[Dixielandjazz] List Policemen etc.

[ross anderson]

Dear Larry and list mates,
I wish I could say it as well as you have done !!!
Thank you and Steve and Tom and all the other guys and girls on the list for 
all your contributions and please keep them coming.
Best wishes to ALL and I hope you all get lts of "GIGS" in 2008 !!
Ross Anderson, Australia,
www.newmelbournejazzband.com

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Larry Walton Entertainment - St. Louis" <larrys.bands at charter.net>
To: "ross anderson" <rossanmjband at iprimus.com.au>
Cc: "Dixieland Jazz Mailing List" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Wednesday, January 02, 2008 12:38 PM
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] List Policemen etc.


> Ross said > ...............You don`t have to read them !!!!
>> I for one thank Steve and Tom Wiggins and others on the list that spend a 
>> lot of their time
>> "Helping" other Members.
> ______________________________
>
> I would like to second and expand on that.
>
> Not every idea is practical for everyone and some ideas seem just like pie 
> in the sky.  Not every formula that one person has worked out will work 
> for someone else and not everyone is interested in changing what they are 
> doing very much.
>
> But! While everything won't work for everyone usually some variation of an 
> idea will if you have the flexibility to change what you are doing and try 
> something else.
>
> I have talked about " Plan B" a lot of times.  Do you have one?  I'm just 
> asking that rhetorically.  Should yours be the same as mine?  Maybe yes 
> and maybe no.  The important thing isn't so much my solution but that you 
> have one for you.
>
> I think about and reject dozens of ideas sometimes before I come up with a 
> plan.  No one's ideas are bad and sometimes I work out a plan for me based 
> on several ideas.  A lot of those rejected ideas are mine.  I will also 
> dump a plan the second it quits working for me.
>
> I'm gonna tell you right now this is the only place where one band leader 
> will try to help another.  No one in his right mind would sit and feed 
> ideas to a rival, competiting band leader.  But it happens here because 
> many of us recognize the value of trading ideas in a non competitive 
> atmosphere.
>
> Ask yourself when the last time another band leader who had a band like 
> yours sat down and told you all his secrets, traded charts with you, told 
> you where to find stuff,  instantly gave you the background on pieces you 
> were doing and sometimes pass on gigs.  I'll tell you right now NOWHERE!
>
> This is a forum that just doesn't happen anywhere else.  I would have 
> given a lot if someone had given me this kind of food for thought years 
> ago. Everything I know I learned at great cost not only monetarily but 
> personally.  A list like this would have made me even more successful and 
> saved me a bunch of bucks too.
>
> By some standards I'm not setting the world on fire but for this town and 
> at this time I'm doing OK I think and hope to do better in the future. 
> Some of that I owe to this list.
>
> I suggest that some of you get over this contest that you seem to be 
> having with Steve and others.  Simply because another man has a bigger 
> house or car does not make me or you unsuccessful or somehow inferior 
> unless we let it.
>
> If I tell you that I worked 12 gigs in December that could be bragging but 
> if I tell you how I got those 12 gigs then I am helping you.  If you 
> played 20 and I aspire to have 20 and you are willing to give me a tip on 
> how to get them or somehow inspire me, don't you think I should thank you?
>
> Blindness isn't only a condition of the eyes but of the mind.
>
> For those who wish to suppress what Steve, Tom or others has to say 
> prevents me from picking out those things that may work for me.  It may 
> also cause me to not pass on something to the list that may help others in 
> their quest for more OKOM venues or outlets.  An example is the business 
> cards I am carrying right now were obtained free from a source that Tom 
> sent me.  I wouldn't have known about it if Tom hadn't told me.
>
> Some of you enjoy talking about some great player of the past.  How many 
> times has Louis Armstrong been the topic.  Other than Louis was a jazz 
> great he has never made me a dime or got me a gig nor will he make you one 
> either. Simply because I'm not all that interested in the endless posts 
> about Louis doesn't mean that you aren't.  It would be very rude of me to 
> harp on the number of posts that Louis (or others) generates and threaten 
> to drop out of the list or try to generate or collect posts that supports 
> my side.
>
> A lot of that is happening here.  I quit choosing up teams years ago and I 
> suggest everyone think about what you are doing.  This list is, I think, a 
> valuable resource to everyone.  If you don't think it's valuable then 
> dropping off would be a reasonable thing but don't use Steve, Tom or me as 
> an excuse.
> Larry
> St. Louis
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