General Music Chat

When I first began playing in bands there were about 12 bard in a small downtown area here. There were 14 bars in a 6 block area on main street, and almost every one had live music 2 or 3 nights a week and some ran live music 6 nights a week. I imagine that other than the so called "go-go" clubs almost every bar had music at least for Friday and Sat. Area clubs out side of the downtown area, and there were dozens', also had bands playing. I did repair work on the side and I had 6 music stores that brought their work to me. And I got a lot of work.

Then came the "drunk driving" statutes. Cops used to park around the corner of the parking lots and on the side streets fining people, just like they do with speed traps these days. People became afraid that they might get caught even a little over the limit so they quit going to clubs to drink. When the crowds faded away the clubs hired DJ's for entertainment and that killed it even more for the musicians. Then the music stores began closing down for lack of business, and the repair work dwindled down as well.

Now days the only people who hire live bands are places like the Elk clubs, the Eagles clubs, and the Indian Casinos. And even at thet you had to up your game for the casinos. That only because the members want live music for dancing. for the most part. The pay sucked so the less talented musicians were the only ones who would play these low rent places. Casinos bring in nationally known bands, so obviously they are desperate also to some degree.

MAAD got the l;limits so low that if you even look at a beer you are in danger. You can hardly blame the bar owners for all of it. Who wants to pay even $100 a piece for a band when you are only getting a few customers a night. Those guys are in it to make money. You say you have time and money in travel, equipment, and all the practice time. A lot of bar owners have their whole life savings into buying or renting a club, keeping it furnished and open on bad weather days, and having only a handful of customers that cater to their establishment.
So exactly how many people can afford overhead, paying musicians, and paying outrageous taxes and license fees to "uncle Screw?"

You can't blame DJ's, club owners and whomever if the people do not show up to cover the costs. Really? How many beers would you have to sell a night to pay $300+ for a live band?

I'm not sticking up for the bar owners, a lot of them are real assholes, but can you see the bigger picture? If you owned a club you could easily see it is the way it is today.

We were at the casino last night and very talented musicians were up on stage with T's and jeans playing 80's country rock. They were told not to come back unless they learn how to wear decent clothes on stage. It ain't about just talent anymore.

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"We were at the casino last night and very talented musicians were up on stage with T's and jeans playing 80's country rock. They were told not to come back unless they learn how to wear decent clothes on stage. It ain't about just talent anymore."

When I first began playing in clubs you HAD to wear sport coats or suits that matched for the most part. And that went for good musicians as well as those not so good musicians. But then you also had to belong to the union to play in clubs. Standards certainly have changed.

As the bar owners slowed down on booking road bands the lack of a dress code began to show. I guess that it doesn't matter to some, but appearance added a lot to signifying your professionalism to an audience early on.

Now, a good deal of the time, musicians dress worse than the people they are entertaining.