Sparky, We have been playing the Crab Trap for 11 straight years...for me 20 years overall...No contracts, just verbal nod..Management is 100 percent wrong with their action..

I just came back from the Crab Trap...my wife and I had a great dinner...so did Dave...

Guess what? If I seen the owner tonight and he had a change of heart, and paid me....I would have gave the money to my cute waitress...right in front of him ...it is the principal

Nobody cares!!

???

The bottom line is, can you demonstrate your value to an employer? When you do house gigs, it gets tough after a while, because you are always there, and management gets used to the house revenue to the point of thinking it is normal, and not as a result of your entertainment skills.

Unfortunately, the only way around this is to simply up and play somewhere else a couple of times a year, for at least a month. Any replacement band or entertainer will do OK just on residual traffic for a week or so, but if you play another venue, and advertize well (and inform your regulars via social media) unless your replacement is top notch, they will follow you to the new venue, your regular venue's revenues drop off, and then you are in a position to come back with some clout.

While you may not get management to divulge their loss, you can usually get a waitress or bartender there (who are being treated as poorly as you!) to be honest about how sales have dropped.

But keep playing somewhere day in and out, whether treated poorly or not, you have very little to use for leverage. Let management stew in their own juices, let them see that you actually make a difference to their bottom line, you are likely to get treated better...

And Gary, the main point I was trying to make earlier is the hypocrisy of most solo players here bitching about other musicians they have worked with, as if we have never committed a sin ourselves.

Odds are some of them were better musicians than we are (I've heard most of the user demos from here!) and may have found US as irritating to play with as we found them. Difference is, they are probably still playing with real people, and enjoying the music they make a lot more than OMB's do! Look at the incessant search for the next, latest greatest thing... Most guitarists of any skill haven't NEEDED to change their rig in decades! If we were as happy musically as they are, we wouldn't need to either.

A little more honesty would go a long way here, when we reminisce about past bandmates!

Since I stoped doing House Gigs my business has never been better I have a more diversified crowd and better tips better CD sales higher pay and booked at least 5 shows a week no more house Gigs I have found that by playing multiple places business has never been better and the buzz has been great.

it take's a little work to ramp it up but now I am reaping the reward food for thought.

Can't argue with that! The best thing I ever did in this business is get out of the bars and restaurants. Since I switched to the senior circuit I've booked more private parties than anytime in the past, the pay is excellent, no drunks to contend with, mostly daytime work, nearly all jobs are within 10 miles of home, and the audiences are fabulous people. As 124 stated, it takes a little work to ramp it up, but once the ball starts rolling, it's just a matter of keeping up on the PR work and you'll have all the jobs you can handle. How I wish I were 20 years younger and had today's technology to work with. I would be doing three jobs a day, working 7 days a week, look great, and be skinny. (wouldn't have time to eat)

Diki, I have to agree about the guitars, but keep in mind that the guitars really haven't change that much over the past 30 years. I played the same Yamaha 12-string for a decade, and it always sounded pretty darned good to me. I also played a 6-string Ibanez that sounded pretty good too, but not quite as full as the 12 string. In contrast, arranger keyboards seem to have improved dramatically over a period of just a few years. Granted, those improvements, at last from my standpoint, have been subtle each year, but after a decade of playing the PSR-3000 I was still pretty reluctant to upgrade. Now that I have the S-950 tweaked and tuned to the point where I'm fairly comfortable with what I hear, the 3000s will soon go up for sale. I think the thing that convinced me to keep the S-950 is all of the positive comments from my audiences and activities directors during the past few weeks. It's still a work in progress, but I'm rapidly gaining on it and suspect that within a few weeks I'll have a finished product.

And, of course, you know that I was just joking with you about the band mate conflicts. I'm sure I really pissed off several of the guys I used to perform with when I unexpectedly brought an arranger keyboard to the job. The guy that ran the outfit flat out told me to get that damned thing off the stage and if I didn't I was fired. That was the next to the last job I worked with that band. Ironically, those that are still alive haven't worked a music job in more than 20 years.

Cheers,

Gary

How are you promoting your CD sales at your gigs now may I ask?

Er, that was musicforyourday's comment, Gary. But I'll echo the sentiment 100%. Bars and clubs? Been there, done that, don't miss 'em.

"How are you promoting your CD sales at your gigs now may I ask?"

I just say, "you don't wanna buy a CD do you?"
Sometimes I have to pay people to take them. But I make it up in volume.
I know this question wasn't for me, but I'm getting really bored with so many nights off.
Actually, when I get off my lazy tail and actually have some CDs for sale, I just stand one up on the tray in front of me and hope they ask about them. I must add my degree is in Journalism, Advertising and Sales Promotion, so I'm really good at coming up with these ideas.
Years ago, when I used to sell tapes, I generally did not give them a price, just told them to put something in the jar. Believe it or not, I got more money for them that way.
I haven't bothered to sell any CDs lately, because it makes me mad when they go home and duplicate them and give them to all their friends and family. They even TELL me they do this. I guess I should be flattered. Can't say too much because I download stuff of Youtube all the time myself.
Lately I just tell them to go to my website and download the stuff for free.
I think Uncle Dave hires a scantily-clad Redhead to hawk his songs and for other stuff too. He sells them for $10 each or 2 for $5.
I'm pretty sure Boo makes a sign "will trade CDs for almost anything" and stands out by the road going up Pike's Peak. He puts them in a brown paper bag so they can't tell its Jazz.
DonM