DD_Timekeeper

Let's do a survey!
how many gigs in a year (average)? how do you find your gigs? have you got an agency, or "do it yourself" method? do you play in one or more band? is it your regular job or you have to do something else to live? (maybe this one is a duplicate question... seen in another thread...) how much time do you play every gig? etc. etc.

In Italy, if you play an instruments, you're someone who's playing a game, not a serious professional... there's not much consideration for musicians... matter of culture... however I play 60-70 times in a year, with different bands... anyway, moneys are not enough to live with, so I'm also a computer technician... Here gigs goes from 1h 30m to 3h and more...

vdreignsuponus1

my average a year is maybe 3 or 4 gigs! there isnt much demand for GOOD music here! not a lot of places to play that arent too big for the city/cities to let us play there. all everyone wants is..emo..punk..death metal..and all that stuff. so, us being a little high school prog band isn't going to get us a whole lot, regardless! but i am a community board member and we r setting up a music festival to raise money for a community music room/recording room. so, good stuff!

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"This is an art; it's not a sports competition." -Dave Weckl
"Virg is the pinnacle for what is possible technically and creatively." -kirk
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pcannon

We are very lucky here in the U.S.( the boarder of minnesota/Wisconsin) Music has always an "escape" from the 9 to 5 of the weekly job here for most people. I've been able to play two gigs (fri-sat from 10pm to 2 am) every weekend of the year with many thrusdays and holidays aswell. So at tax time that works out to about 150 nights a year.(OOuch) During the week I teach out of my home and at two local schools. Theres also alot of studio work, for independant artist or commercials for radio and t.v. Once you show them that you can READ, Play FOR the song, act in a pro-manner, this kind of work just snowballs! Even though we all practice and push our limits and tempos, I've NEVER been hired for my speed! If you can't groove or play the pocket, you will not work. I've been fortunate to support my self and then my family through music since the age of 16,( for the past 21 years) back then the drinking age was 18, Im old! This is possible all over the states, you won't become rich, and it can be VERY cut-throat at times, but you can make a living if you can play and understand that its about songs, not solos!

Johnny

I play only about 150-200 gigs a year. Could (and have) played 250-up, but fortunately my teaching allows me to be a little more selective about the gigs I do.

There's plenty of work in Texas, and an extra dimension is available here in the South (the Bible belt) for Christian drummers: Praise band work. Many of those gigs can be very musical, they pay their musicians well, and you don't have to deal with smoke or blown monitors that smell like stale beer!

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Pax Christi,
Johnny
www.johnnydrums.com

DD_Timekeeper

Don't know why, but when I read the word 'only' before the words '200 gigs', it makes me cry when I'll play 200 gigs in a year, I will offer a dinner in Italy to all the forum members, inclusive of the travel ticket!

dave wilkinson

how many gigs a year, 200!!!! what the hell...... some people are lucky.... the average around here may be........ 5-10 a year.......but that depends on how well known you are.....

DD_Timekeeper

Dave, where are you from?

Andrew Dennison

How do all of you guys get your gigs?

alencore

there's enough gigs here if the band is good, popular enough and has many contacts.

Milo Porto

musical situation here..? Huh! we're ****ed...the only major gigs we have here are jingally jangally type of music gigs..! jingally jangally...i.e. indie music...etc.. there are metal gigs here BUt very lamely organized..!!!

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There's nothing for you to fight against, You're so unreal it's evident, You'll never be one of our kind
This ain't yours, **** you don't try, again we will rise! - lamb of god

DD_Timekeeper

Initially I've spent a lot of time travelling from pub to pub, and leaving demo CD's (Italy is not U.S.!!)... but this was many years ago... now I'm quite known in my region, so often it's people who calls me for a gig... and also, to play often, I have several bands... here we call "tribute band", but I don't know if it's correct: we call "tribute band" a band which plays only covers from a single author/group. I have an Iron Maiden tribute band, Queen tribute band, Pearl Jam t.b., Alice in Chains, and recently Symphony-X tribute band. In the early days I played also in a Steve Vai & Loe Satriani tribute. It would be great to have an agency to get gigs for us, but they only do it you play "liscio", an awful sub-kind of horrible sounds which is characteristic of Italy

vdreignsuponus1

i think i need to move to texas..

__________________
"This is an art; it's not a sports competition." -Dave Weckl
"Virg is the pinnacle for what is possible technically and creatively." -kirk
www.myspace.com/slavetothestix2