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What does the future look like for weekend warriors?

#161
Im in little `ol new Zealand and theres plenty of work , I could do every Fri-Sat If I wanted but having a day job that requires a lot of attention , once a weekend or better still every second suits fine. There is a core set of bands/musicians that seem to have the gig scene wrapped up though , fortunately been in this town for the last 30 years so im in that group. Its Pubs/Weddings/corporate functions . Im not sure what this " praise and worship" thing is though, maybe its a happy clapper church gig I suspect ?, not a lot of call for that sort of thing here, seems more of an American thing.
 
#163
Makatak said:
. Im not sure what this " praise and worship" thing is though, maybe its a happy clapper church gig I suspect ?, not a lot of call for that sort of thing here, seems more of an American thing.
Click to expand...

Yes that what it is but the weekend warrior still won't get paid as most churches depend upon volunteers and most paid positions go to full time professional musicians and/or worship leaders/choir directors...
 
#165
Jhengsman said:
Yes that what it is but the weekend warrior still won't get paid as most churches depend upon volunteers and most paid positions go to full time professional musicians and/or worship leaders/choir directors...
Click to expand...

But you do get some second- hand salvation, and that definitely counts for something. Plus, from what I can tell, there is absolutely no such thing as overplaying in that scene. No disrespect intended, of course.
 
#166
Bingo said:
If you can't impress people with a guy jumping out of the sky on fire into the mouth of a lion covered in lights with an elephant on his back, how is my rendition of Toad the Wet Sprocket going to get them off? If a lady balancing her twelve brothers on her neck while riding a unicorn on the top of an exploding school bus doesn't get people excited, then what exactly am I supposed to do with a bass that will get them pumped up?
Click to expand...


Thats Awesome Dude. That just happened. I wanna b in band with you and I agree, nice post, very thoughtful. so with that being said....

I'm from out there and Wax is small and we are in a recession. the arts are the first to suffer. I would say try to branch out to Corsicana, Jacksonville, Tyler, Waco or Palestine to get the venue you deserve. Or you cud brave the new world of Dallas.

Good luck, Dallas is a planet all to itself. Even bands from FW get blackballed in Big D.

Go Cowboys, Hook'm Horns
 
#167
kenneffdupriest said:
Thats Awesome Dude. That just happened. I wanna b in band with you and I agree, nice post, very thoughtful. so with that being said....

I'm from out there and Wax is small and we are in a recession. the arts are the first to suffer. I would say try to branch out to Corsicana, Jacksonville, Tyler, Waco or Palestine to get the venue you deserve. Or you cud brave the new world of Dallas.

Good luck, Dallas is a planet all to itself. Even bands from FW get blackballed in Big D.

Go Cowboys, Hook'm Horns
Click to expand...

I haven't read this whole thread, but I like this post. :bassist:
 
#168
Hi there,

Not a rock-and-roller (at least not for about 20 years), but rather a jazzer, with a lot of experience in society bands. That whole market was pretty good in the 90s, has been steadily declining ever since.

At the point of crossing 50, I decided to just hang it up and stop constantly scrabbling at the bottom end of the professional music scene. I set down the sax (my main instrument all those years) and picked up the double bass. I am now purely an amateur musician on bass, playing at various jams (country, trad-jazz, bluegrass), and having a better time than I had the last decade or so as a semi pro weekend warrior type. No more getting home at 3:00 am after playing to a handful of uninterested people in a bar in a sketchy part of town.

Frankly, I think there is such an oversupply of people who can play and entertain at a high level, and such an underdemand, that we will see an entire subculture of people who join together to play music for their own enjoyment, with or without an audience, with or without any money involved. While the average American will only experience corpo-pop pabulum when they go out drinking (probably all pre-recorded, no musicians harmed in the creating of this product), the rest of us will be doing our thing off on the side. You can already see this in the bluegrass world, where the commercial viability of the music outside the bluegrass community is essentially nil, yet I can go play three hours of bluegrass at a shot three or four times a week if I am willing to do a little driving.

I won't get paid a lick for my jamming. But which way comes out better: (1) I throw the bass in the car, drive a half hour, play for three hours for nothing, drive a half hour and I'm home at 8:30 pm ready to go to work the next morning; or (2) the same half-hour drive, an hour setting up the band at the bar, wait around an hour, play three or four hours, tear down takes at least another half hour, get home at let's say 2:00 am, get up at 6:30 the next morning trashed and have to run sleep-deprived the rest of the week; and take home $50 for my trouble. As far as I am concerned, $50/6 hours or so, coming out at $8/hour, is essentially the same as $0/hour.

So, I am done with "weekend warrioring" and I think my experience is a harbinger of what most of you will be experiencing in the next 10-20 years.
 
#169
Makatak said:
Im not sure what this " praise and worship" thing is though, maybe its a happy clapper church gig I suspect ?, not a lot of call for that sort of thing here, seems more of an American thing.
Click to expand...

It is indeed a "happy clapper church gig". And it is most definitely an American cultural kind of thing. In fact, I can scarcely conceive of it arising from any other culture.

MM
 
#172
I'm definitely a weekend warrior. When I moved to Madison 15 years ago, it was still possible to play a couple nights a week for $100/night, often subbing for bassists who were more busy than that. All jazz. I was turning down work.

Things have slowed down a lot, but at the same time, other things in my life have gotten more hectic, so I'm not desperate for gigs. I play in a noncommercial band that rehearses twice and gigs once a month. We've played at the same place for 5+ years. I take whatever paid gigs come along, maybe a couple a month. These don't pay a lot, but I run a really tight ship in terms of setup, so I don't have a lot of unpaid travel or setup time.

And then, my spouse has been into Celtic folk dancing, so I play in the bands for dances. A number of us who do this stuff realize that our friends and families are our main customers, so if we got paid, we were basically paying ourselves. So now it's more of a social activity for the players as well as for the dancers.

Throughout this time, I've never let my part-time status be an excuse for playing at a lower level. Jazz musicians have had standards of ability -- musicianship, professionalism, etc. -- that go back at least a century, and I hold myself to those standards. I don't call myself a "pro" out of respect of the folks who are still doing it as a career, but if you hire me for a gig, you can rest assured that I will do a professional quality job.
 
#173
In my view, this pic represents the main competition for "weekend warriors."

x01855VW2-o_lifestyle6.jpeg


Curious: have any of you experimented with live broadcasts of performances (either from a venue or studio)?

YouTube offers free live streaming capability, which is easily viewed in HD on a big-screen TV with great sound through a home stereo or surround sound system.
https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/2474026?hl=en

Here's a video demo of how to set up a session:
 
#174
This thread is so sad to read. I mean, I see this going on as well. I do like to "jam" with friends, but I really more enjoy playing for an audience. Surely the demand will return. In my area I am seeing a lot more original bands getting the gigs, and once upon a time you could only get hired if you were a cover group. That is harder, I am not a writer and good ones are hard to find. Oh well, I continue to hope the glory days will return in some fashion or another.
 
#176
As for the band scene dying in bars, I think its the bar scene thats dying out. Drinking and driving laws, no smoking laws, these are huge factors. There are a lot more entertainment options these days in the home as well, via the internet and sattelite stuff. Plus there is the musical diversity itself. There are so many sub categories, I think it might divide crowds up a little more. However a band still makes a special event, and people still like it. It will never go away.

We still manage to play out as much as we want. There are bar gigs around. And weddings, parties, fundraisers, benefits, beertents, beerfests, etc.
 
#177
Ukiah Bass said:
In my view, this pic represents the main competition for "weekend warriors."

x01855VW2-o_lifestyle6.jpeg


Curious: have any of you experimented with live broadcasts of performances (either from a venue or studio)?
Click to expand...

Was supposed to happen at one festival last year, but didn't. Too bad, cause I was playing with two Brazilians and an Italian, and they've got plenty of friends and family back home a few of whom would check out a stream. There'd be interest even though we're no stars.

Seems worth trying sometime.
 
#178
I have played a few concerts that have been live-streamed. It definitely does allow people who otherwise would/could not attend said concert to "attend". It ended up being like most of the other shows I've played, but the camera's were a bit more invasive than they usually are.

We had some fairly good response from people who where watching, but it wouldn't have happened if we weren't already playing the show, or if we didn't have some helpful and generous videographer friends. The people who ended up watching (mostly friends, family, and a few fans who lived out of town/country) were really appreciative, but it wasn't an audience building experience. It also wasn't a money making experience, and if it was not for the generosity of our videographer friends, we would have lost money doing so.

I think it definitely has a place for people who have "made it" in the business, but I don't see it really being something that will catch on much with weekend warrior types. If you're sitting at home and have the option of live streaming a national and well known act producing a show with a giant budget and professional film crew, or any other entertainment for that matter, unless you have a connection to the band, why would you choose a local band instead of all of the other content out there? Even with professional camera/recording gear, you likely don't have the lights/stage/other factors to measure up to the pros. Likewise as a band, if you are going to be losing money doing it (even if you own the camera/gear yourself you still have to purchase and maintain the gear, and put in the extra work to stream) it seems like a lot of sunk cost for little measurable gain. If you went the route of focusing heavily on online content such as building a YouTube fan base, and then live steamed I could see that being much more beneficial, but becoming a YouTube sensation is a different can of worms.

I like the idea of doing YouTube videos to supplement what you are already doing as a band. They can be made quite effectively with a pretty tight budget, and definitely help promote live shows, cd releases etc. but again, that is in addition to not instead of live gigs.

Maybe I've got that whole model completely wrong though? Maybe the future IS bands migrating to a largely online model? From what little I know, it is a completely different market with completely different challenges, but you can be a "weekend warrior" YouTuber and still produce quality content. I don't understand how the whole monetization process works, but you might be able to pull it off, have your music reach "the masses" and make some profit doing it.
 
#180
I'm seeing similar things in my area. There are actually a decent amount of bars around here that still have live music on a regular basis. The thing is, I'm seeing two types of acts that get most of the bookings:

- The 5 and 6 piece "semi pro" type working bands. They often have at least one female singer, put on a pro type stage show, etc. These are also the type of bands that get the county and local festivals, etc.
- One or two piece acoustic acts doing "singer songwriter" type things.

The weekend warrior type power trios like our band are getting squeezed out, and there's really only so much we can do to compete. We are fortunate that we have a couple local bars that book us consistently (except not in summer when there is little demand for indoor music at these places). We do bring in a small crowd. That said, we had a pretty bare schedule last summer, and it's looking like this year might be similar.
 

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