[Dixielandjazz] Free Music/ Truly upsetting

[Roy Taylor]

The Jim Cullum band seems to have made a system that pays him and his band,
but I agree that an anomaly.  I think the answer today includes selling
tunes on ITunes and with CDs, but that takes a lot of effort in itself to
produce.  You have to spend at least if not more time promoting yourself
and landing gigs.  Todays world that is paying some is senior living
communities, jazz societies, village park concert series, and taverns who
will supply you with a small amount of pay and something to eat. That is
discouraging.  People today have so many alternatives to chose front that
live jazz music can get lost in the mayhem.   We have also found some
support from swing dance clubs.  Summer months is our best time.  Make sure
your band has a web site where you can advise fans to keep in touch with
your schedule.  Ours in not fancy, but it helps.  www.smugtownstompers.com

budtuba at gmail.com


On Tue, Oct 29, 2013 at 5:39 PM, Gary Kiser <gary at kiser.org> wrote:

> Jim and Kevin are too right. We pro-musos gotta hustle harder than other
> career choices because we are not really essential. When the world economy
> tanked in 2007, my gig count was considerably reduced. People still got
> married and still had 75th birthdays, but budgets didn't always permit jazz
> bands. Even rolling DJs cut their prices (which still haven't gone back
> up), making things even harder for musicians. It is cold hearted to say but
> if you are a musician and can't pay the bills, you should probably add or
> change something.
>
> That said, I play a free gig every year during the week of the Fête de la
> Musique in the pediatric ward of the hospital here in Clermont-Ferrand. It
> is one of the most rewarding, but most heart wrenching gigs I play. To put
> a smile on a child's face is a wonderful thing. To put a smile on the face
> of a child that may not be with us a month later, is as troubling as it is
> gratifying. We are usually silent as we put our instruments away and we
> rush home to hug our own kids. As much as this gig shakes us up, I'll be
> there again next year. Not all free music is destructive.
>
> All the best, Gary
>
> Jim Allen <jim.allen at longhornband.net> wrote:
>
> >It's like baseball.  Tens of millions love it, millions play it,
> relatively
> >few earn money at it, still fewer make a living doing it, and only the
> very
> >top few make really big money.
> >
> >I never understood why the very best bandsmen in the Longhorn Band play
> for
> >free for 4 years, then aren't drafted and forced to play for a few million
> >a year in the worst band in Kansas City.  The economics of it just doesn't
> >work as a business model, I guess.
> >
> >You keep playing because you love it and are good at it, and if you can
> >earn money from it, so much the better.  If you end up in The Rolling
> >Stones, cool.
> >
> >Best
> >
> >Jim Allen
> >
> >
> >
> >On Tue, Oct 29, 2013 at 12:02 PM, Kevin Yeates <kyeates at yahoo.com> wrote:
> >
> >> At the risk of over-extending the life of this thread I dare to suggest
> >> the following.
> >>
> >> Comparing musicians to doctors or plumbers is not a valid comparison.
> When
> >> the pipes in your house are leaking, you NEED a plumber. When you have a
> >> broken leg, you NEED a doctor. When you have a social event you DON'T
> NEED
> >> musicians. We are the icing on the cake. It is simply supply and demand.
> >> There are a lot of people who are willing to play music, but not that
> much
> >> demand. We are not absolutely needed for life to go on, thus the price
> >> people are willing to pay us vs a doctor is quite understandable.
> >>
> >> The idea that we have to make a living so people should pay us well is
> >> also bogus. The customer does not owe us a living. We owe it to
> ourselves.
> >> If you aren't making enough money as a musician, you may have made a
> poor
> >> career choice.
> >>
> >> I can go on and on but I am trying to keep it succinct.
> >>
> >> Kevin Yeates
> >> Vancouver, Canada
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-- 
Roy (Bud) Taylor
Smugtown Stompers Jazz Band
Rochester, New York
Traditional Jazz since 1958
"we ain't just whistling dixie!"