From melvinnich@aol.com Sat Mar 06 14:06:54 2004
Subject:Re: OT...LA Gig money


In a message dated 3/6/04 3:21:41 PM, dougb415@yahoo.com writes:

> The SF Bay area is just as brutal. Many is the time I've seen 1st call
> session dudes playing for *the tip bucket*. I made more money playing in my high
> school band back in the early 70s in Michigan.
>

I moved out of L.A. in the late 70s and never moved back, so I luckily got
out before the "pay to play" and crazy-money stuff got out of hand. I love
L.A. for all kinds of reasons, but I'm not planning on moving back.

The West Coast is not alone: New York today has first-call people going out
for $50. Speaking of Michigan, I felt as if in exile when I moved from
East Coast to Michigan a few years ago, but I have to admit that Michigan is less
labor per dollar on the average, even though there are significant
music-quality problems that small-town situations have. On the other hand, I have
found that here people love you no matter how bad your unit is. That's actually
a nice feeling compared to the "who's the Man" attitude found among some city
musicians. I'm actually enjoying Michigan very much.

On the other-other hand, as things have worked out so far, to find situations
that push me to improve, I have to either play solo gigs where I set a
demanding agenda or go out of town. On the other-other-other hand, there are
plenty of little gigs to do in town, which surprises me, since the economy is not
great in Michigan.

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