View Full Version : First paid gigs!
instrumentality
Dec-06-2009, 10:01pm
This morning one of our community ministers came up to me at coffee hour, grabbed my arm and said, "you play piano, right?" It turned out she was in need of a musician for the weekly Sunday evening service she leads at the university nearby. The person who was supposed to do it fell through, so I said I could. She also asked if I could do something on mandolin, so I played the Clare Jig and The Merry Blacksmith, and it went really well! And, unbeknownst to me until just now, they pay $100 for this!
This is right on the heels of leading the musical part of the community advent event that my old church put on a couple of weeks ago ("can you do something folksy, maybe with fiddles?" asked my old pastor), for which we also got paid. We used all of that money to cover expenses, but I can't think of a more fun reason to make a three hour trip that ended up being free.
I can't believe I get to play music for fun AND even for a little bit of money...I'm still kind of in awe that people would even ask! I mean, I like my regular job a lot, but it still feels like work. To me, playing music doesn't feel like work so getting money for it is all the more amazing. I'm sure if I were a full time musician, I might feel more pressure to make money, because I'd need to make a living with it. And maybe it would feel more like work then. But I guess what I'm really saying is that right now I'm feeling very grateful to be able to do something I love and have other people think it's valuable enough to be worth money, even a little bit.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2555/4151637963_2d03dd844f.jpg
(This is the group of us that played a couple weeks ago at the Advent event. I'm the girl with the mandolin...in case you didn't guess).
Rob Gerety
Dec-06-2009, 10:08pm
Great fun isn't it? My first "gig" was last year. A contra dance in a tiny Grange hall. I think 20 people showed up. My cut was $5.00.
sgarrity
Dec-06-2009, 10:11pm
My only paying gig netted me $7 but it sure was fun!
allenhopkins
Dec-06-2009, 10:19pm
As New England contra dance guru Bob McQuillen supposedly said: "Getting paid to play music is like getting paid to eat ice cream."
Now, I've played a gig or two (or two hundred) that didn't feel quite that pleasant, but overall, it sometimes surprises me that I get paid 150 times a year, for something I'd probably be doing at home in my basement if I weren't "playing out." Enjoy, and don't spend that C-note all in one place...
barry k
Dec-06-2009, 10:34pm
Whats the old joke " how do you make a million dollars playing music?.......start out with 2 million !!" Enjoy it while you can, have fun with it...sounds like you are. But be careful, what starts out as a joy can often become a pain.
Jill McAuley
Dec-07-2009, 12:40am
Great stuff! Your Hyalite is already earning it's keep!
Cheers,
Jill
J. Galoshes Esq.
Dec-07-2009, 12:44am
Congrats! I hope these are the first of many to come
catmandu2
Dec-07-2009, 2:27am
As New England contra dance guru Bob McQuillen supposedly said: "Getting paid to play music is like getting paid to eat ice cream."
But, playing music for a three-hour dance (or eating ice-cream for three hours) is a good bit of work. Fun, but still work.
Matt DeBlass
Dec-07-2009, 6:37am
Well, standard pub gig is about 4 hours, St. Patrick's Day is noon-midnight, at that point it feels like work, but is still fun (in the sense of "fun" that running my first marathon was "fun," deeply satisfying, but I wasn't bouncing up and down cheering by the end).
A friend of mine from Upstate N.Y. used to say, as far as being a semi-professional musician, "I love playing music, you don't have to pay me to play music. What you're paying me for is setting aside my time on Friday night, dragging out a pile of sound gear, setting it up and tearing it down. The music is free."
Congrats and I hope these are only the first of many opportunities for you!
Dan Cohen
Dec-07-2009, 7:46am
I got iced tea and a fruit cup at the Whole Foods Cafe. That's the highest paying gig to date.
Jim DeSalvio
Dec-07-2009, 9:18am
Our jam group plays out when invited. No pay, but we always have a good time, and contribute to some sort of cause. The last one was an event to raise funds for a sick child.
Good for you! I hope you get more paying gigs.
allenhopkins
Dec-07-2009, 12:08pm
A friend of mine from Upstate N.Y. used to say, as far as being a semi-professional musician, "I love playing music, you don't have to pay me to play music. What you're paying me for is setting aside my time on Friday night, dragging out a pile of sound gear, setting it up and tearing it down. The music is free."
Or as Count Basie reportedly said, "They don't pay you for the two hours onstage; they pay you for the other 22."
instrumentality
Dec-07-2009, 1:45pm
Great stuff! Your Hyalite is already earning it's keep!
Cheers,
Jill
Yes it is! Although I suppose I should admit that the other day I pulled the trigger on a Gallatin A...I haven't decided yet whether to keep the Hyalite, or pass it along in order to make the Gallatin cost less. First I'll have to play them side by side...
...my MO with mandolins, since no one local to me ever seems to have the actual models I want to try, is apparently one of serial monogamy: I own one for a little while, then discover something else I want to try, and then sell the previous one!
Jill McAuley
Dec-08-2009, 1:12am
Oh, well done on the Gallatin - was it that one at The Mandolin Store?
Cheers,
Jill
EdSherry
Dec-08-2009, 1:31am
Congrats! Now if I could only figure out a way to break even on my music habit. (WAY more outgo than income. But well worth it.)
I have a friend who continually reminds me: "You can make tens of dollars -- I say TENS of dollars -- playing acoustic music!" All too true.
tburcham
Dec-13-2009, 2:30pm
My firs paid gig was for an Annual Customer Appreciation Day for a Luxury Dog Kennel in our area...so yes my first gig was to play for a bunch of dogs! Luckily, none of them howled (-; We've done this show for the past three years..its always a lot of fun.
Believe it or not, we've been paid for numerous events since, but the owner of this kennel is the most generous of those we have played for to date.
David Rambo
Dec-13-2009, 6:14pm
Congratulatons and welcome to the world of working musicians. Isn't is fun and, yes, a blessing, to get paid for something we'd probably do for free, anyway!
dougb256
Dec-13-2009, 6:50pm
My wife and I made $44 at our coffee house gig last week. Big times! Someone even put 14 cents in the tip bucket when we did our soundcheck. Yes, 14 cents. People are funny!
Nothing gets you gooder faster than regular performance in front of a live audience.