I'm sure BBQ Bob will have stories to contribute to this thread, and I encourage others, elders or no, to chime in.
Tale of Two Gigs this weekend:
FRIDAY: Scojo's Harp & Juke Fest in Jackson, MS. Everything was handled professionally, start to finish. Great stage, great soundmen, and, most importantly, the getting paid part was spot-on. When the appropriate moment came, after Brandon and I had played our set, I followed the money guy upstairs, through several executive offices, into a back office, where he handed me The Envelope. It contained the agreed-upon amount of compensation, in cash--in $100 bills, actually. I counted it out with him watching, split it in half, put my cash in my wallet and Brandon's cash in my pocket. Shook hands with the money guy and took the elevator downstairs. I found Brandon outside and palmed him his cash.
That's how it's supposed to work. All credit due to Scojo and his crew. A very professional job on all fronts.
SUNDAY: Two months ago, a guy who has dreams of being a promoter called and asked me to play his festival--the Foxfire Fall Festival, at the same Foxfire Ranch venue where Hill Country Harmonica took place in May. I quoted him a price--less than the per person price Scojo paid in Jackson, because this was a smallish local festival. I didn't know the guy--he'd taken my card after seeing me play Rooster's--but I was game. He readily agreed to the price. I confirmed with him yesterday. This afternoon I showed up at 5:16, one minute after the agreed upon show-up time. The promoter greeted me, we chatted briefly, and that was that. I played from 6 to 6:45, as agreed. The festival was very poorly attended, but of course that wasn't my problem, or fault. It was a three-day festival with four or five acts on Friday, six or seven on Saturday, and about ten today, from noon through midnight. About ten minutes after I got off, as I was breaking down my percussion set, the promoter walked by. "Hey," I said, "I should talk to you about getting paid. How are you handling that?"
He smiled. "I'll be paying you tomorrow or Tuesday," he said. "After I've counted up my receipts. I hope that's okay. I'll find you. You live in Oxford, right?"
"Right," I said.
Why I didn't get violently pissed off right then, I'm really not sure. I guess I'm just a nice guy.
I've been in the business, on and off, for twenty years. I've had professional management. I've played lots of small gigs and lots of big gigs. Everybody--and I mean EVERYBODY, from musicians up through promoters--knows that you don't tell performers that you're going to pay them the next day, or the day after that. It just isn't done. It's beyond small time. It's bordering on criminal negligence.
A promoter's job is to have enough cash on hand, APART from gate receipts, to pay the contracted amount to his performers, in cash, on the day of the performance. Period. No ifs, no ands, no buts. That is how it is done. Anything else is unprofessional in the extreme, and somebody attempting to behave that way is marking themselve with a big X that reads "I am not a professional."
The guy actually said, "I'll drive to you and pay you early in the week. You live right in Oxford, don't you?" And I actually said, "Sure, we can meet in the square or something. No sweat."
It wasn't until later that I began to get pissed off. I began to think about the lameness of his excuse. "I'm counting gate receipts"? What he meant was, "The gate receipts weren't nearly as big as I'd hoped, and I didn't bring enough cash to cover payments to bands." What he meant was, "I'm NOT counting gate receipts, because there were hardly any gate receipts."
At this point, a guy like BBQ Bob knows all the possible ways this scenario turns out.
1) The guy never calls me. I have his number, but he won't pick up.
2) The guy calls me, shows up at my place, hands me half of the contracted amount, and say, "Dude, I'm really sorry to do this, but I'm paying everybody half of what they bargained for, because people just didn't show up at the festival. I hope you understand"--followed by a lame-ass grin.
3) The guy calls me, shows up at my place, and hands me the contracted amount, apologizing profusely as he does so and making a point of telling me what I already knew, which is that he took a bath and had to basically rip out his 401k in order to pay the bands. He tells me more than I need to know, and manages to make ME feel guilty for the fact that I'm getting paid two days late.
These are the three likeliest scenarios. I tend to think it'll be #2 or #3. If it's #3, I'll try to give him some friendly advice about how no self-respecting promoter does what he did, and I'll encourage him not to do it again. If it's #2, I'll tell him that if he's serious about stiffing me in that way, I'll be forced to adhere to the code shared by all self-respecting musicians: I'll be forced to tell everbody I know--including y'all at this forum, and my many Facebook and MySpace friends--his name, and strongly urge people never to do business with him. If it's #1, I'll do the same thing, but I won't have the pleasure of telling him to his face. It's only because I'm a self-respecting professional that I'm not telling you his name right now.
Of course I should have spelled out, during the initial conversation, that I expected to be paid in cash before my performance. That's what my agency used to put in their contracts. I used to think that was overkill, but now it makes sense.
Please share your stories about not getting paid.
Last Edited by on Oct 10, 2010 8:00 PM
Heard all of it and had it all done to me. The worst is the one about "counting the gate"...which usually means I am screwed. (The guy went busted on the show or is just going to steal all of it) When it really kills you is when you're on that road on a tour, riding a bus in a package show...you just destroyed a crowd at a minor league baseball park and the "man" comes up and says...."I dont know what to say, somebody broke into the box office and stole all the money". And there you are in the rain at midnight with the bus warming up to go to the next town. All night long you cant sleep because of knowing you will never get a dime of it...although the agency booking the package has already got its deposit money and has spent it. My contract now states this..(I wrote it myself. And I have never had anyone bitch about it except 2-bit club owners.) But its either my way or no way when it comes to this.
"Manner of paying the fee. The FIRST order of business after introductions have been made will be the paying of the fee. This is the time for the real live, actual physical transfer of the fee money from your hand into mine. Not after the show is done, not when Mister so-and-so gets back with the money, not when the partner gets there later, not tomorrow morning, but NOW. 50 years in this business has forced us into realizing that the road to disaster is paved with good intentions and we have lost too much money due to unforeseen circumstances. Thank you for understanding this. We will give you the best we've got for your audience"
IDF Defensive training. [The remainder has been deleted by the webmaster. Good point, Harvey.] ---------- Suzuki HarpMaster in C Suzuki FolkMaster in D,E and F Hohner Old Standby in A Hohner Special 20 in Bb Hohner Big River in Low F,G,A,Bb,C and D
Last Edited by on Oct 11, 2010 4:48 AM
Frank. The rules state "Religion is one topic where we have, unfortunately, proven our inability to remain civil or respect each other's differences. Accordingly, threads containing the word "religion" or variants on that word, and/or threads devoted explicitly to discussions of religion are BANNED FROM THIS FORUM until further notice".
This summer I did a gig at a local 5 star hotel when they did a lobster boil. Right on the beach, very nice. It was a 2 hour gig, with a ten minute break. Being it wasn't a bar gig and it was upscale clients (75$ all you can eat,free music.) I wanted to play a well paced gig, no patter, go from song to song, just work the gig. We did great, played a couple of requests and the audience left happy.
I ran into the manager and asked her for the check. She looked wide eyed at me and said the general manager went home. She said I would have to provide a bill statement for the evening and in addition, sign a tax form and a liability release. I told her that I had already signed a 7 page contract 4 months previous spelling out our obligation. She gave me a pen, told me to sign the tax form and told me to call her on her cell to meet her. I called her 10 mins later and she told me to met her on the delivery loading dock of the hotel for the check. Well, I waited 30 minutes for her to show. She stepped through the door, took the document and told me to contact the general manager the next week. Long story short, it took a week to get the check.
I guess most people this stuff would drive them nuts. Now, don't get me wrong, I like to get paid but it has never been a driving motivator for me. For other musicians, the hustle is as important as the playing. But I am a biz manager and it i my responsibility to get my guys pay, just like it is the bass players deal to supply the PA. In 15 years if gigging, I have never been stiffed, but then again, I work the relationship w/ the bookers to order to avoid that. I guess I have been lucky so far.
Last Edited by on Oct 10, 2010 9:53 PM
Best pay story I ever head happen to a very well known blues harp guy in the Boston area. It happened about 35years ago after he released a very successful first album, was established in the New England market and had done some national tours with marquee names.
He showed up to play a beach bar here in RI that featured blues bands and was a biker bar. Well, this guy shows up and is full of himself. he tells the manager/owner that he is a big muckymuck and by the way, his fee had gone up from 500/night to 1000 and that was the new deal.
The manager said he would have to call his boss and the harp player said okay. The manager dialed his boss , spoke to him a little bit explaining the situation and then handed the phone to the harp player, "my boss wants to talk to you." The guy took the phone and listen to the boss. About 30 seconds into the call, the harp player went quiet and white in the face. He listened a bit more, and handed the phone back to the manager. He then went out to the van and loaded in for the show without another. It turned out that he never got paid that night because the guy he talked to on the phone was the biggest Maifa in RI and his brother was the manager of the bar. The boss was so mad with the shit the harp player pulled, that he told him not only would he get no raise, he will play for free or else!
Last Edited by on Oct 10, 2010 9:44 PM
Annette Holloway and her husband Hamilton are friends of mine through an organization we are involved with. They are great beautiful people up to big things in the world.
When I went to NOLA to participate in a community event with them, (and jam with Todd Greene, Harveyharp and Beltone) I found out over dinner to my astonishment that Foxfire Ranch is Annette's family's operation. I had no idea.
What serendipity!
Keep us posted, I will definitely inform them of your experience as I know their commitment to integrity and having the Ranch be a positive experience for all who come there. ---------- Shane
I went to a couple friends' show to watch them in a battle of the bands. The promoter skipped out before picking a winner with the (meager) receipts. The parents of one of the bands were yelling at the owners of the bar (who were not the promoters, the place had been rented out). The kids had performed maybe the worst cover of Teen Spirit I have ever heard but they had all their parents in the audience so they probably would have won. The rapper was volunteering have his friends track the promoter down and kill him. I think maybe his response actually got other people to calm down a little. Other people, my friends included, were just trying to figure out what was going on.
Everyone went home frustrated, but fortunately the venue was big enough and valued it's reputation enough so they gave the bands (even the really bad ones) a chance to get bigger gigs. Unfortunately, my friends' band disintegrated. They were really good.
Shanester: Annette was there last night and we're all good friends. Yes, she's a woman of integrity, as is her mother. My first call, should the promoter actually NOT pay me the full amount in a timely way (i.e., within the next 48 hours), would be to the Holloways. Unless I specifically drop the promoter's name here, I trust that you'll say nothing to them. My point wasn't to exert any real-world leverage on the guy--or not yet, since he may well pay me the full amount today or tomorrow--but simply to blow off steam. Thanks.
Let me be crystal-clear: you'll be doing me active harm if you speak to the Holloways. Please allow me to take care of business in my own way. Thanks.
Last Edited by on Oct 11, 2010 4:58 AM
About not getting paid. Get used to it. It happens, or as Forrest Gump said, "Shit happens".
It happened to our band, back in the day (late 70s, hate to admit). The result in our case-- a crime was committed in the service of getting paid.
In the late 70s, we played a club in Vancouver, B.C. called "Gary Taylor's Rock Room" on Hornby street. Before that it was called "Gary Taylor's Show Lounge". The club went from strippers to music; it's all good, we had one more place to play when it became the Rock Room.
I wasn't the money person. I didn't do the deals. I just played harp. I was the dreamy artist who cared nothing for money as an end in itself. An "agent" (a friend who wanted to be in the business, such as it was) booked the gig.
We played 3 or 4 nights. When we were done, we didn't get paid. I don't know what the excuse was, I was out of the loop, I just played my harp. I sensed then, as I know now, that this club owner was struggling to keep afloat, financially. Our band didn't draw a huge crowd; but neither did it bomb during the three or four nights we played. Whatever the reason, this club owner was struggling.
Two of our band members decided to take matters in hand. The day after Gary told us, "I'll pay you when I can", they visited his club and "liberated" the club's house P.A. amplifier; i.e. stole it when no-one was looking. A day later, one of them phoned Gary and said, "we'll trade your amp for our pay." He agreed. Someone went down to collect, the exchange was made. Both sides understood there was never a question of the police getting involved in this debt settlement.
It meant a lot to two of the band members; they were depending on the band for their bread and butter. I and the drummer weren't as desperate. We had day gigs in addition to our night gig. I'll tell the truth, I didn't care if we got paid or not. Partly because I could pay the rent either way, but-- the big reason-- I loved to play.
Music was never about the money. It was about the chance to get high, once again, playing the music I loved with a compatible band that might click that very night. Once in a while, we got "in the zone", i.e., got in the groove and could do no wrong. We were tuned into the cosmos. It felt good, as good as anything I've experienced in this material realm. Some of you gigging musicians know; it's better than sex, don't tell our wives or husbands.
But, I digress. What I'm saying, Adam, is that you might not have got paid, but if you examine yourself and your music, money is probably not why you do this thing. That said, it is wrong for promoters to promise pay for your art, and then not pay.
It has gotten so flake around here, that I send a contract and letter out with posters stating that we won't even set up until the contract is signed and we won't play until we are paid in advance. ---------- Mike VHT Special 6 Amp for Harp Blog
@ HarveyHarp. I never used the word "religion" in my post and being Jewish has nothing at all to do with religion, it is an ethnic heritage just like being Irish, Black or Hispanic, you're BORN Jewish, you're not drafted into it. IDF(Israeli defense Force) use Krav Maga as a means of Combat training for their troops. I'd wager that 99.9% of the guys and gals on the IDF are of Jewish Heritage, again, it has NOTHING to do with "religion" at all. I know some here will nit pick every thing I post from this point on in an effort to get me banned from the forum, that's fine I can live with it because I'm sure that nothing I post will be against forum rules.
Back on topic, in "Anvil: The Story of Anvil" they were shorted their pay after playing in a Czech club so stuff like this happens, that's why it's good to get the money up front. ---------- Suzuki HarpMaster in C Suzuki FolkMaster in D,E and F Hohner Old Standby in A Hohner Special 20 in Bb Hohner Big River in Low F,G,A,Bb,C and D
I'm not affiliated with any religion. I've been practicing Krav Maga for the past six years. It's not exclusive to the IDF, in fact most special forces personnel around the world as it's the most effective form of combat fighting.
I got into it via my dog training friends many of whom are ex-special forces or police officers. One of my dog training friends runs a Krav studio about three miles from my house and I often check in an train there several times per week.
Confrontation is something that can happen to a musician and playing music in public may lead you into some questionable situations. I'm not going to be a victim if that happens to me, it's simply not an option. A few years ago I heard a story about a couple of musician who were attacked after a gig by a couple of guys with chains that had fish hooks attached to the rings. They got tore up and had a lot of their gear stolen. It could happen to you. Are you prepared for it? What are you going to do when somebody tells you, you aren't going to be paid? I get paid or we agree that I'm not going to be paid. There are certain circumstances where I may accept not being paid but I never accept being screwed for any reason.
---------- "I am a great believer in understanding, not copying."
Krav Maga is brutal stuff, and very effective when used by a good practicioner. I have a buddy I see a few times a year, and he and I share techniques with each other(we both end up going home from our get-togethers all dirty and scuffed up-fun times!)-He's studied KM and several other styles for many years. Now, I won't stand up as an advocate for violence, but in a situation where a promoter/club owner is using some form of indimidation and threatening YOU with violence, some hand-to-hand self-defense training could come in handy(this has never happened to me, thankfully). A huge disclaimer, especially here in the States where many(including myself)pack heat for self-defense, remember that a lot of bar-owners do this, too. Don't be foolish enough to justify their use of it on you. ----------
Crescent City Harmonica Club Todd L Greene, Co-Founder
Last Edited by on Oct 11, 2010 12:29 PM
Krav Maga is probably one of the more Practical self defense styles taught today because besides hand to hand it also teaches firearms which can be important if you have a CCW. I studied a little Kenpo "back in the day" mostly because I don't have the best balance(if I did I'd be riding the hell out of a skate board, those things are totally cool) so Kenpo, with more punching and low kicks just fit me better then styles that used more high kicks. I think I was just trying to point out the humorous irony in a guy with a forum name of "Buddha" learning a Martial Art style that would be used by the IDF who would mainly be Jewish. No offense was ment by it and no "religious" discussion took place. Kind of like a kid named Christian being a Satanist. I guess some people just can't see the humor in that.;) ---------- Suzuki HarpMaster in C Suzuki FolkMaster in D,E and F Hohner Old Standby in A Hohner Special 20 in Bb Hohner Big River in Low F,G,A,Bb,C and D
Last Edited by on Oct 11, 2010 6:24 AM
@TNFrank : Christian Vikernes was a satanist, with his one-man band "Burzum". He changed his name to "Varg" Vikernes and spent some 15 years in jail for murdering his ex-bandmate ... over a money argument.
LOL, that sounds like the Norwegian Black Metal guys. The band Mayhem took pieces of their dead singers skull(he blew his brains out with a shotgun) and made necklaces out of em'. Their are for sure some sick people out there in the world. ---------- Suzuki HarpMaster in C Suzuki FolkMaster in D,E and F Hohner Old Standby in A Hohner Special 20 in Bb Hohner Big River in Low F,G,A,Bb,C and D
Yep, that's exactly that : Varg was the ex-bass player in Mayhem, and he killed the lead guitarist of that band ; the same guy that found the body of the singer and took the skull pieces (not only that, but he took a picture of the corpse with the blown out brains and made it the cover of a Mayhem album (Dawn of the Black Hearts).
Mayhem is still making records and touring by the way, I saw them this year. Only the drummer is left from the founding members. But I bet they never get unpaid...
Back to the OT, I've never done a wrtitten contract for a show I was the 'money guy' on-ever. But, it's a good idea. If you get stiffed, you have some possible legal backing tied to the promoter's signature, I would think. Just knowing they signed something agreeing to pay you would probably motivate most to do so, for fear you'd use it against them.
New Orleans is a small enough town that word DOES get out quickly about what clubs either pay nothing, are notorious for stiffing, or which shifty clubowner just moved to which club. More and more clubs are moving to cover charges here, which isn't admired by most musicians(myslef included), and about the only way to keep the door guys honest is to bring your own, and a clicker to count heads. I always try to promote whatever show I am playing and bring a crowd to do my part to make money for the club and my band. This is kind of expected of you here. Very few clubs do promotion of any kind beyond ads in the entertainment rags, if you are lucky. ----------
Crescent City Harmonica Club Todd L Greene, Co-Founder
Last Edited by on Oct 11, 2010 6:55 AM
In the mid 70's I worked "The Great American Music Fest" held a the New York State Fairgrounds. There were some big acts that played that day, including Jefferson Starship. It was run by a big NYC promoter of the day - John Scherr. We never got paid by Mr Scherr. Fortunately New York State went to bat for all the stiffed folks - sued him - and paid us before the suit was final. Although at a reduced rate. I wonder if the big acts had to endure the same thing. ----------
Music is your own experience, your own thoughts, your wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn. They teach you there's a boundary line to music. But, man, there's no boundary line to art. - Charlie Parker
Read a piece about Chuck Berry in Rolling Stone a few months ago. One thing that stood out was that one iron clad rule of his was that he gets paid upfront, in cash, or he doesn't go on.
I remember thinking at the time, well that seems a little harsh. After reading about Adam's experience, it totally makes sense to me. not that I was ever naive that musicians got stiffed, but reading Adam's piece makes me think this sort of thing happens more often than one would think....and certainly more often than it should.......which is never.
Ok I have a story for this one, but we didn't get stiffed. This was inadvertently my bands fault, but still makes a great story.
My original band had a consistent gig at a big club in NYC right off of Bleeker. Sometimes my singer’s brother would arrange a "Party Bus" to take all of our fans from New Jersey into the city. It was a great way to fill the room in addition to our NYC following. The bus would always have enough alcohol to get 3 buses drunk on the ride. The club is 18+ so on this particular night a few friends bring some underage kids on the bus.
This club has HUGE 2 story bay windows out front with a small brick ledge where all the smokers sit. Well you can image what happened. One of "our" drunk ass underage kids sits down on this brick ledge and swings his head back uncontrollably and smashes one of these big windows. The thing comes down like a freaking guillotine and luckily doesn't hurt anyone.
Needless to say we were blamed because he was "with us" on the bus. We did not get paid at all, and we brought over 100 people. In fact the club wouldn't book us again until we sent them a check for the remaining cost of the window.
I did not ride on the party bus that night, but I heard the ride home was horrible. The kid was so drunk he yuked all over and shat himself! Needless to say, that was the last party bus.
Transformation is my "martial art". You would be amazed by the power a conversation could have...
...and I am fascinated by the various fighting forms of the world, but my first "weapon" in a disagreement or breakdown is my commitment and the willingness to have a straight conversation. ---------- Shane
I envy you Shane-you'll have to school me next time we meet. Diplomacy isn't my strong point, but luckily I don't get put to the test much. People are basically decent-then there's drunks... ----------
Crescent City Harmonica Club Todd L Greene, Co-Founder
Adam, glad you felt good about the way we ran the festival. Your and Brandon's performances were much enjoyed and appreciated; sorry we didn't get to talk before you left. Hope your situation with the other event gets resolved.
It's funny you bring this up... I JUST found out that, for a performance I am doing on Thursday, it will take two weeks for them to send me a check. It's a fundraiser for a national nonprofit (you all would recognize the name). The organizer has never done an event like this before and is very nice and apologetic, and I told her I could deal with it. (Yes, even though it's a charity, I am getting paid... I do several free events on an annual or more regular basis, and had to draw the line somewhere, but I give nonprofits a discount.)
anyway, I'm not "mad" given the circumstances, and I can afford (for once) to wait for the check. But if it were a commercial event like a festival or a club gig, I would not be nearly so understanding. I'd watch a few Krav Magna videos and then go to work. :)
I understand that there are different kinds of gigs, each with a different way of paying out. College gigs almost never pay out in cash, but rather in a check, and sometimes those checks aren't handed to you at the time, but mailed later. This is OK if you're a solo act but more difficult if you're a band.
Club gigs generally pay out at the end of the night, but of course once you're on a level where you're touring, contracts quite often stipulate that you get paid the contracted balance before you go on and then get paid "points"--your contracted % of whatever overage the club brings in over a stipulated amount: i.e., when you've packed the place out--after you get off. After all, you may be doing a 90 minute set and folks may be streaming in while you're playing. So it wouldn't make sense to pay points before you go on.
I've never been stiffed outright. Yesterday evening's experience was the closest I've actually come to that. I've played several dozen festivals over the years, and I've certainly never had somebody say, "You live in town, right? I'll come and find you in a couple of days." That's a new one. We'll see how it turns out.
Last Edited by on Oct 11, 2010 10:38 AM
I suspect that Todd is joking, he has a sense of humor, but maybe not.
New Orleans has it's hard side, particularly after Katrina. Whole communities have been torn apart and scattered, and the impact years later is still sorely felt. Violent crime is a day to day reality.
Carrying guns to gigs in the US is definitely not unheard of, depending on who you are and where you are.
It is pretty easy to obtain a firearm here without even registering. ---------- Shane
I really do carry a .40. That's not a joke. But, club or no club, I would NEVER carry it while I drink, and I try to stay away from places where i perceive any kind of threat. It's the unexpected threats that will get you every time...
Alcohol and firearms don't mix. Now power tools, that's another thing. I've done some of my finest demolition with my Sawzall and some cold brews... ----------
Crescent City Harmonica Club Todd L Greene, Co-Founder
The longer you get in the business, the more likely you're gonna eventually find more than a few scumbags in the business and when it comes to the business side of music, I follow the creed many of those old masters used to tell me, "In God I trust, but everybody else is cash money!!!"
One night many years ago at a club in the boonies in RI, I tried to collect the money, and the next thing I got was a .45 caliber pistol jammed into my teeth and it was definitely a club run by a mafioso (the state of RI has usually been known as the HQ's of the New England area branch of the Mafia, so no surprise there. Rather than risk losing my life, I just got my butt out of there and made sure that I told any bandleader I knew who was gonna play there, be aware.
@6SN7 --- I heard about that story, and thank goodness, that wasn't me.
When I went on the road with Luther "Guitar Junior" Johnson, on the ride over from Boston to Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, one story he mentioned was that several years ago, he had played a festival and they did pay him at the end of his show, but rather than with bills or cash (in terms of paper money), they paid him in, get this, rolls of quarters!!!! I almost peed myself from laughing so hard, but it was the truth and his fee at the time for his set at the festival was $2500 US, and to think of getting paid that amount in rolls of quarters ($10 per roll of quarters) was just off the charts.
There have been instances where I've been paid with a check, and most of the time, the club cashed it in their drawer and I got the cash but a few times, I've had checks that bounced like a cheap rubber ball.
One thing I advise everyone is to get EVERYTHING in writing, and I know some clubs will not sign a contract, but the alternative to that is writing something called a LETTER OF CONFIRMATION, and like a written contract, it is a BINDING legal document.
A letter like this should look something like this in it's content:
VENUE NAME: ----- ARTIST NAME: ----- DATE(S) BOOKED: ----- NUMBER OF SETS, SET TIMES, AND BREAK TIMES: ----- NUMBER OF PIECES WITH THE ARTIST: ------ LOAD IN TIME ----- SOUND CHECK TIME ------ CONTRACTED PRICE AND TYOE OF PAYMENT ----- COVER CHARGE ----- NUMBER OF GUESTS ALLOWED PER MUSICIAN ----- PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS SENT OR TO BE SENT ----- MEALS AND BEVERAGES ----- DOUND SYSTEM RENTAL -----
The above is a basic list and there can be more but this should be the main gist of it and you can see, details are VERY IMPORTANT and must always be spelled out in full. One thing to make sure is in there is this statement: THE BAND RESERVES THE RIGHT TO, AT ANY TIME WITHOUT NOTICE, INSPECT ALL GATE RECEIPTS BY EITHER THE BANDLEADER OR SOMEONE DESIGNATED BY THE BANDLEADER. This same thing applies to someone at the door, and if you're playing for the door, get your own door person you trust because all sorts of nasty crap can happen.
Now what you do is make 3 copies of this, one being sent to the club/booking agent/talent buyer, one to keep for your records, and VERY IMPORTANTLY, one to make sure that you have ON YOUR PERSON at the gig (and NO excuses for not having it on you, and as a bandleader, you cannot afford to be a scatterbrain or you're screwed). What this does is not only protect you, but also the club owner and one thing to stipulate is that NO CHANGES CAN BE MADE TO THE DOCUMENT UNLESS FULLY AGREED UPON BY BOTH PARTIES IN WRITING ONLY.
If you get double booked, which will happen, whoever shows up with the documentation is ALWAYS the one legally to be on the bandstand.
If you're on the road with a band, this is when becoming a member of the Musician's Union can be of great benefit where they can actually chase things down for you and pay your wages, but on a local level, other than the LA local, it doesn't help you and ever since disco, they've lost a lot of clout because prior to disco, the number of clubs to bands was easily25 to 1, but since disco, it's been more like 500 bands for every club and everyone is undercutting each other.
Some places are notorious for being scumbags or having an owner who makes you scratch your head in wonder how the hell they stay in business by the way they run things.
There are plenty of club owners who don't bother to read a contract and a story of a friend of mine's rockabilly band, on the very first page of the band contract, in 3" bold, capitalized font, it clearly says, "PLEASE READ CAREFULLY ---- THIS BAND PLAYS LOUD!!!!' Well, apparently the club owner didn't bother to read it carefully and he booked this band in there where really a jazz band, which nearly always plays at low volumes, should be playing, and he was screaming at them to turn the volume down, and the bandleader asked him straight up, "Did you bother to fully read the contract first????"
There are some sites on the net that sell music business contract form packages that you can use as an editable template and I absolutely suggest that one do so.
In many contracts, there are things called riders, which are things in addition to the main body of the contract for other odd little items, such as the type of food the band wants, temperature of the dressing room and a whole lot of other things. When you are lower on the totem pole and you're not drawing at least close to a full crowd in ANY room at ALL of your gigs, you are in NO power to demand anything. The main reason for the riders is to make sure that the club owner/booking agent/talent buyer has FULLY read the contract first.
If you're playing clubs on a level that you're gonna be getting at least $1000 per night or more, then you have to expect getting paid with a check and as a bandleader, you always need to make damned sure that you have enough cash on hand to pay the rest of the band, no ifs ands, or buts.
If you do something that's run by a government agency, be it festivals, etc., you will almost NEVER get paid on the day of the gig, and you have to expect at least a 3-6 month wait.
Now if you're doing the GB circuit, which means the general business circuit, where what you're playing tends to be weddings, barmitzfahs, copporate functions and similar, right off the bat, you are NOT the center of attention, just background music and nothing more and you'll never get paid on the same day, and it's usually at least 6-8 week wait for a corporate check (I would trust corporate check over a personal check ANY DAY and for any type of gig, don't even think of paying me with a personal check).
In big venues, like the House of Blues chain, if they're paying you over $600-1000+++ for the band, you should expect to be paid by a check.
If you have a booking agent, when you sign a contract with an agent, he will always want permission to collect at least a 50% deposit on your behalf, where he will take his fee off the top and the rest is yours and if you got your head together, you keep it in a seperate band BUSINESS checking account so that when it's time to pay the band,at least you have funds on hand to do it.
This is, unfortunately, a HUGE reason why I recommend that EVERY musician learn the business aspect of things. ---------- Sincerely, Barbeque Bob Maglinte Boston, MA http://www.barbequebob.com CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
Last Edited by on Oct 11, 2010 11:24 AM
LOL, I watched a trailer for "Cadillac Records" the other day and Little Walter, IIRC, got out of a car and shot a guy in the head that was using his name. Don't know how factual it was but DANG, that guy was serious about his name. I try to avoid fights if I can, don't want to get my glasses broken, those things are expensive and I'm pretty much blind without em'. You have to remember, Krav Maga was designed for Real World encounters, it's not and Art like Judo or Karata is, it's made for one thing, to main and or kill the opponent. It's the real deal, Jeet Kune Do being one of the other Real World Martial Arts. ---------- Suzuki HarpMaster in C Suzuki FolkMaster in D,E and F Hohner Old Standby in A Hohner Special 20 in Bb Hohner Big River in Low F,G,A,Bb,C and D
On second thought, I don't really mind not getting paid. Maybe I'll just invite the guy out for coffee and we'll talk about the weather. It's only money.
Last Edited by on Oct 11, 2010 12:26 PM
You could always hire Buddha as a Bodyguard/money collector Adam. I'm sure he'd not charge too much of a cut for his services. ;) ---------- Suzuki HarpMaster in C Suzuki FolkMaster in D,E and F Hohner Old Standby in A Hohner Special 20 in Bb Hohner Big River in Low F,G,A,Bb,C and D
Actually, if an owner says that he'll pay you then you DO have a Verbal Contract that he's obligated to honor so you'd be within your Rights to sue him for payment. Unless of course it's like in The Blues Brothers where you get paid $200 and you drank $300 worth of beer, in which case I'd let the money slide,LOL ---------- Suzuki HarpMaster in C Suzuki FolkMaster in D,E and F Hohner Old Standby in A Hohner Special 20 in Bb Hohner Big River in Low F,G,A,Bb,C and D
That Krav Maga move is fine, but the instructor is full of crap. You need to move your head out of the line of fire as you move. You don't want to give anyone a split second more time to evacuate your brains from the side of your head instead of the front.
Look at him stand still. Do you want to trust your hand speed alone? Yes, says the half-headed man.
