professional!" Just smile and say, "Me, too."
> 
>  
> Sincerely,
> 
> Tom Wiggins
> 
> 
> Her response:
> 
> On 5/2/07 10:20 AM,   Her response:
> Tom:
> 
>  Thank you for your response... confused by it, but thank you for 
> responding.
>  
>  Had several responses and position was filled within hours of my post. 
> 
> 
>  
>  Some people are willing to donate services for the fight against 
> cancer
> since it touches 1 in 3 people in their lifetime.
> 
>  We have singers, dancers, food vendors and an all-day DJ. All are 
> professionals.
> None are paid.
> 
>  
>  They just want to help entertain those that have worked so hard to 
> raise money for cancer research.
>  Relay for life money has supported over 30 scientists who've won Noble 
> Prizes for inventing early detection tests that have saved many lives.
>  
>  May you live healthy and not ever have to experience the horror of 
> cancer.
>  
> 1 in 3 people WILL face cancer in their life.
> If it weren't for those who volunteer and donate,
>  Relay couldn't happen and funds wouldn't be raised to support the 
> fight.
>  
> Blessings,
>  
> Heidi
> Volunteer Luminaria Chair
> AND a Cancer Survivor!
> 
> 
> 
> My response to her:
> 
> Hi Heidi:
> 
>  Congratulations on beating it, I have lost many friends to it in the 
> past few years, and more on the way out and fighting it now.
> 
> 
> 
>  While yes it is a noble cause, my point is that Musicians almost never 
> get any respect from Non=profits doing fundraisers to pay very wealthy 
> Doctors and administrators, expenses and salaries,, and when you look 
> at the money breakdown I showed about musicians wages how could they 
> possibly afford health care coverage and medical treatment from those 
> folks you folks are raising money for.
> 
>  I too run a non-profit organization and it EMPLOYS and Pays all it’s 
> Musicians and performers because without them the public would not come 
> to the event to just look at us and hear us talk. They are the 
> ATTRACTION and the key to the success of your events, all I am asking 
> is that you take a moment to educate your organization about this 
> generally ignored factor. Most musicians other than the
> Symphony players also have no medical insurance. They are a large 
> segment of our society that continually fall thru or are pushed through 
> the cracks.
> 
> 
>  It is simply cheaper for us to just write a check and mail it than to 
> go out and perform for free, nobody gives us free gas, meals,
> insurance, rent, automobiles, musical instruments, repairs, telephone, 
> or anything else much less medical care.
> 
> 
>  Just trying to create some AWARENESS just like you folks about Cancer. 
> Everybody knows about Cancer, but few folks know about this kind of 
> CANCER that afflicts 98% of musicians and it is a real shame and a not 
> much short of a crime. How you gonna have a dance with out a Band? 
> Oh easy! we will hire a DJ and he will play CDs ! Cool what will 
> you do ten years form now when Musicians no longer record music for Cds 
> because they can’t get paid and make a living.
> 
> 
>  Cheers, and I do wish you success on your event, but hop you find some 
> understanding in my response.
>  My mother is a cancer survivor as well, so far, but yes I have lost 
> many family members to it, and also saw them pay every dime they had
> ever made and saved out to Doctors to try and stay alive. So you see 
> the issue is, that it is way out of balance here not that your
> organization is not doing some good.
> 
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> Tom Wiggins
> 
> Ambassadors of American Culture
> 1234 Laurel Lane
> Lafayette, California 94549
> http://www.sonicbids.com/StGabrielscelestialbrassband
> http://www.ambassadorsofamericanculture.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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