waltertore
681 posts
Jun 19, 2010
9:46 AM
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EV630: I have lived both sides. For 20 odd years I did at least 200 gigs a year around the world. Now I am a public school teacher and play between 10-30 gigs a year. Almost all of these are local. Currently I play the farmers market on saturdays (3 blocks from my home). The few festivals I do that are out of state/overnight gigs, I get good accomodations and pay.
I have the security of my job that pays my bills and gives me a retirement plan and health benefits. I cannot tell you how powerful a support system these things are. Life is a piece of cake from many levels today, compared to what they where then. Mainly stress is the biggest thing I see decreased in my life.
This was rarely the case when I played full time. the main difference I see in the traveling salesman analogy is that the traveling salesman is usually employed by a company and with that comes supports of various kinds. When you are booking yourself and doing the whole nine yards, you are basically the whole company, unemployed as soon as you end your last set of the night, and there is no one to reach out to for help when things get wacked out. More gigs cancel on you than you would like, clubs close with no notice to the upcoming performers, and stuff like vehicle breakdowns can ruin your upcoming dates.
Also the older I get the less I want to deal with the crap that goes hand in hand with trying to play full time. It is a young mans game and if you make it to the point to where someone books you and your name gets fairly well known, you can ride on that in your later years. To start from the ground up at this point in my life, doing the whole playing/management/recording/media angles, sounds no fun at all or I would be on it again!
Life is all about the choices we make. The pros that most really respect on this forum are barely surviving the week, and hardly a one has a retirement pension plan, and most lack health benefits. With my peers getting into their late 50's-60's the health issues really start to be a big part of ones life. Anyway, I am just typing this to share about a life most here haven't had and it seems some are curious about. Walter
PS: Today at the farmers market I made $75 in tips and cd sales ($5 each) and sold about $200 in dog biscuits my special education students make. I had lots of little kids dancing, let a few strum on my guitar and bang on the drums, saw lots of smiles, no traffic sounds to deal with (they close the street), and feel great. People really trip out on the guitar/harp/drums set up. My 1940 national steel guitar adds some more flair as well. One guy wants to take harp lessons from me. Old people even danced. I love letting kids get interactive with my music. It is important that all children be exposed to musics that they will never hear/see in their schools. That is a driving force for me to play this market. This is the kind of feeling I dreamed about when so often the "pro" gigs were all screwed up for whatever reasons.
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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
2,000 of my songs
continuous streaming - 200 most current songs
my videos
Last Edited by on Jun 19, 2010 1:43 PM
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scojo
66 posts
Jun 25, 2010
11:06 AM
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Anybody wondering why pro harmonica players don't post more often on online forums should check out Harp-L and the nonsense directed at Charlie Musselwhite for his sound on Good Morning America with Cyndi Lauper. Never read so much nonsense in my life.
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barbequebob
980 posts
Jun 25, 2010
11:14 AM
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I saw that and I almost fell off the chair laughing at that stuff and there are far too many times when the fanatics just flat out go way too far and why would a pro like Charlie need to be subjected to that kind of crap.
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Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
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groyster1
167 posts
Jun 25, 2010
11:18 AM
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charlie musselwhite has nothing to prove to anybody about his ability as a great blues harp player
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MP
556 posts
Jun 25, 2010
12:34 PM
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big nancy is a pro.
i saw her with sonny rhodes in philly in 1990.
if she doesn't pre-date annie raines, she is at least a contemporary.
AND TADAH!! she is female.
i'm certain other pros lurk about the forum, but like musselwhite; they have zilch to prove.
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Delta Dirt
179 posts
Jun 25, 2010
4:35 PM
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Musslewhite could care less much less read it.
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Big Nancy
48 posts
Jun 25, 2010
6:54 PM
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Wanted to respond to this thread and am shocked to see my name here at the end of the page.... Thank you MP.
I think, to be a really good player... someone who can play off of another in split second fashion and to have the right thing to play (say) in that fraction of a second... you have to train yourself or BE someone who lives entirely in the moment. Most of the outstanding ensemble players that I know are of that mind.
I am of that mindset, not that I am putting myself in the category, but that I think I understand the mindset. To me, the moment happens on stage... when I have finally humbled myself enough to allow my playing partner's thoughts become my own. It is a magic time... and when the lights come up and the song is over... it is now a memory... not the moment. To be honest... I want to share that moment with everyone who was there.. but the memory - the most intimate exchange of emotion can only truly be shared by the participants.
When players get together... we want to continue to share intimate moments of each others lives. "How's the wife, the kids, the dog... did your friend get better, did you see that Coffin Joe movie I told you about.... Did you get that Bonneville you were looking at? Who wrote that song that you love..."
Unfortunately, I have to say the very last thing I want to talk about is gear!!! Gear is a tool.. a vehicle... not the feeling behind the blues. And most everything else people want to talk to me about is the industry!
That said, I apologize to those who love that stuff!! And no one is telling you to stop.
But, I do think that the industry players lead a life that is, if not lonely, then one slightly removed from the rest of the world. I think most pro players would rather make a real life connection then to sit on line... or talk about equipment. They are looking for warm, fuzzy and real... even if for one night only!
Sorry about the length... and this is just an opinion. But I hope that it sheds some insight. I can say for sure that no one in the blues is in it for the cake!!! lol!
Enjoy!
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MP
562 posts
Jun 26, 2010
1:39 PM
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funny story Delta,
jerry portnoy was at a newstand in lancaster ,PA and said of a copy of BLUES ACCESS magazine to my friend pete.
"i can't believe anyone writes this shit, much less reads it"
of course this is not my view.
Last Edited by on Jun 26, 2010 1:40 PM
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Mojokane
46 posts
Jun 27, 2010
1:34 AM
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that's because he is a contributing editor of Blues Review....not.
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Oisin
584 posts
Jun 27, 2010
3:05 AM
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In answer to the original question ...I don't know the answer but reading Big Nancy's comment reminds me of when I shared a flat with a Head chef for a few years. When he came home from work he HATED talking about food and ate readymeals so he didn't have to cook. The only time I ever saw him animated about food was when he spoke to other professional chefs.
But if I or any of our non-chef friends asked him about some cooking method or ingedient he would tell us to "F**K off, I've just spent all week cooking".
He really was a lovely bloke so it used to surprise me how much he hated talking about it to us. But I think the reason was we just didn't have that passion for cooking he had when he was working and I think other chefs were the only people he felt understood. That may be the case with some of the pro players.
One other point I'd like to make is about Adam. About a year so or ago there was a thread about who has the right to sing the Blues. As the thread went on I found myself getting more and more pissed off about what I percieved to be a stupid topic and just thought it was ridiculous to even ask it. Eventually I posted saying so. After Adam and I think Elwood posted a couple of very considered answers a light bulb went off in my head and I saw what they were trying to get at and was able to relate to some stuff my Dad had told me about his time as a professional musicain to the subject of the thread.
My point is that (and I'm not trying to blow smoke up his ass....a great American phrase!), in my opinion Adam posts things in the hope of provocaing a discussion about things and to question your preconceptions about whatever the topic is. I've never known him to openly or even covertly to say bad things about anyone. It's just the way you interpret the point or question that's been raised.
I've never posted on Harp L but I've read threads on there and I've got to say I've never known a forum like it for making people say some of the most mean-spirited things I've ever read. Some of those people post here too and it makes me angry reading bile and attacks on people dressed up as opinions and " I just tell the truth" bullshit.
I, like Issac posted on this forum from when it started and I loved it. It was the first time I got to speak to a bunch of like minded people learning harp. There was a great spirit here for those first few months.But slowly a new bunch of people joined and that spirit has slowly started to fade. I hope these people don't take over and this mean-spiritness doesn't become the norm here.
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Oisin
Last Edited by on Jun 27, 2010 5:45 AM
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Chinaski
100 posts
Jun 27, 2010
4:35 AM
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I agree that the tone of the forum has changed significantly, which is a shame.
There are still some members who contribute posts that are genuinely insightful, informative and often funny, but they are becoming increasingly drowned out.
Conversely, a few people who post here the most often come across as self-righteous bores convinced of their own superior knowledge and ability.
I, like Oisin, really hope that early spirit is not lost.
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