How many TBers do not gig?

[tb-player]

Should do a poll…
No
Church
Gig a few times
Gig often PRO

or something like that

I play for my fun only for the past 10 years. I did some recording for a signer otherwise I only record because I enjoy it to make a YouTube video

Very interesting topic, it screams for a poll.......

Uh... I think you'd have to set this up as a poll, and then hope that a representative sample replies.

This should be a poll so we can see the numbers. I’ve played gigs since I joined my first band in 1977. I’ll do it as long as I’m able.

Where’s the poll?! Next gig is September 11th in Greenwich Village.

You were all right. I should have done a poll.

In an attempt to remedy that, I have started a poll thread. If we get enough response, I can request a moderator merge the two threads into one complete, definitive post on the subject.

How much do you gig? [POLL]

Curious if this will work?

 

[Thumpin6string]

I can't find others to jam with let alone gig with.

 

[44me]

I’ve gigged regularly since the late 90’s (stopped when my kids were young). What “regularly” means has changed over the years. For a while it was once or twice per week, but after a few years this began to feel more like a job than fun. Post COVID, I’ll try to book a gig every 3-6 weeks as I had been (less than that now). That’s enough to keep me in it while infrequent enough to always be fun. I also play/rehearse almost every week. I have a good space at my house that’s always set up so there’s no gear hauling and wasted time setting up.

I get the most from playing with other musicians, and playing for an audience always steps things up. For me, there nothing like locking up well with a drummer and laying down the foundation for a song that people are clearly enjoying. It’s not about needing to perform but rather how performing elevates the experience.

If you are tiring if gigging, I think you are either in the wrong musical situation or gigging too frequently. I’ll be 62 in a few weeks. A few times per year I sub for a band where three of the guys started playing together when I was a toddler. It’s fun being the kid in the band! They’re still gigging every month or so.

 

[Samatza]

I gigged six nights a week from about mid 70's to late 80's. I wanted to settle down so I got a day job and cut the gigs back to max. 4/week. My professional career took off and I cut it back to four a month.

Now we're in lockdown so there hasn't been any gigs for over 18 months. I'd like to get back into it for a bit of fun but we'll have to wait for lockdown to end and venues to reopen.

 

[Steve Dallman]

Our band just hung it up a week ago after almost 13 years. Arthritis did us in (hands both our guitar player and me). I'll still be playing twice a month at church, but I just don't have it in me at 68 to start another band. It's been a wonderful 54 year joyride.

 

[TheWyn]

Been playing bass 3 weeks, so no gigging here. #StillCounts

 

[Tanner5382]

I rarely gig these days. Maybe once a month (down from 2-3 times a month pre covid), and really the only reason I do so is because thats ALL anyone wants to do and I am at times torn about continuing to even do that because frankly the music being played just isn't all that great at times. It's ok, but not as good as it could be due to no one being interested in rehearsing. Vocals are often off, musical cues and changes are often missed, harder parts of tunes just get jammed through, etc..etc..It sort of suck for me because I will often put in a lot of prep time for these tunes, and I'll show up and realize that no one else did and they are literally just winging it.

I honestly just don't get it. People seem far more interested in "being seen" playing out as opposed to delivering a good musical product.



Ideally I'd much rather have a group that consists of a core group of musicians who meet up to play on a regular basis because they want to play, and gigs would be secondary to that.

This sums it up really nicely for me.

 

[bmusic]

Not really. I occasionally support a friend at an open mic, but my heart’s always been in recording.

 

[glocke1]

This sums it up really nicely for me.

I honestly just don't get it.

Growing up in the 80s, and into my college years we would get together to play just for the sake of playing and working on tunes.

Flash forward to today and playing gigs is all anyone talks about. I started a jazz quartet a little over a year ago just for the sole purpose for people to work on their jazz chops, none of us were strong jazzers and I thought it would just be understood that it really was nothing more than a workshop/woodshed type of thing so I was surprised when one of the guys started talking about playing out within the first three times we met up.

 

[boombloom]

I only gig because the people I play with like to do it. I play because I enjoy the connection that takes place when it's going right. It's all about the groove. That's the same in a living room or in front of a thousand people. Really, many gigs can be a pain the ass but playing almost never is. All that being said, gigs have been few for me during the pandemic, and that's fine with me.

 

[DrayMiles]

Under the current clime, maybe you should ask who 'is' gigging?

I've turned down 6 days of work with rehearsals and had 1 gig rescheduled... Since the client now has Covid.

 

[WoodyJ]

I started gigging on guitar in 1964, bass in 1978, retired from gigging in 2012 except for a couple of stand-in jobs.

Now it is recording only - Guitar, bass and drums. More fun, WAY less effort and I am the boss!

 

[Herrick]

I was in a band during my last couple years of highschool. I played live with them a few times but they weren't paying gigs. I haven't played live since. However, I do admire all you mangs and womangs who play live. I think that's pretty cool!

 

[Barton Lee]

I bought my first bass in 1977 to join a band and play gigs, and from 1978 until 2004 I did so in many different bands and genres, recording and touring the indie rock scene. I had a day job and family but considered myself a full-time musician. I didn't get much sleep in those years; gigging and making money was the point.

A bad motorcycle accident in 2004 brought a halt to everything for a while and when I was finally able to resume gigs, the guy who'd taken my place didn't want to give it back. I grudgingly came to accept reality and became the sub, and now this arrangement fits my needs perfectly. I get 12-14 quality gigs per year with great musicians, some of whom have been my friends for decades, and they pay well enough to convince my wife that my having six basses is really necessary. If the gigs went away tomorrow, I'd still plug in a bass and jam every day. It's what I'll do until I can't.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

My last band broke up and I started looking for another band, but then thought, "Is it really worth it?" It's definitely not worth it in monetary terms. Add up just the labor you invest and you're far under minimum wage. I was in a weird situation where I played NFL stadium for about 7 years and now, playing for 30 people in a bar, just doesn't measure up. I'm fine with just doing jam sessions with some people that are in a similar situation of wanting to play for fun and finding that the bar thing, especially load in / load out kinda sucks. I think I'm going to do some home recording next.

 

[burpgun]

Almost no interest in gigging, 100% oriented to recording by myself and handling pretty much everything with an orientation to bass.

 

[Honkey tonk]

Never had any real intentions to perform /gig .

 

[mattj1stc]

It kind of depends on how you define it. If gigging means playing in public for money, then it has been a long time. If it only means playing in public (for fun) then it would happen every so often before Covid-19. Now, I seem to be involved with people who are more into practicing and rehearsing together vs. playing out.

 

[BarfanyShart]

My last gig was at an African drumming festival in 2007. I was already in law school and planning my wedding, and rapidly running out of time for music. Flash to now I got 4 kids, I got back into playing for my own enjoyment a couple years ago, and two of my sons are starting DB in their school strings program. If I found some like-minded people to write and record some original music with (which is something I do), I would probably try that, but gigging or touring with a band kind of sounds like a nightmare for where I am now in life.

 

[jonnyJazzBasd]

I haven't gigged in probably four or five years now but the music program at the high school I recently started working at is trying to rebuild it's music program so they have invited the community to help with pep band at a few games this year. So I will be playing with the pep band again.