All of a sudden, I am getting lots of extra playing offers

[Richland123]

I currently play in a well known band that has been together for 12 years and we usually gig about 70 to 80 times a year. I have been playing for 43 years, which means I happen to be friends with many other musicians. I also fill in with another local band a few times a year.

The economy is very tough here and the band has been my main source of income and trying to pay the bills has not been easy and booking gigs is getting harder. However, for some reason, within the last week, I have received 5 offers to work in side project bands or do fill in and recording work. I greatly appreciate that these people have made me offers and they are excellent players as well as friends of mine who are very professional and reliable people and I would like to be able to do several things.

In addition to all this, I was also recently offered to take ownership of a business. I have been sitting around trying to find work and now everything happens at once. Of course, there is not enough time to do everything and I am trying to decide what is best.

[pacojas]

i just busted one for you,... congrats!

[craig.p]

"The network" has begun paying off. It usually does, eventually, if one is patient enough. +1 on the congrats.

[IPYF]

Take the highest paying gigs. Is it mercenary? Absolutely. But if it's your living then you're better off being the financially secure guy then the nice guy.

And congrats. This is where we'd all love to be really.

[jungleheat]

When it rains it pours. No one wants you until somebody does and then everybody does. Really weird how that works.

When I moved back to DC, I didn't have a car for a while. The SAME WEEK I got a car again (without publicizing this at all), I got 2 or 3 offers to be in bands from referrals from some people I knew, which I ended up playing with all of I think, and 1 of which turned into a 2 year project with a fair amount of gigs and some recording (including getting to record at a big local studio to 2" tape).

Then other times if one band drops away then they all drop away (or most of them). Just a cyclical thing.

[P. Aaron]

Mercenary work and band 'commitments' can be a precarious balancing act. Only time will tell whether a conflict emerges but...that 'nice guy' comment rings true.