[Dixielandjazz] Letter from a bar owner regarding bands in his venue.

[Dixiejazzdata]

Here is a post on Craigslist in S.F. by a Band


Fortunately for me I am not in the alcohol business, I chose a long time ago to be in the entertainment business,  however not to be pompous,
I once was in the alcohol business and understood the Bar, Saloon owner and his business very well.  Did it very successfully for about 20 years
and made a lot of money for both of us, employed a lot of good musicians too.   It takes a very fine balance of all these aspects to make for a successful business playing music.


I have added a few comments of my own in  (     )
Cheers,


Tom Wiggins
Saint Gabriel's Celestial Brass Band


How much are musicians worth?


As Musicians
How much are we worth?
We are worth as much as the venue has at stake to lose if we don't show up.
How much food and drink will not be consumed if we don't show up?      ( a Lot less for sure )
How much promotion by the presenter will be wasted?   (provided the presenter actually did any )
Don't show up to your next event and find out (not recommended).

What we do as musicians;

Before leaving for the event;

Planning the event and coordinating with the other members and crew
Planning the route and time schedule to and from the event
Breaking down the equipment at the rehearsal studio
Loading equipment into the van

The event;

Driving to venue              ( picking up sidemen who don't have a car )
Unloading and moving equipment at venue
Set up of equipment
Set up of displays and promo
Sound check
Performance
Breakdown of equipment and moving equipment
Breakdown of displays and collecting promo
Loading equipment into the van
Getting paid
Driving back to the rehearsal studio  ( Dropping off the sidemen who have no car)
Unloading equipment at my rehearsal studio
Setting up equipment at my rehearsal studio

After and between events;

Researching new material
Transcribing new material
Rehearsing new material
Prospecting new jobs
Payroll 
Accounting
Sales 
Marketing
Creating and maintaining websites
Ad designing
Purchasing new equipment   (& uniforms if needed.)
Researching and keeping up with new trends in sound equipment
Client meetings
Eating and sleeping sometimes

During the performance Musicians are responsible for;

Playing well
Appropriate attire
Sounding good
(Not Getting Drunk  or too loaded to perform and act responsible))
Entertaining the audience
Keeping the audience interested
Keeping the audience from leaving early
Making the audience feel important
Making the event presenter look good
Making the event presenter happy
Making the audience into fans
Selling CD's and merchandise to the fans
Collecting names for e-mail lists
Announcing future events to the audience
Acknowledging the audience
Thanking the audience
 (Sidemen Not trying to book his own band for future gigs)





-----Original Message-----
From: david richoux <domitype at gmail.com>
To: B.B. Buffington <dixiejazzdata at aol.com>
Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Mon, May 6, 2013 11:34 pm
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Letter from a bar owner regarding bands in his venue.


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/

David Richoux
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