The Source For Jobs Since 1969
Sterling Howard, Founder/Owner
news@MusiciansContact.com
Musicians receiving this email: 38,778

*****************

Need a good musician?  Click "Post a free ad" on our website to enter a
 free ad, view detailed profiles of many serious players, and contact
 them directly.  

Need a gig?  To list yourself as an available musician so working bands
 can contact you, click "I'm an individual musician seeking work".
   
*****************

This is Sterling Howard and I approve this message!

If you haven't been to our site in awhile, visit us again because a few
 items have changed.  Bands seeking players can now edit and update
 their ads, so they can now use the same access code forever.  Much easier!
  

If you have a Myspace, go to ours at
 http://www.myspace.com/MusiciansContact and add yourself.  Plus, if you
 have a complete act with a website, go to our homepage and click
 "Submit Link" and then select "Bands For Hire" to link to our site.  It's a
 free way to promote your talent. 

*****************
  
Commentary from Sterling Howard:  Covers Verses Originals

First, there have only been TWO kinds of music in the world since time
 began: copies and originals.  When I sang in bands years ago, it seemed
 there was a much higher percentage of groups that played BOTH original
 material and covers.  Nowadays, it seems most bands play all covers or
 all originals.  For an original group, it is not a crime to play some
 covers.  After all, every cover song ever written is someone elses'
 precious original, right?  And for a cover act, if you don't try to sneak
 in a couple originals here and there, you miss the fun and pride of
 playing your own tunes.
  
I realize you must cater to the crowd and to the person who hired you
 but I've also seen many exceptions to the rule where playing a
 combination works.  And where it DIDN'T work in a few of my old bands, we could
 play an entire night in a top 40 club, and the next afternoon, play our
 originals at an outdoor concert.  We were the same players with the
 same band name but were pulling off a "Jekyll & Hyde" and it worked.  I
 don't see many bands doing this today.  Most seem to be one or the
 other.  Why?  

This newsletter is primarily a place where we report what YOU think
 about musical topics, mostly about how to increase live music.  We need
 your thoughts, solutions, and comments like the following from
 keyboardist Ben Hammer:
 
If a DJ doesn't undercut you, another band or musician will.  If you're
 going to demand "your due", be sure you're irreplaceable, and stick to
 your guns.  If you cave in, you will NEVER get a raise afterwards.  If
 you don't cave in, you may find that you were replaceable after all,
 so be prepared to move on.  I am not saying you shouldn't fight for the
 pay you deserve, I'm saying that you have to be realistic.  No one is
 going to increase your pay just because you've been playing for 30 years
 or you have "paid your dues".

Before anything else, decide what your market is going to be.  If
 you're going after 20-somethings, realize that you're competing with a ton
 of fast-changing alternative types of entertainment.  If you're going
 for the 50-somethings, realize that you're competing with the couch at
 home, an overplayed repertoire and a smaller, shrinking market.  
     
After you get your gig, the easiest way to lose it is to become static
 or complacent.  If you bore the crowd or the owners, you will not stay
 long.  Put in the work to keep your act fresh.  Don't ever give the
 club owner a reason to replace you with a fresh or cheaper band. 

Cooperation between bands is important.  One important factor is what
 happens when you're NOT playing at a club.  You should WANT more quality
 bands to be there.  Good competition is good business.  Keep a lookout
 for other bands doing a compatible style to yours who you feel are
 professional.  Share information on pay rates, and they will do the same
 for you.

*****************

And vocalist Mark Curran said:

As long as there are more bands willing to work than there are places
 to work, the pay will never climb higher than the market demands.

I had to come up with ways to create my own gigs, invest money in my
 career, and work much harder and take bigger risks.  As a result I make
 more money today than I made in the heyday of live music.  The laws of
 supply and demand dictate any given marketplace, and the music business
 is no exception.  

*****************

J.D. Perkins states:

I worked with bands who "stuck to their guns" and demanded a premium
 amount to perform.  Some club owners paid the contracted amount, but
 vowed to never hire that band again after a disappointing night.  This
 presents the band with two avenues of thought.  Would you rather perform at
 a venue one night for a premium amount and never perform there again
 or play the venue for years amassing a larger audience each time,
 selling CDs and T-shirts, etc., contracting special events at the venue for
 larger amounts such as New Year's Eve,  and eventually creating a larger
 payday on any given date. In the long run, the latter is more
 profitable, even though some performances might be contracted at a low mimium.
 It provides a steady stream of income while the band hones it's musical
 skills.

*****************

Barry McKinley said:

A lousy neighborhood dive featuring some lame "weekend warriors" might
 very well have the next supergroup.  There is no middle class in the
 music business...there are artists going up and artists going down...no
 musician DESERVES to make a living playing music, it is an earned
 privilege born out of extreme dedication, long nights, stinking like
 cigarettes and booze, tough hard work, practice and more practice and
 then...the applause.  Simplifying the struggle to the top only manages to lower
 the top.

Have something to say?  Please, send your comments to:
  news@MusiciansContact.com 

**************************

Ok, we've been printing the following humorous section for the last few
 years but lately you haven't sent us much!  We're running out of
 stuff.  C'mon, everyone has at least one good story or joke from the
 following list.  PLEASE, shoot us an email on any of these topics so we can
 print it in the next newsletter for thousands to read.

1. Your Worst or Most Unusual Gig 
2. Your Best Gig Ever 
3. The Weirdest Audition  
4. Your Closest Call To Fame  
5. Bad/Best Musician Joke  

Submit at: news@MusiciansContact.com  

Until next time,

Thanks!

Need a good musician?  Click "Post a free ad" on our website to enter a
 free ad, view detailed profiles of many serious players, and contact
 them directly.  

Need a gig?  To list yourself as an available musician so working bands
 can contact you, click "I'm an individual musician seeking work".
   

Hello there....

Is it still winter?  If you haven't been to our site in awhile, please
 visit us again because some items have changed.

One feature we've recently added is the ability for bands seeking work
 to link with our site.  If you have a complete act with a website, go
 to our homepage and click "Submit Link" and then select "Bands For Hire"
 for directions.  It's a free way to promote your talent.

Our newsletter is mostly a forum where we report what YOU think about
 various musical topics.  Give us your input on how to increase live
 music, what’s right or wrong with music, how can the pay scale be raised,
 etc.  Give us your thoughts, solutions, and comments so we can feature
 them in future newsletters, like the following, which came in from
 Steven Gary, who I feel hit the nail right on the head:  

Regarding club owners, this really needs to be addressed.  When I
 started playing cover clubs 20 years ago, bands were getting about $250 a
 night. Now, bands are getting about $300 a night, not even keeping up
 with inflation.  I have seen  many club owners who don't seem to care
 about quality - a jam night will get just as many people in the bar as a
 decent band, so why not go with guys that'll take $35-$50 each?  And if a
 lousy band brings in their friends, it's better than a good band that
 doesn't.  This may destroy the clubs' future, but if they aren't
 looking past this week, it won't matter to them - and this thinking is what
 wrecks the club scene in the long run - just as I think pay-to-play
 wrecked the original music scene in Los Angeles in the 80s.  

You would think that if a club develops a reputation for having great
 live music it would increase their business.  But if they don't care
 then it doesn't matter.  Clubs seem to have a rapid turnover in management
 and ownership.  Ever walk into an empty club or bar and wonder how
 they stay in business?
 
And the other side of the situation are the musicians themselves -
 there are plenty of 'weekend warrior' bands - very fine musicians with a
 tight sound - and day jobs that pay them enough so that they don't care
 if they make a buck or not - they're playing mainly for fun.  Situations
 like these were not as prevalent years ago.  
 
So how do we as musicians fix this?  There is something in place that
 can help, and in fact it was designed to fix this sort of thing - but
 never has - it's called a Union.  Why has the Musicians Union never
 functioned in this area?  How many working-class musicians do you know who
 are members getting results?  They only benefit if they work in "Union
 Shops" - like TV, radio, film recording, or stage. 
 
Why is that?  It's a Catch-22 - the musicians that really need
 organized help are too poor to afford the dues?  Is it that at the club level,
 it's just not a big enough payoff to the officers of the Union?  Can't
 the membership take any effective action on the club scene to raise
 wages?  What would happen if musicians started picketing the clubs with
 signs saying "Unfair to Musicians"?  Hundreds of years ago there were
 Guilds who not only protected their members but also set standards of
 quality, competence and professionalism within their field - what would
 that be worth today?


Have something to say?  Please, send your comments to:
  news@MusiciansContact.com 

**************************

To lighten up a bit, reach back into your memory and send us your
 fondest experience on any of the following categories.  The best are printed
 in future newsletters.  

1. Worst or Most Unusual Gig: (Submitted by Art Dekko)
 
I was playing in a husband/wife duo and got a call from an agent to
 play a restaurant an hour south of Sacramento.  The agent told us to dress
 formal and wear a tux.  When we arrived there were 40 motorcycles
 parked in front.  The bar was packed with bikers, black leather and girls
 in tank tops.  The owner told us he had just purchased the place and
 wanted to change the clientele.  "There's a lotta nice farmers and their
 wives that I'd like to get in here for dinner," he said.  "I want to get
 rid of this motorcycle crowd, so just play quiet dinner music."   We
 began playing jazz standards when suddenly I felt a hand on my leg.  A
 friendly biker was leaning on me like I was a piece of furniture, stuck
 his face about a foot in front of mine and said, "Do you know any Merle
 Haggard?"
We made it through two sets of humiliation and rejection and then
 looked at each other, knowing we were thinking the same thing:  Let's get
 out of here!  So we packed up and left.  That's the only case I ever
 remember that the gig was so bad even the money couldn't justify it.  

2.  Best Gig Ever: (Submitted by Peter Reilich, keyboardist)

One of my fondest gig memories was on John Waite's first solo tour. He
 was not yet known as a solo artist since his first solo hit "I Ain't
 Missin You" would be on the 2nd solo album. Sometimes when you open for a
 headliner there is competition, depending on whether the headliner
 digs you or not. Towards the end of that summer tour in 1982, we opened
 two shows in Orlando for headliner Loverboy. We had our tour's best two
 shows that week; it sounded great and the crowd really dug us.  We found
 out why in the dressing room as Loverboy lead singer Mike Reno stopped
 in to visit before we went on stage the 2nd night. He explained that
 Waite's earlier albums in the 70s, singing lead for The Babys ("Midnight
 Rendezvous" "Every Time I Think Of You") had been a major influence on
 his singing style. He said that he was honored to be playing a show
 with his former teen idol. We,being the opening act, all laughed at that.
  Reno also told us that he stood next to the sound engineer during our
 shows making sure we sounded good.  Now that's what I call a dedicated
 headliner. 

3. Weirdest Audition:  (submitted by Andre Post)

I was in a throw-together band that had only rehearsed once and we got
 a call to audition at a New Jersey club.  The band leader thought it
 would be a nifty idea to lip sync our audition set by faking to play
 while blasting the pre recorded pop tunes though the p.a. speakers.  Not a
 good thing.  Within 15 seconds the club owner told us to pull the plug
 and get out.

4. Closest Call To Fame:  (anonymously submitted)

As you will see by my story, I'm an OLD drummer.  In 1965 or 66 I was
 visiting San Francisco and thinking of maybe moving there.  I met a girl
 at a party who seemed plugged into the local music scene.  "Know of
 any good bands who might need a drummer"? I asked.  "There's a group
 called Jefferson Airplane who needs a drummer" she responded.  I thought
 what a STUPID name and said "Forget it!"  Of course 6 months later as
 White Rabbit hit #1 in the country, I bragged that I once turned down an
 audition with them!

5.  Bad/Best Musician Joke:  (for you musically educated folks)

A C, an E-flat, and a G go into a bar.  The bartender says "Sorry, we
 don't serve minors.  So the E-flat leaves and the C and G have an open
 fifth between them.  After a few drinks, the fifth is diminished, the G
 is out flat.  An F comes in and tries to augment the situation, but is
 not sharp enough.  A D comes in and heads for the bathroom saying
 "Excuse me, I'll just be a second".  Then an A comes in, but the bartender
 is not convinced that this relative of C is not a minor.  The bartender
 notices a B-flat hiding at the end of the bar and exclaims "Get out
 now.  You're the seventh minor I've found in here tonight!" 


Please, can you throw us more?  We're running out of bad jokes.  Submit
 at: news@MusiciansContact.com  

Until later,

Thanks!