Musician Forum - Band Discussion Board - BandMix

Watching/listening to a guy at a farmers market yesterday. Not sure if they offer him any pay, but he had a fair share of $1 bills in his guitar case (of course I added to it). Reminded me that playing in places where you are just 'background music/noise' can get really disheartening after a while. I think that happens more to solo players than bands. We certainly had our fair share of being background music in 'Trilogy', but we also had enough people paying attention/commenting/applauding that it was tolerable. My wife has suggested to me a couple of times that I look into playing these solo gigs, but I think it would quickly suck my soul out, and I'd lose interest in playing at all.
Of course the alternative for solo players is playing in a listening room where people DO listen, but the pay is less than you'd get busking. There's little 'middle ground' between this level of solo playing and the next level, which is playing at coffee houses (not coffee shops!) or opening for larger bands and venues that get more people (150 - 400 range).
We had a (new) guy at our songwriter circle Saturday who books acts for Friday night songwriter nights at the local listening room and 'features' at an open mic at a coffee shop (not coffee house!) and not-so-subtly suggested anyone should contact him if they were interested in playing. I know that no one is making more than gas money at these events.

(hand raised...) I'm the definition of 'background noise' (just call me 'bgn' for short), but my take is very different. Perhaps because I'm a pianist, maybe 'cause I'm a diff. breed of dog...dunno. I do know it doesn't "suck my soul out," and I actually enjoy it, in regulated doses. After all, I can play whatever I want (altho I've been known to take requests, as long as they are tunes I like to play), don't need to try to sing (a side benefit of being a pianist), can avoid those sticky personality issues w/ other musicians (check the posts in this forum), don't need to haul anything 'cept my carcass and any music I might want to bring, etc... I esp. like the part about not hauling anything.

Maybe "piano bar" is a hoidy-toidy form of "busking," but I do get a set amount and don't have a tip jar (maybe I spent too much time in China, where tipping is considered an insult). I know you think I'm not getting enough $$ for my efforts (altho I always get some good grub in the deal, which can't be discounted), but it's all relative. (Did I mention I don't need to haul anything?) I'm not sure they'd spring for more, even if I threatened not to show (they know I wouldn't do that). WTH, getting a few bucks and good grub for showing up works well enough for me.

Now if Showbiz Kids (the local SD 10-pc. tribute band) suddenly lost their keys and asked me to step in, sure, I'd do it. Dunno how much those folks are getting, but they do "shows" rather than "gigs," so I figger it must be decent. I'd just ask for an equal share. But until that happens, I'm good w/ things the way they are, and will continue doing it until I pack it all in. Did I mention how much I like the part about not hauling anything?

^ that^

Mike, the local Farmer's Mkt gigs around here pay nothing. You put out a jar, and the one that Mere Mortals play at.....all the vendors come by and 'tip us' with a bounty of wonderful fruits, veggies, meats, cheeses, breads, cakes, pies, etc. We're a quartet and we all end up w a cpl of good sized bags of groceries. There are picnic tables set up by us and we always have folks there listening to us.....we usually go home w some pretty good tip money too.

We have tried a cpl of other FM's where the vendors were NOT so generous and the crowd wasn't all that interested in the music.....and we don't play those. One and done.

We do maybe two of those gigs every yr and that's about right for me. Now, were i to do that as a soloist...no thanks. And my solo gig is like DP's....strictly PLAYING. No singing "Brown Eyed Girl" or "Margaritaville".

See, I'm OK being background music when playing solo instr gtr.....but those times when i'm doing that for a mostly indifferent crowd.... I often find myself thinking....""man, THANK GOD i'm not having to sit here singing Eagles tunes and trying to talk to these people!" -THAT would truly be soul robbing for me.

Planetguy wrote:.... I often find myself thinking....""man, THANK GOD i'm not having to sit here singing Eagles tunes and trying to talk to these people!" -THAT would truly be soul robbing for me.

Exactly!

I know a few people around this area who are definitely getting paid for playing farmers markets - one guy who does almost nothing but them during the summer - but only 2X a summer at each one, at most - he calls it a 'vegetable tour'!

I'm another pianist who does "background" noise for an upscale fine dining restaurant. My take on it is, do you have any idea what things people do to make ends meet in this life? They do hours of mind numbing paper pushing, they scrub old men's soiled @sses, they join the military/police force and get shot at by scumbags, they hang roof shingles in the blistering sun, they do backbreaking landscaping.

It sucks I l know because I've done all those things at various stages of my life. I'm paid to sit in front of an instrument I love and play music. I'm a real lucky guy all things considered

Oh, I get it with the people who do music full time for a living. The guy I saw on Sunday at the Farmers Market didn't fall into that category - unless he's normally a player in a band, I know (by name at least) all the regulars in the area - the ones scrambling for every gig, giving lessons, etc etc etc.

GuitarMikeB wrote:Oh, I get it with the people who do music full time for a living. The guy I saw on Sunday at the Farmers Market didn't fall into that category - unless he's normally a player in a band, I know (by name at least) all the regulars in the area - the ones scrambling for every gig, giving lessons, etc etc etc.

Doesn't really matters if it's full or part time if the proceeds all go towards the bottom line. The only way I've been able to figure out how to do musoc full time is to do 4 or 5 different things: band gigs, solo performances, voice accompaniment, teaching, alittle of this alittle of that.

I've found that doing all these different things is how you keep music new and exciting. If you have a tolerance for risk it is certainly doable. Besides you gotta do a few years of farmer market gigs before you're ready for the big leagues.

Zenith Hammer wrote:I'm another pianist who does "background" noise for an upscale fine dining restaurant. My take on it is, do you have any idea what things people do to make ends meet in this life? They do hours of mind numbing paper pushing, they scrub old men's soiled @sses, they join the military/police force and get shot at by scumbags, they hang roof shingles in the blistering sun, they do backbreaking landscaping.

It sucks I l know because I've done all those things at various stages of my life. I'm paid to sit in front of an instrument I love and play music. I'm a real lucky guy all things considered

stated better than i could have....but that's where i'm at as well. whenever my wife asks me if i really want to put myself in that position of playing a solo gig, that's my usual reply...."honey, i've worked a lot harder for the money".

and like you said, ZH....i'm playing music i enjoy on an instrument I love. life's (mostly) good.

Zenith Hammer wrote:Doesn't really matters if it's full or part time if the proceeds all go towards the bottom line. The only way I've been able to figure out how to do musoc full time is to do 4 or 5 different things: band gigs, solo performances, voice accompaniment, teaching, alittle of this alittle of that.

That describes my friend Greg. He's a very good guitarist--the only one around here who really understands nuance, as far as I can tell--but does plenty of other things to make it a living, including being a factory rep for one of the amp manufacturers (can't remember which one), putting in some time at a music store and giving a full slate of lessons. It's working out pretty well for him: married, owns his house, 2 cars, etc.

I'm good w/ being a part-timer, at this stage of life. My current mantra is: If there's a job to do, there's always a way to avoid it. Alternately: When I have the urge to work, I lay down until the urge passes. But that's just me.

I never made any money playing music, when I played music I focused on music, and
when I make money I focus on money. So to me money and music never mixed.

To say other forms of work suck is to have a over inflated view of self, I work hard in the sun
and love it. I love being able to work hard all day out in the sun and laugh at the whiners dragging
their asses. Pushing paper can be harder then you think, when I first graduated from college
I got a job reviewing contracts for a manufacturer, before the president signed them. It could
be a stressful job.

Don't make money make Bitcoin, then you know its yours.

Planetguy wrote:[....i'm playing music i enjoy on an instrument I love. life's (mostly) good.

yeah, but that's not what I was initially talking about - doing those Eagles/Margaritaville/Mustang Sally songs, to a barely-listening (or not at all) crowd as background noise.

Ancient Vegan wrote:
To say other forms of work suck is to have a over inflated view of self, I work hard in the sun
.

This is absolutely not implied or stated in anything I actually wrote. This was you projecting your own thoughts onto me..

It is my opinion that all the things I specifically mentioned sucks for unspecified reasons. Now regardless of whether you agree with my assessment, it doesn't change the fact that what I actually said bears no relation to what you think I wrote. Maybe I just didn't like the uniforms they made me wear or I thought my lunch breaks were too long, maybe I got screwed out of a bunch of money. No one really knows yet, it's not always about one's own ego.

Spare me your hardship, bootstraps stories.. I've worked innumerable hours in the blistering sun. you have literally no clue..

Phuk off, you said what you said
I said I love working in the sun
And slapping around whiners like you who
have no clue about whats going on
Your health, that's all that matters
You have mastered turning all your posts
into what you believe to be hip
But who really cares
You said it sucks now your distancing yourself from that
You'd have to workout for a lot of years to even be close
to the physical shape I'm in, to even comprehend what it's like
to be able to work on a job and draw two men's pay
Now spare me your banality

Ancient Vegan wrote:Phuk off, you said what you said
I said I love working in the sun
And slapping around whiners like you who
have no clue about whats going on
Your health, that's all that matters
You have mastered turning all your posts
into what you believe to be hip
But who really cares
You said it sucks now your distancing yourself from that
You'd have to workout for a lot of years to even be close
to the physical shape I'm in, to even comprehend what it's like
to be able to work on a job and draw two men's pay
Now spare me your banality

He's triggered. Oh noes!

Piss off mate, I did not say what you think I said, particularily for the reasons you are claiming I said it.