So I had my first gospel gig today....

[Nomoncello]

Hello TB, so as per the title, I played the first sermon of a small up and coming church in the South Jersey Shore area. There were maybe 5 other worshippers in the pews; it was THAT small. This was in addition to whoever was watching on live. It was me on bass, a keys player, a drummer, and drummers daughter singing.

According to the pastor, there was someone interested in funding the music department watching on live, and I'm confident we gave them a reason to spend money on us.

The keyboard player was showing me the ropes with gospel substitutions (vi for the IV, vii for the V) on the fly as we were playing! Does any P&W veterans have some words of advice for future gigs, and what I should be charging?

I asked for 100 dollars to play an hour service, considering how small the church is. The drummer says I can get 150.

 

[J Wilson]

I've played Gospel gigs, even did several months in a tent revival.

I always looked at those days/gigs as another planet from secular, commercial bar band music in the usual places. I felt led to do it, and whatever they paid I felt that's what it was supposed to be, which I realize to some sounds Polyanna with a capital P, but that's me.

After it's all said and done, past whatever spiritual benefit you get from it, it's one more style to put in the bank in the back of your head.

 

[Don Hergert]

Our band is a bluegrass Gospel band. We actually do more non-church gigs than church gigs, probably because in our area most church services target a "high-church" atmosphere where a banjo is not welcomed. But we have played for a number of "high-church" churches during their special "camp meeting" and other periods, plus frequently we'll get asked to play for smaller, less formal churches. We also play at bluegrass festivals and for various businesses for their special events.

We are a 4-person band, and we usually expect at least $100/per person for any church gigs IF the church has a budget for music. Not all churches do, and for those churches that don't have a budget, if we really want to play there we'll try to work out something else for them -- often a free-will offering will be collected to help pay our expenses. Most larger churches do have budgets and are used to paying between $400 and $800 for our band depending on the occasion and the length of the set.

While my wife and I are very active in our band, we are retired and prefer not to bring in outside income because we don't want to mess up our Social Security, our taxes, and our non-business status. As such, we usually arrange for our portions of the band's pay to be split up between the other two band members. The other two band members both work and their free time is more valuable, so this works out well for all of us.

 

[KenD]

Does the AFofM have a rate for houses of worship?

 

[slobake]

I don't know about rates for this type of gig. I have always played for the church I am part of and did it for the joy of playing. Not criticizing getting paid for these gigs, I'm probably not professional enough for that anyway. I have mostly played contemporary worship stuff but i have struggled through some gospel.

 

[Don Hergert]

... I'm probably not professional enough for that anyway. ...

You may find you really are professional enough, but the rest of your ensemble would also need to be professional enough, and you'd have to be very accustomed to playing together tightly. That's what makes a band.

In my experience though, most musicians in big churches do get paid if they want the money, even for leading song services, etc.

If you're dedicating time and energy and especially, if the money matters to you, you should ask if they have a music reimbursement budget for what you are doing. If they say no, then you have your answer, and if the money doesn't matter to you, then that's also your answer.

Personally, my wife and I would love to have our band play for our home church all the time for free, but as described in my earlier post, they are a "high-church" church and our bluegrass Gospel music just isn't what they want.

 

[ragetoca]

I would do it for free just for the experience, learning and helping a very small church. Seed a seed reap a harvest

 

[hrodbert696]

I think the issue of pay for church gigs is much-discussed over in the P&W players' club. There are some to whom it's a paying gig like most others, and others for whom it's a personal calling they volunteer for out of devotion. I play twice a month at my church in the latter capacity, but communities vary in their sensibility on that.

I was struck by the contrast between calling it an "up-and-coming church" and there being fewer people in the congregation than there were musicians and ministers. Do you know what exactly its status is? Usually when I hear those tiny numbers but willing to pay for music, I assume it's an old fading church that has an endowment from its past glory days, but maybe this is the opposite. Five people sounds like what we called a "core group" for a "church plant," maybe branching off from another congregation in the region to start their own. There's often funding from the denomination or a parachurch agency to support that kind of thing, which would explain how so few people could pay musicians.

And just to make sure everyone remembers, per TB rules we can discuss church gigs AS gigs, but discussion of religion per se is not permitted on open forums.

 

[Michedelic]

Hello TB, so as per the title, I played the first sermon of a small up and coming church in the South Jersey Shore area. There were maybe 5 other worshippers in the pews; it was THAT small. This was in addition to whoever was watching on live. It was me on bass, a keys player, a drummer, and drummers daughter singing.

According to the pastor, there was someone interested in funding the music department watching on live, and I'm confident we gave them a reason to spend money on us.

The keyboard player was showing me the ropes with gospel substitutions (vi for the IV, vii for the V) on the fly as we were playing! Does any P&W veterans have some words of advice for future gigs, and what I should be charging?

I asked for 100 dollars to play an hour service, considering how small the church is. The drummer says I can get 150.

What does this have to do with a particular bass?

 

[denton57]

I find it interesting a church with 5 people has and wants to spend money to pay musicians.

 

[MotorCityMinion]

What does this have to do with a particular bass?

Nothing. He's a noob who posted in the wrong sub forum. Cut him some slack.

I find it interesting a church with 5 people has and wants to spend money to pay musicians.

I'll expand on that. It was mentioned that the drummer thinks he and the other 3 should be getting $150., $600 for the band. Split between 5 audience members = $120. per seat and this is the bass players 1st show. I'm all for getting what you can in a business transaction but this seems off. Might even call it a leap of faith.

 

[The_Bass_Troll]

We have paid members; I'm guessing they get around $300 per gig. I play for free because, 1. If I'm hired, I am obligated to be there; 2. If paid, I would just donate the pay back to the church; & 3. There's that thing about "time, talent, and treasure," and I'm donating my time and talent. JC said something about giving, in private, what you can give. Paul was the one who said 10% of your harvest. Based on a 40-hour week, 10% = 4 hours of "treasure." But "Time" (and to some extent, "Talent") comes from Divine Providence; one week = 168 hours, of which 10% is 16.8 (or 16:48). I think with Band Practice, Rehearsals, and Performance, I'm only tithing half of those hours (home learning/practice not in the mix). Let's say I have band practice for two hours, and rehearsal for another hour and-a-half, and then the service for another ninety minutes; that's five hours. $100 for five hours is $20 per hour, but depending on how generous your church members are, and how difficult it is to find a competent, reliable, bass player, ask for $200, and see if you're offered $150.

 

[Pdaddy1978]

I grew up playing and singing with my family's gospel quartet.
Not exactly bluegrass. They called it "brush arbor " or "old timey" gospel.
Good music, historic really..
We'd get fed...no money....just blessings.

 

[denton57]

I guess I just don't understand the thought process of going into worship as an opportunity for paying gigs in a start up church. Wondering if you should ask for $150 over the $100 in your situation and after the very first service? Yikes. This isn't a bar gig, but I don't know the goal of the church so who am I to comment.

 

[LAST_C]

I've never being paid to play at church. Can't give you advise there.

Just wondering how they can afford all expenses related to running a church with 5 or 6 people attending.

But, if you get paid, good for you. I wouldn't ask more than $100 because if the church doesn't grow in numbers, they won't be able to afford you and you'll end up with nothing.

 

[ragetoca]

The church I attend has about 2500 members and we have four services per weekend. Musicians do get paid but only because of the time commitment and I wouldn't call it paid more of an offering.

 

[hrodbert696]

I find it interesting a church with 5 people has and wants to spend money to pay musicians.

Nothing. He's a noob who posted in the wrong sub forum. Cut him some slack.

I'll expand on that. It was mentioned that the drummer thinks he and the other 3 should be getting $150., $600 for the band. Split between 5 audience members = $120. per seat and this is the bass players 1st show. I'm all for getting what you can in a business transaction but this seems off. Might even call it a leap of faith.

I'll let the OP confirm or clarify, but I addressed this in my earlier post. Sometimes a denomination has an agency or department, you could call it, responsible for "church planting," i.e. starting new congregations. There are also "parachurch" groups that do this (not any specific denomination, but an organization to support new churches). They do things like training and conferences for pastors interested in starting new congregations, and raising funds to support them until they grow big enough to be self-supporting. If that's what's in play here, the five people in the congregation aren't where the musicians' pay is coming from; hiring musicians is presumably part of the business plan and the money is coming from mother-church donors.

 

[bigdaddybass12]

I would do it for free just for the experience, learning and helping a very small church. Seed a seed reap a harvest

Yes, I have played in church services for free for many years. I look at it like I am giving back from the gift/talent that was given to me.

 

[MotorCityMinion]

They do things like training and conferences for pastors interested in starting new congregations, and raising funds to support them until they grow big enough to be self-supporting. If that's what's in play here, the five people in the congregation aren't where the musicians' pay is coming from; hiring musicians is presumably part of the business plan and the money is coming from mother-church donors.

I get that. Any well organized business would expand in that manner. It's a slippery slope though. Like somebody else stated in here, charge too much and you risk putting yourself out of work or losing the gig. IMO, in this situation, I'd start out for the fun of it, building up the chops and help them build up a flock before charging them for services rendered. Kind of like going to Jam night at the local pub.

 

[Nomoncello]

I find it interesting a church with 5 people has and wants to spend money to pay musicians.

I think he's going to converge the mass into a bigger one...I'm not quite sure. He's been a pastor for over 20 years so I'm sure he has something planned. I didn't get to ask the exact details. It is a good sign they had people interested in funding us watching.