4 piece (mostly originals) heavy psyco blues rock in Portland,OR - 1.5 hour set. $150 per man, free beer and other stuff. PA provided
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Official TB salary survey thread
- Thread starter jive1
- Start date
worshiprocker
Tonepump Junkie
- Aug 12, 2011
- 4,683
- 1,782
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: Spector Basses
use to make $50-$100 for church gigs... 1 or 2 15-20 minute sets. In AZ they take advantage of original bands pretty band. Presales or pay to play (we don't P2P). Needless to say we need to get out of this state. lol
I haven't posted anything here for a while, so here's some from the last few gigs I have done:
Fill-in for a 90s-Today cover band doing mostly Hard Rock, i.e. Rage Against the Machine, Foo Fighters, Sublime, etc. at a sports bar in the burbs. Sound was provided by a pro soundman who worked with the band. 4 piece band, 3 sets from 9-1. $150 for me.
Fill-in for a Modern Country band at the VFW for someone's birthday out in Maryland. Stuff like Toby Keith, Jason Aldean, Tim McGraw, etc. Did 2 sets of material, 7-10 PM. 4 piece band, $150 for me.
Reggae gig on guitar. Did about 2 long sets of material (Marley, Gyptian, Beres, Uhuru, etc.) at a beach bar south of DC. 6 piece band, 8-11. $150 for me, and I provided sound.
Acoustic gigs at a restaurant along with a sax player for 3 weeks, 9-11 on a weeknight. Played anything and everything from Top 40 to Jazz standards. $75 a piece plus tips. I could have done the gig solo, but rather perform with someone than alone.
Pickup, one-off Blues gig where I put a band together the week before. Chicago style blues, 4 piece band. 8-12 on a Saturday, in downtown DC. $550 for the band, $175 for myself for providing the sound.
Fill-in for a cover band out in the burbs. Doing 80s and 90s Rock like Green Day, Blink 182, Tom Petty, GnR, etc. 3 sets, 9-1, 4 piece band. $120 for me.
Church, playing fretless bass doing CCM for 2 services on Sunday. 9AM-1PM. $0
Fill in for another church, doing CCM on bass. 2 services 8-1PM. $100.
Fill-in for a 90s-Today cover band doing mostly Hard Rock, i.e. Rage Against the Machine, Foo Fighters, Sublime, etc. at a sports bar in the burbs. Sound was provided by a pro soundman who worked with the band. 4 piece band, 3 sets from 9-1. $150 for me.
Fill-in for a Modern Country band at the VFW for someone's birthday out in Maryland. Stuff like Toby Keith, Jason Aldean, Tim McGraw, etc. Did 2 sets of material, 7-10 PM. 4 piece band, $150 for me.
Reggae gig on guitar. Did about 2 long sets of material (Marley, Gyptian, Beres, Uhuru, etc.) at a beach bar south of DC. 6 piece band, 8-11. $150 for me, and I provided sound.
Acoustic gigs at a restaurant along with a sax player for 3 weeks, 9-11 on a weeknight. Played anything and everything from Top 40 to Jazz standards. $75 a piece plus tips. I could have done the gig solo, but rather perform with someone than alone.
Pickup, one-off Blues gig where I put a band together the week before. Chicago style blues, 4 piece band. 8-12 on a Saturday, in downtown DC. $550 for the band, $175 for myself for providing the sound.
Fill-in for a cover band out in the burbs. Doing 80s and 90s Rock like Green Day, Blink 182, Tom Petty, GnR, etc. 3 sets, 9-1, 4 piece band. $120 for me.
Church, playing fretless bass doing CCM for 2 services on Sunday. 9AM-1PM. $0
Fill in for another church, doing CCM on bass. 2 services 8-1PM. $100.
One band and one band only.
4 piece blues / rock band with female lead guitarist.
We play 2-3 times a week. $100.00 per man minimum for our 4 hour bar show. Most of the time we bring our own sound and sound man.
At the end of the week, so far I've always had $300.00 in my wallet from gigging.
Blue
4 piece blues / rock band with female lead guitarist.
We play 2-3 times a week. $100.00 per man minimum for our 4 hour bar show. Most of the time we bring our own sound and sound man.
At the end of the week, so far I've always had $300.00 in my wallet from gigging.
Blue
- Apr 1, 2000
- 17,406
- 9,859
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: Roscoe Guitars, DR Strings, Aguilar Amplification
My minimum freelance fee in Omaha is $200, but Ive been making well north of that. Recently did a one-off in South Dakota, two sets with a Nashville artist $650 plus all expenses (for me). I'm sure the guy that booked the gig got much more than that.
My original band is sitting at just about $1000 a show, we hire out a sound man for that.
My original band is sitting at just about $1000 a show, we hire out a sound man for that.
a good sound tech is worth at least that much. Cut his pay in half, everybody makes what- an extra $50 bucks? but now you've got a sound tech who is half as motivated, and likely half as qualified. I'll take less pay for a qualified sound tech 8 days a week.
Let's call this the "Before" snapshot:
I just scored a gig with a "corporate band" (Part of a stable of bands represented by a local production company) - with the promise of making some "decent" pay.
Decent was described as anything from $150 to $500 per player depending on the gig (and possibly more for special events) for a 3 or 4 x 45 night.
The leader said they've been turning down gigs because they didn't have a complete lineup, but now that the lineup's filled we should have no shortage of gigs. The lineup consists of a drummer, keys player, guitar (+ backing vox), male lead singer (+guitar), female lead singer and me on bass and backing vox.
The material covers the spectrum of Pop, (Rock, Alt, Country et al.), R&B, Reggae, Funk, Jazz Standards, etc... Whatever the event calls for, we have a set to suit it - including monkey suits (provided). We run our own sound, but the production company provides us with all the PA gear we need as well as rehearsal space.
I took the position for a few reasons:
1) I like working with good players who have a strong, professional work and music ethic.
2) The money sounds good and I could use a few extra bucks (who couldn't?)
3) Based on the last two rehearsals, the players are all great, the songs sound air tight and rock solid and the list features a lot of really fun, diverse and challenging tunes
Now let's see if the leader's money is where his mouth is. I'll report back after the first paying gig.
I just scored a gig with a "corporate band" (Part of a stable of bands represented by a local production company) - with the promise of making some "decent" pay.
Decent was described as anything from $150 to $500 per player depending on the gig (and possibly more for special events) for a 3 or 4 x 45 night.
The leader said they've been turning down gigs because they didn't have a complete lineup, but now that the lineup's filled we should have no shortage of gigs. The lineup consists of a drummer, keys player, guitar (+ backing vox), male lead singer (+guitar), female lead singer and me on bass and backing vox.
The material covers the spectrum of Pop, (Rock, Alt, Country et al.), R&B, Reggae, Funk, Jazz Standards, etc... Whatever the event calls for, we have a set to suit it - including monkey suits (provided). We run our own sound, but the production company provides us with all the PA gear we need as well as rehearsal space.
I took the position for a few reasons:
1) I like working with good players who have a strong, professional work and music ethic.
2) The money sounds good and I could use a few extra bucks (who couldn't?)
3) Based on the last two rehearsals, the players are all great, the songs sound air tight and rock solid and the list features a lot of really fun, diverse and challenging tunes
Now let's see if the leader's money is where his mouth is. I'll report back after the first paying gig.
That's correct, and I'd pay him more if he wanted it. He's that good. Paul Reed Smith himself demands him for his Experience every year.
I figure once you adjust for gas, time spent rehearsing, the cost of the gear, the wear and tear on my vehicle and body, I've averaged about $25.00 a gig.
That is, that's how much its COST ME.
That is, that's how much its COST ME.
Same old same old for an all original band here -1-2 gigs a month $40-60 a gig with food, drinks sometimes. We didn't land any good paying gigs this year (festivals)
- Jan 12, 2011
- 4,578
- 2,460
- Disclosures
- Artist, Trickfish Amplification Bartolini Emerging Artist, MTD Kingston Emerging Artist. Artist, Tsunami Cables
when i was doing the bar/grill thing on a heavy basis the average gig I only made $75 bucks a night. Weddings I made $150. Who knows what the band leader took and that was a sore spot for me. he didn't work a day job, sported a volvo, and changed outfits between sets. I thought part of my missing cut was paying for his volvo, and his dry cleaning bill. I quit. Funny though, I miss the $75 at times but for the most part I felt like I was worth more than that. I feel sorry for guys trying to make it by being a full time musicain playing bar/grill gigs and fill ins here and there. They have more freedom than I do, but you have to be broke all the time or something. I guess this would work for young guys with everyone pitching in for expenses but the communal life gets old very fast too. I don't know about the rest of the TB community but when I think of all the hours I spend working on my craft, and the money I spend on my axes and my rig, and maintenance I'm worth more than $75 for a 3-4 HR GIG.
In a 5 piece classic rock band. We play some local bars 1-2x a month. We are fairly new (2nd year group) with a small following. we get 70-100 people at our gigs and get paid ~400 for the night. We play 3 sets from 9-1 and bring all our own gear. Sometimes we will split the night with another group and each play 2 x 45 min sets and share gear (our PA, their drums or vise versa).
My favorite gigs are the summer parties where we play a 1 hour slot in the day and then it opens up to a free jam at night. no pay, but I have a lot more fun.
My favorite gigs are the summer parties where we play a 1 hour slot in the day and then it opens up to a free jam at night. no pay, but I have a lot more fun.
6 piece Country cover band doing Country music spanning the last 40 years, from Buck Owens and George Jones right up to Jason Aldean, Dierks Bentley, and Brantley Gilbert.
Full equipment and band owned/operated PA. Capable of outdoor shows (small).
Base price to play within 1/2 hour drive time of Worcester, MA; $350.00, covers 3 hours.
Venues requiring 4 hours and/or more than 45 minutes travel time; $450 base price.
Travel to venues 1 hour or more, $600.00 minimum regardless of playing time.
We find most small clubs in the area have a budget of $300-400 for a band for the night.....unless you're playing for cover.
Venues that encourage the band to allow audience members to "sit in" or act like it's an open mic.........$1,000,000.00
Full equipment and band owned/operated PA. Capable of outdoor shows (small).
Base price to play within 1/2 hour drive time of Worcester, MA; $350.00, covers 3 hours.
Venues requiring 4 hours and/or more than 45 minutes travel time; $450 base price.
Travel to venues 1 hour or more, $600.00 minimum regardless of playing time.
We find most small clubs in the area have a budget of $300-400 for a band for the night.....unless you're playing for cover.
Venues that encourage the band to allow audience members to "sit in" or act like it's an open mic.........$1,000,000.00
4-piece Classic rock band playing 60's-90's (mostly-danceable) songs in the Western Detroit burbs (Westland/Garden City). Sports/dive bar type venues. 3 x 45 minute sets 9pm-1am, providing our own PA, lights, and for the most part... the crowd. $300 for the band / $75 each. No free drinks. Once time we played a Fri-Sat at a bar for $50 per man per night to a grand total of 12 customers. After that, we decided that any place that'll only pay $200 a night is not worth the effort.
We were starting to build a decent scene at a bar we were playing about once a month. The first time we played there, there were 3 drunks at the bar plus a small group of our friends/family. After 4-5 gigs, we were bringing in 15-25 friends, and the crowd of customers grew every time, dance floor was full, people stayed til closing time, and we received many emphatic compliments from customers and staff alike. Then the place changed ownership and we were told an oldies band was booked for the next 3 months solid. We were brought in on short notice one time when the other band had to cancel, and we played to 3 drunks and a handful of friends. A couple employees told us the other band is killing business, but the new owner is sticking with them. In the future, I'm pretty sure it's a dead-end for us, as it looks like the owner really doesn't give a crap about hiring bands that keep people in the bar.
We're finding it difficult to even find gigs around the area. Ann Arbor is D-E-A-D for classic rock bands. There are some blue collar bars in the west/NW burbs of Detroit that have bands, assuming you can bring them a crowd. In my experience, if they ask "how big is your following?", it means they have no customers of their own and they expect something for nothing. There are a few venues with a reputation for better bands and better crowds, but those have proven difficult to crack. Our plan for this year is to be more persistent with the preferred venues and also try to book some townie parties/local festivals that at least have a big crowd. At the end of the day, I'm willing to play for peanuts if there's a good size crowd. If that venue happens to be making money selling booze, then I expect to be paid $75-100 just out of principle.
We were starting to build a decent scene at a bar we were playing about once a month. The first time we played there, there were 3 drunks at the bar plus a small group of our friends/family. After 4-5 gigs, we were bringing in 15-25 friends, and the crowd of customers grew every time, dance floor was full, people stayed til closing time, and we received many emphatic compliments from customers and staff alike. Then the place changed ownership and we were told an oldies band was booked for the next 3 months solid. We were brought in on short notice one time when the other band had to cancel, and we played to 3 drunks and a handful of friends. A couple employees told us the other band is killing business, but the new owner is sticking with them. In the future, I'm pretty sure it's a dead-end for us, as it looks like the owner really doesn't give a crap about hiring bands that keep people in the bar.
We're finding it difficult to even find gigs around the area. Ann Arbor is D-E-A-D for classic rock bands. There are some blue collar bars in the west/NW burbs of Detroit that have bands, assuming you can bring them a crowd. In my experience, if they ask "how big is your following?", it means they have no customers of their own and they expect something for nothing. There are a few venues with a reputation for better bands and better crowds, but those have proven difficult to crack. Our plan for this year is to be more persistent with the preferred venues and also try to book some townie parties/local festivals that at least have a big crowd. At the end of the day, I'm willing to play for peanuts if there's a good size crowd. If that venue happens to be making money selling booze, then I expect to be paid $75-100 just out of principle.
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