A great article from BP Magazine(bit of a read)

[5string5fingers]

This is a bit of a long post,but I think its a very good article from the editor Jonathan Herrera of BP magazine. If you don't want to read it at all at least read the last two paragraphs.

"To me,professional bass playing ranks somewhere near Bering Sea crab fishing on the list of difficult jobs. I know, it's generally not as life threatening (at least in the short-term) as hauling steel crates packed with ornery sea-bugs aboard an ice-slicked deck, but what bass playing lacks in physical danger, it makes up for with its utter lack of professional stability and structure. Any player who's ever made an earnest effort to make money with a bass knows these challenges intimately.

It was a recent conversation with a drummer friend that got me thinking. Despite a solid skill set,he was struggling to make connections with like-minded musicians. Even when he had,the tendency for projects to fizzle out had left him dejected and pessimistic about his professional potential. Adding to his muddle was his uncertainty about the business-what should he expect to be paid for a gig? A rehearsal? A session? To make matters worse,technological background noise was further contributing to his self-doubt. Maybe he wasn't doing enough online. Maybe his website sucked. Perhaps he should get into this whole Twitter thing. On and on, his grievances grew.

Unfortunately, it was advice I had recently given him that seemed to exacerbate his existential crisis. A few weeks before, we were talking about a gig I had done with a fairly well-known(at least among music geeks) artist. He asked how I got it. I explained that I could trace the opportunity back to a seemingly pointless casual I had done years before. While that gig had long since been forgotten, the conncection I fostered there, after years of gestation, led to the higher profile gig in question. In summary, I advised him to take pretty much every gig he could, not only because each one is an opportunity to learn something musical, but because it's impossible to predict how the personal rapport established with the other musicians might help in the future. At the time, this seemed like sage advice.

The problem is, "taking every gig" is an unrealistic plan. Soon after our initial conversation, a band called my drummer friend about a gig. It would be a 4-hour drive,pay under $100, and eat up one of is precious Saturdays (he has a day job), and there were no sleeping accommodations. This left him in a quandary. His practical side said, I must be worth more than this. His musically ambitious side wondered, Who knows what this might lead to? It's this uncertainty that makes professional music-making so challenging. There is no guidebook. Sure, there are unions, but in many cities they're irrelevant, especially for the kind of low-paying one-off gigs that are our bread and butter.

Learning how to be a good bass player is infinitely tough,in that the work required could go on forever. But it's further compounded by our obligation to forge a unique path through the professional morass. Some choose to opt out,acknowledging that while bass playing is a passion,its not a career. Others flirt with both sides of the divide. The rest of us basically make it up as we go along,gaining experience and insight through the act of getting out there and doing it.

Despit these challenges,bass players are blessed with one particular advantage: each other. Our community is among the strongest in music, an observation that's easily made when any group of players congregates in one place. An event like Bass Player LIVE! is extraordinary not only for its exceptional content, but for the beautiful kinship it fosters between players. There are rough seas ahead, but at least we're on them together."

[Steve!]

Hey I read that..in my magazine.................