John Lisi and Delta Funk with Jason Ricci ran the DeckBar jam last night-lots of great players were in the house, and it ran an hour overtime. T'was fun!
Here's a vid of the 'house band' in action playing an older Lisi tune.
It is unfair for this to be posted and have no gear, hair, or clothing comments about Jason!!! I am so jealous of a lot of you. Minnesota is lame...especially for harmonica players. The blues scene is not generally very welcoming and there are a lot of cliques...I know that happens a lot of places and the grass is always greener, but even the Cities is weak.
I could go on and on about how crappy it has gotten around here in the last ten years, but I won't. ---------- Mike Quicksilver Custom Harmonicas Updated 3/17/11
Haha, well, let me know if I can help you househunt! Did I mention, in addition to our strong music scene with a buttload of harp players, awesome food, tons of festivals and Jason Ricci always being around-we have no snow ;-) ---------- Todd
Here's another from last night-me and most of my band. That's jason's rig, just the amp I'm pretty sure, and his batteries in his wireless were on the fritz-but it was fun!
Todd: No snow, yes, but the summer heat of 5-6 months/humid........... I don't care for the snow or that heat. The SF/Marin/sonoma Counties area has the best weather in the USA IMO. Walter ---------- walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year. " life is a daring adventure or nothing at all" - helen keller
Mike, it could be worse, you could live in Northern Virginia. Here it's full of the of lame, boring and snobs. I regret not leaving when I had the chance. Now with the wife, kid and house we're here for, seemingly, ever.......
Mike, I thought 'Rock and Roll is Alive and it Lives in Minneapolis'?
I saw a movie once about a thriving scene out there. There was a band called The Time, and another called The Revolution and the lead singer was a little hairy fellow on a purple Lambretta. He was so small, he made it look like a Harley. Apparently he's friends with Chaka Khan, Larry Graham, and lots of famous people.
Sorry. Couldn't resist.
Seriously thought, isn't there any legacy left from this era? I love Prince and the whole shebang.
Harpninja, come on down South. We'd love to have you. Between Memphis and NOLA there are a ton of great harp players (and great musicians across the board), and the scenes are generally pretty welcoming.
Shredder, yes, John Lisi has the Bose L1 Model 1. Easy to use and transport, and sounds incredible for what it is. Beats lugging power amps and multiple heavyass speakers around! Perfect for smallish to medium clubs. ---------- Todd
Minnesota had a great music scene...in some ways it still does, BUT the blues scene is relatively dead and everyone else is hurting.
Modern country has become very popular, but that isn't immune. Clubs have been stopping live music left and right and my friends who are in one of the top acts are packing venues and not getting return gigs due to the clubs' overall business.
I've shared this before, but I used to be able to get 2-4 blues gigs in my hometown a month with just a couple phone calls. Now I struggle to get even one cover band gig. The bands who do play around here average maybe $300 a night and play mostly venues not intended to have live music. Several of the nice clubs have stages that don't get used or have closed down altogether.
I always have a couple of factors against me regardless of how good or bad I am as a musician. 1.) I would gladly play blues, but there is no scene for that 2.) I would gladly be a sideman and play country or rock but people don't want to give harmonica a chance.
When I have had the chance to audition for bands, I have done really well, but none have worked out. One was because I had to commute to rehearse during the week and even though I agreed to, they didn't like the idea. The other two bands wanted me to play, but in both cases the lead guitar player vetoed adding me because I would steal their thunder. One literally hired me and the lead player called me the next day and fired me because he didn't want it to become a "harmonica" band.
I am probably an average player on this board, but I think I am good enough to be able to get some work somewhere (as a sideman...I have time to gig, but not run a band on my own right now). I've totally hijacked this thread and it wasn't my real intent. My apologies. ---------- Mike Quicksilver Custom Harmonicas Updated 3/17/11
@Todd; You got it I will post with some good ear plug info soon. I am very passionate about spreading the hearing-protection gospel - seems to be the 'white elephant' sitting in the room (or on stage!) that no one talks about...
Your playing was Awesome Todd! Terific version of Rock Me - Jason ain't so bad neither!!
Off Topic a bit; Did i see Jason adjusting ear plugs? If so, about time some pro harpers started wearing ear protection & would set a great example for young players (after plenty of hearing-loss i now wear custom er25 plugs and am trying to spread the gospel)!!! ---- ~Banned in Boston!
Last Edited by on Mar 19, 2011 8:37 AM
Yes, I think he was wearing them-it was STUPID loud in there that night, and got louder as the night progressed. Lisi wasn't overly loud, but everyone who followed him got louder and louder. I should have intervened, I guess. Oh, and thanks!
Barry, got a link for those plugs? That's worthy of a new thread. I know we've discussed it before, but it's a worthy and important topic that deserves to be rehashed. Please take the bull by the horns! ---------- Todd
Nice to see your band in action again Todd! I wish the best for you guys and I hope you are making decent money.
Mike: Your scene is hurting like most every scene is. The down south scenes I would bet don't pay as much as yours do. So you can play more but not make any money at it. When I lived in austin I played up to 10 gigs a week and was able to get by on poverty level. There is no way today I could play more than a couple times a month in that town now and the money is still the same. The midwest always pays more than the NE, South, and the west coast. College gigs pay better than club gigs, and europe pays the best for a club level american band. I made 70% of my money on the europe and college gigs, yet they only made up about 1/8 of my gigs. Festivals are a fairly new thing for the average club band to play. They also pay more than the club gigs.
The blues scenes, that is the african amercian ones, have never paid. Even on the white side the money was 1/4 or less of the cover bands. I would pay guys like sonny rhodes $100 to travel 150 miles. The gigs would pay $200 and I would use that other $100 for me, the bassist, drummer. Money and full calendars has traditionally been made playing cover music to people that are there to get laid and drunk and not really even know who was playing the songs. I lived all over this country and europe chasing that ever vanishing gig.... The scene is still basically the same only the clubs are dying out quicker than they use to. I share this info for anyone who thinks the grass is greener down the road. The good news is if you really belive this, like I did for 25 years, it will lead you to some great adventures and making money isn't the root of the journey or really even in the dream. This is why it takes not having a real career other than music and a family....... Walter ---------- walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year. " life is a daring adventure or nothing at all" - helen keller
Typical pay down here in Jackson, Mississippi for a club is $100/man... sometimes less (but no pro I know will play for less than $75/man unless it's a special case), sometimes more... but $100 is probably the median. If you are a pro and are well-known from gigging regularly, you can count on quite a bit more at private or festival gigs.
I'd be interested in knowing how that compares to other places, but I'll understand if people think that should be a different thread.
Mike & scojo: Pittsburgh is about the same for gigs. $100/man would be good around here. Lately,the crowd thins out around midnight because of the DUI laws. I play in 3 bands,none of which gig with any regularity. Times are tough.
@HarpNinja: Mike, have you ever tried getting booked into Ron's Place at LaQuinta Inn here in Rochester? If you play there, let me know; I'd come down to catch you.
Yeah, it's too bad about the scene. I've been a harper for over 45 years and I walked into my jam on Tuesday and 2 guys asked me where my keyboards were (I left 'em home and just brought my harps). I've had to play boards just to teach people blues tunes and lead 'em.
The most common pay is 300 a band here, some do 400 or 500 a band consistently, though-plus tips, of course. We've actually broken the 200 dollar mark on tips before! ---------- Todd
The average gig in Austin pays between $10 to $30 a man. A couple of times a month I make over $50, a few times a year over $100. But I gig all the time with some of the greatest players and nicest people. I've noticed when I ask a lot of players from other towns who won't play for less than $100 a man how often they play, they respond at least twice a month. I would go insane if I was only playing twice a month. It's a trade off. I would rather play regularly. I make my money from teaching lessons, which I personally enjoy as much as gigging. Michael Rubin
This scenario seems to be pretty much a world wide trend. I live in Auckland Newzealand and we have lost a lot of venues over the last few years,especially for blues/rock bands. A few years ago a local bar was paying us 400$ a gig last i heard they actually ,at worse, charge the bands for playing! at best they have to play for a share of the door take only. A bar owner I know told me one of the reasons is that these days the kids will drink their cheap liquor out in the carpark and then come into the bar intermitently and not put anything over the bar.Ergo no cash takings. Then theres the road laws etc keeping the older folks at home and lets face it the average demographic for a blues band audience does tend to be ,ahem, in the older wiser bracket. Too many bands chasing too few venues dosen't help our bargaining power either i guess.
Back @ Todd: We currently are playing a 4 piece Rock/ Blues band thru 1 Bose L1-Model-2 with a tone match mixer engine with great results. I just recived a 2nd unit yesterday. The noise level you decribed is what we used to have when we had the old conventional FOH system. The Bose system is supposed to be located behind the band which eleminates the stage monitors. We can play a good sized room and not have ringing ears after the gig.Can't imagine why the noise level needs to be that loud in your situation.Maybe the band was runnin their amps on stage and got into amp wars? We welcomed the lower stage noise when we made the change. On another point.Just across the river in S/E Texas We mostly get $300 to $400 a night for a 4 peice cover band playing 4 hours plus tips and a $50 bar tab. Crazy thing is I also play in a 2 piece acoustic duo during the evening dinner time slot. We play 2 to 3 hour gigs mostly 3 hrs. and get paid $200 a gig plus a free meal and get home by 10:00pm. Mike
Last Edited by on Mar 19, 2011 8:35 AM
Shredder:What city in Southeast Texas? Is the acoustic duo also doing covers? Most of my gigs are about an hour in length, I have never played in a cover band, but certainly that is where some of the money is. I am not sure I would enjoy it, but it is playing music so I probably would.
For 8 years I played with an acoustic duo playing 30s blues. Because of our ability to play quiet and play in a wide variety of clubs, restaurants and other places, we gigged all the time and averaged around $75 a man, even in Austin.
However, I choose my bands on what interests me artistically and unless I found a very inspiring partner I do not think I would do the duo thing again. That duo what great artistically but it burned me out on the concept. Michael
Last Edited by on Mar 19, 2011 9:43 AM
@ Michael, yes the acoustic plays covers of obscure country with a few R&B songs. The area is Beaumont, Port Arthur, Orange. AKA the golden triangle. Orignal material is great but we have discovered a good portion of the public likes songs they have grown up with and like to hear again. I guess it brings back good memories. A few orignals are great but to much dosn't seem to go over so good.
And yes $75 a man for a 4 peice is standard for the lower class bars. Get into the higher class joints and $100 is not hard to get. Get into the Casio gigs" just across the river in Louisiana" and they pay way more. Mike
Todd can clarify - but Delta Funk is not 'Jason's band' - It's John Lisi's, and Jason is playing with them. Jason isn't singing muchwith this band, and they are not rehearsing Jason's tunes. Jason is (or was) trying to put together a band called Approved by Snakes, that will be more his thing.
Alex, - will you make a West Coast stopover to or from Hill Country ? I'd still love to host you. ----------
Last Edited by on Mar 20, 2011 12:25 PM
Bonedog said it. John Lisi's band is Delta Funk. I too am not certain if the Approved by Snakes is still a go. I am supposed to see Jason, Johnny Sansone and Mark Hummel tonight;I'll be talking to Jason if so. ---------- Todd
