[Dixielandjazz] Letter from a bar owner regarding bands inhisvenue.

[Phil Wilking]

I read the letter, and also some of the follow-on comments.

I thought the letter writer laid out his point well: that from his 
perspective everything and everyone in his place has only one function: to 
bring in more money than it costs to have it/him there. If they do that, 
they are hired again, if not, not.

As someone who's father slaved away 40+ years running a retail hardware 
store in a small town to support his family, and doing it as well as he 
could while despising every second of it, I understand and agree with the 
saloon owner. (Yes "saloon," a much more accurate term than "bar" or 
"lounge.")

Then some of the follow-on comments showed that some people, not a majority 
but a significant number, do not understand that orientation. They ask such 
questions as "What about my practice time, and my travel time, and my 
education expenses, etc.?," as if they really believe the proprietor has 
some obligation to care about such.

Well, the answers to those questions are why you have a minimum fee you will 
accept to play a job. From the store owner's point of view, that's not his 
problem and he can not afford to let anyone try to make it his problem. 
That's the difference between running a business (in this case a saloon) and 
a charity.

Phil Wilking - K5MZF
www.nolabanjo.com

Those who would exchange freedom for
security deserve neither freedom nor security.

-----Original Message----- 
From: Robert Ringwald

I got this from another musician - it is more focused on younger rok/pop
bands, but there may be some useful tips even for us OKOM geezers ;-)

http://chrisledrew.wordpress.com/2013/01/03/open-letter-from-a-bar-owner-to-musicians/