Serious questions for you Nashville guys...

[lowfreqgeek]

Nope. Not another "gonna quit my day job and be a full time musician" post. But I've got some questions about some of the more mundane, but practical aspects of going pro. I've seen a lot of material on things like networking, musical skills, interpersonal skills, etc., but I did search the forum and I didn't see much addressing my specific questions.

1. Health insurance. What do you do (or do you)? Personally, I hardly ever use it, but my family does. A lot.

2. Union. What's your take on it? Is it relevant anymore? Is it truly beneficial? Once you're in, are you locked up, or free to work outside of it as necessary (like you need that paycheck from a non-union job)? Do you get what you pay for in dues?

3. Benefits (questions 1,2, and 4 are related). I know there are pension funds through the AFM and all that, but how does it work? How about other forms of retirement savings/accounts? I assume you're self-employed most of the time.

4. I think most players dream of making it in the session world, and I'm no exception. Realistically, I see more opportunity on the road, so how are most of the road bands handled? Are you pretty much just out on a tour-by-tour basis, or is it more long-term than that? If you're in a road band, what can you expect in terms of stipend/retainer/benefits during the off season? Do the road bands get pension/401k/IRA type benefits?

5. Let's assume that getting work is not beyond a player's capability (musical, business, interpersonal). Can you make a decent living - say, enough to support a wife and 2 kids?

6. Diversity is pretty key to success just about anywhere, so in your opinion, is there a place for highly technical people both on the road and in the studio? Someone who can rip apart a console or amp and fix it on the spot with a Swiss Army knife and match stick (and perhaps a piece of bailing wire)? That IS the reason I got my electrical engineering degree - I just got sidetracked with life along the way.

I'm an engineer with a very livable salary/benefits, a wife, 2 kids, dog, mortgage... I would not quit what I'm doing without another job already lined up, BUT... There is a possibility that I could be looking at a pink-slip in the next 6 months. I'd rather leave Albuquerque than take another job here (right now, anyway). If it comes to that, I'd seriously give Nashville a shot. Hey, I've got my EE degree and 10 years experience to fall back on if it doesn't work out.

Oddly enough, my wife is in total agreement and support. We're putting together a plan now in case I do find a pink-slip waiting for me down the line (company currently undergoing merger with an international company). Nashville may not be in that plan if it's nearly impossible to take care of our health insurance needs or feed the family. But those are the 2 main criteria for any job I'd ever consider, engineering or not, so it's not ruled out.

I'll worry about working my contacts and making more if/when it comes to that. For now, though, I'm doing a "trade study" to see what's even possible.

Thanks for whatever info you can give me. Also, if you can point me to "official" info on anything I've asked, I'd appreciate that, too.

[lowfreqgeek]

Anyone?

[dalkowski]

Originally Posted by lowfreqgeek

Anyone?

Dude, it's not even noon yet. Let 'em wake up.

Seriously, this stands to be a very informative, practical thread. Subbed.

[claytitan]

I would like to see the answers to some of these questions also. I suspect having a working wife that can help with the health benefits would almost be a requirement. I may be wrong. There are several guys that are touring with Nashville based bands on here. I saw someone a couple days ago talking about touring with Little Big Town. Maybe you can PM him. BTW it doesn't matter how good you are if you play anything besides a 4 string American Fender precision you might as well stay home (joking). OK a 4 string Fender Jazz may be OK also ....

[lowfreqgeek]

Trade secrets?

I prefer to think they just haven't seen it...

[Fretless1!]

PM Roy Vogt. He's a member here. Veteran of the Nashville Scene. Extremely knowledgeable.

This is a tough, tough town especially for newcomers. But anything is possible.

[John Wentzien]

Roy is the man for this one!

[lowfreq33]

Honestly, if you have a wife and 2 kids you'll find it pretty hard to make ends meet anywhere as a musician. There are thousands of very talented bassists in Nashville, and we're all competing for the same 30 or so gigs. I know guys who are A level session players who are taking road gigs to keep the money coming in.

As far as the union thing goes, the short answer is yes, they do have group health insurance and a pension plan, but joining the union can limit your opportunities due to the fact that Tennessee is a right to work state. There are a lot of non-union gigs out there.

That being said, if you're lucky enough to get on with the right people you can make a pretty decent living. I don't know what your current income requirements are, but I do know plenty of guys who have families and make their living entirely from music. It does help to have more than one skill set though. Personally I play bass, guitar, sing, write, and I'm also an audio engineer. When opportunities slow down in one area I can usually make it up somewhere else.

[lowfreqgeek]

Thanks for the responses. I thought about PMing Roy and a few others, but decided that I'd cast a little wider net at this point.

I just had a recording session with a friend in Santa Fe (about an hour north of Albuquerque) and he's looking at another 6mo cruise gig just to make ends meet. He already spent ~5mo on that gig this year, plus a bunch last year. The locations are great, but being away from home is really rough on them. Of course, he's doing these gigs because we live in New Mexico and trying to make it on music alone in NM is pretty much impossible.

We'll see what happens with my job. Things could be great, or go south real fast - won't know till the merger/acquisition is complete in 2-3 months.