ONE MAN BANDS PHASED OUT?

Saw this thread posts on another forum......check link


"Up here in New England there has been a steady and recently sharp
decline in work for us musicians due to the DJ's and Karakoke
hosts.Other than the obvious decline in interest in live music, it's
gotten just plain scary to see clubs I used to love to play to packed
or near packed houses remove live music nights from their schedule. I
realize also now after talking to my brother in-law who is visiting
from L.A. (who is also a working musician) that it's not just in New
England, It's everywhere it seems!
He's says it's the same way out there. The question is.. what are we
going to do about it? Other than stalking and beating the living shit
out of every DJ and Karaoke host we can find, I can't think of
anything. Of course you can't go around pounding people into submission
without going to jail for it so again what do we do? We have to take it
back somehow some way. Many bands around here have resorted to playing
3-4 sets a night for $150.00 just to talk the money grubbing clubowners into letting them play!
It's just gotten out of hand and we need to do something!
Suggestions??"

Never enjoyed playing in bars, so we mostly did one nighters. But I have played some bars with friends' bands. Haven't done that in over ten years. I am so happy playing my NH and retiree gigs. The jobs are short and pay relatively good for the time period. But I must say it is tough for local bands to find work around metro Detroit...

Go to Florida; there's OMBs and TMBs in every other bar/restaurant...

Long-timers are survivors. When I started playing live, it was Rosemary Clooney, Marty Robbins; followed by Bill Hailey and the like. The mix was standards, country getting airtime on standard AM and rock-n-roll.

Then, there was the British invasion, followed by the influence of South American sounds. Add folk, disco, the cutting back, where first horns, then bass players, then drummers disappeared.
That was followed by the invention of restaurant licenses, where music became a side-line adder; not the draw, but a little diversion, followed by a corresponding cut in pay. Every little corner restaurant has music; usually a single acoustic guitar playing three chords.

That was followed by places that paid the musicians the door or less.

For me, the critical element of survival has been diversity, both in the aspect of playing lots of styles and a variety of venues; many not public restaurants and bars. I'm talking philharmonic organizations, jazz arts societies, recording projects...the list is long and varied.

I've done all of the above, and even though I know I'm a short-timer now, I'll have to make adjustments before I hang it up.

Sounds hackneyed, but hard work and talent will assure success; however it is defined in the future.

Good luck to all!


Russ

OMBs have all the work they can handle in my area, and I'm not talking just the NH circuit - don't know why it's so different in New England. Baltimore's Little Italy, Inner Harbor clubs, Fells Point, and throughout the Annapolis area are loaded with OMB guys. BUT - the payscale is the same as it was 40 years ago - $150 for 4 hours on Friday and Saturday nights, and $100 for 4 hours on weekday nights. If you want to make a living, go with the NH circuit and private parties. Of course, like any business, you must advertise and promote your product - the potential clients are not gonna come pounding on your door and ringing your phone off the hook begging you to perform. It just don't work that way.

BTW: In my area a lot of party promotion stores have recently opened. These folks supply all the neat stuff for parties and also act as agents to connect entertainers of all ilks with clients who wish to hold parties. You can tell them the kind of parties you wish to work, and they'll do their best to put you in touch. Their fee is 15 to 20 percent, so adjust your prices accordingly to reflect the agent fee. I just registered with two party places in my neighborhood, told them that I only do senior events, 50th wedding anniversaries, weddings where the bride and groom are over 55 years of age, cocktail parties, senior dance parties, etc... I just registered with them a week ago and already booked a job for this coming October.


Good Luck,

Gary

I don't think the DJ's are playing the same songs as the OMB players. If the arranger keyboards had more updated styles with today's sounds rather than older standard bread and butter styles, then there could be more excitement to relate to younger audiences wanting to hear contemporary beats. I wish the next arranger would offer better backing possibilities. Then I'd buy that arranger.

Hal, I don't think the keyboard is the problem. There are lots of styles that can be used for younger audiences, but younger audiences are not the ones who frequent upscale restaurants and nite clubs, mainly because they don't have the money to do so. In Baltimore's Fells Point, where the younger crowds tend to congregate, they have lots of heavy metal bands - 4 to 6 piece bands that play head-banging rock at ear bleed volumes. As an OMB entertainer, we never competed with them, and never tried to compete with them - it's just not our thing. Those bands, and my son used to have one, make $450 to $600 a night, based upon the gate charges. More often than not, his band got 60 percent of the gate. Upscale restaurants and bars don't have a cover charge, don't hire DJs, don't hire heavy metal bands, and get away with paying chump change for a OMB entertainer, or a piano player that may, or may not, sing. Nothing has changed here.

Cheers,

Gary