PG Music Home Forums General Discussion Off-Topic A note to Eddie about cover songs.

Yes, as long as it isn't in a commercial establishment. I won't do open mic nights because I firmly believe (1) it is exploitation and (2) it potentially puts paying acts out of work.

I do jam sessions when I know the house band is getting paid a fair price, and especially if I know I'm supporting a musician friend of mine.

I've brought my flute or sax to friends parties. My neighbor had a party a few weeks ago and hired a punk band. I sat in with them for a while, and it was a lot of fun. I told them just to play their gig and I'll follow along. I have a good ear, and did just fine, they gave me solos, I played the backing riffs with them, and did call & response licks with the singer. Now I can say I played in a punk band

And yes, I do charity gigs if I believe in the charity and if I don't feel the charity is just a cover for private profits. Our most regular freebie is at the nursing home at the VA hospital about an hours drive away. We play for the wheelchair bound vets, and it gives a a good feeling knowing we are giving a little something back to those who gave a lot for us.

But because I also do it as a profession, and know my peers are doing it for a profession, when it comes time to play in any place that is making a profit, I expect to be paid a fair price for my services.



It is most definitely a job, but it isn't a 'regular job' in the sense that I punch a time clock, follow orders from 'the man' and leave the job at the office at 5 o'clock.

I have more than the touted 10,000 required hours of practice stored in this brain and fingers. I also play 7 different instruments (all saxes, flute, wind synthesizer, guitar, bass, keyboard synth and drums) plus voice (which was the hardest to learn).

I learned to sequence my own backing tracks, because the ones I bought back in the 1980s were so bad they were laughable. Fortunately I had formal music education and arranging was part of that. I still sequence my own backing tracks and sometimes add a little real audio to the MIDI sounds. Why? Good karaoke tracks are available - but - (a) there is a difference in performing for a recording and live - my tracks are optimized for live performance (b) I can put them in the best key for us without artifacts (c) I can extend the arrangement (d) I can leave room for my own improvised solos instead of letting someone else on the track have all the fun.

I have a big investment in music gear. I play in a duo with my wife (when I met her she was in a different band, and when both our bands broke up we happened to get in the same 5 piece band that was forming, and when that tanked we started our duo). So we own the PA (Speakers, amps, FX, mixer, monitors, mics. etc.) and being a multi-instrumentalist I have to have two saxes, two wind synths, two guitars, etc., because if one breaks, the show must go on.

I definitely put in more than 40 hours per week, and never leave the gig at the office. I learn new songs, practice, take care of the bookkeeping, communicate with the clients, keep an eye on the competition, and so on. Even when listening to the radio I'm analyzing the songs, should we learn it, can we learn it, how is it structured, how are others reacting to it, and so on.

The last football game I watched was in the 1970s, and since the mid 1980s I tuned into Johnny Carson's last Tonight show and a couple of Jay Leno follow ups. I disconnected the cable, never put up an antenna, and never got a digital converter. I don't watch commercial TV - zero, nada, zilch. I've never seen MASH, Cheers, Simpsons, Seinfeld, Sopranos, Taxi, Desperate Housewives, and so on. Instead I learned lead guitar and wind synth, how to write style and fake disks for BiaB using my music arranging education, how to write web sites for my BiaB business and my Duo, and so many other things.

I live my life by doing things instead of living my life vicariously by watching actors pretend to do things.

No, it's anything but a 'regular' job. But even though I put in more than 40 hours, it doesn't seem like a job. It's just what I do.

I'm living life on my own terms, not answering to anyone, making the decisions myself, and either profiting by the good ones or learning from the bad ones.

I make a living doing music and nothing but music. I really enjoy gigging, it's the most fun I can have with my clothes on. My head gets into that place where there is no space or time, no "Notes Norton", just the music, which seems more like it is flowing through me instead of from me. It's pure bliss and my career is a way to follow my bliss. Everyone should be so lucky.

I don't usually mind schlepping the gear - I just think of it as weight bearing exercise - the kind people pay hundreds of dollars for in the local gym. OK after a gig sometimes I wish I had a roadie, but I put that thought out of my head and just pack the gear. When I get home I'm tired, but it's a good kind of tired.

I've had two regular jobs in my life. I guess I was testing what it was to be a 'regular person'. Even though one of them was a Cable TV Field Engineer (I also took electronics in college), I feel better calling myself a musician. I got along with the work on the day jobs just fine, and I still played on the weekends, but life itself wasn't as satisfying.

Being a musician is not what I do, it's what I am.

I've been gigging since I was in junior high school, I'm at the age where I could retire, but I have no plans on doing so. What would I do? Fish? Play golf? I'd rather play music. It's my bliss. So for as long as I can fog a mirror, I'll play music, and as long as someone will hire me, I'll do it for a gig.

I'm having a happy life. What more could anyone ask for?

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