To expound a bit more .... from my POV.....

I agree that the old days were quite different for musicians and writers than today's world.

I got out of the service in 75 and hung around Jacksonville, NC while I was going to school to learn something useful. I ended up in a couple of different bands during that time. During those years in Jville, it seemed like there was more work for bands then there were bands. Rock clubs, dance clubs, top 40 joints, disco clubs, and country music nightclubs. There were a multitude of civilian clubs and an entire military nightclub system, all of which used live bands. I recall several times, playing over 21 nights straight without leaving town. And of course there were more clubs in the surrounding towns and cities and the beach towns. If you weren't playing in a band and you were reasonably talented and or had a PA system it was because you didn't want to play. Just in town at one point there was maybe 12 bands working at least the weekends. Players would quit one band and be in another in a day or two or less. It was like musical chairs with the bands at times. In one band we were starting from scratch, the bass player said at the first practice.... I have a club that wants us as soon as we can do a full night show. That was the reality of that area in the 70s and 80s. Some people booked shows and didn't have a band but would then put out the word and hire players to do the show. I remember joining one band on a simple invite to come "bring your guitar to the club and set in and jam" The weekend ended with money in my pocket and a job with the band.

Now... I think there's like one or two clubs that use bands, a lot of coffee house kinda places with single or duo's.... and the military club system stopped using live bands altogether many years back. They figured out that bands don't equate to beer sales with Marines. You don't have to encourage a Marine to buy a beer. Who knew, right?

My last band gig was a house band gig that lasted two and a half years. Mid 80s if I remember correctly. Packed house every weekend. Same place, same crowd, every weekend. That was fun and the money wasn't bad and we didn't have to tear down and travel home at 4am. Wed rehearsal, Fri & Sat, play the gig. Occasional weekend off so we could have a life.... another band would be hired for those weekends. When that was fixing to crash and burn.... I saw the impending signs that I'd seen before..... I started putting my studio together.

On the professional concert/radio/TV & Film music level.... The days of low hanging fruit are long gone. Getting music to an artist is nearly impossible unless you happen to hang out with them, write with them, or know someone in their circle of friends. Same thing applies to placing music in film and TV. No easy paths exist anymore. The bar is so high that many songs simply don't cut it on the quality of either the writing or the production values or both. Everything is so narrowly focused and the quality required is unreal. A guitar part that someone thought should have been done in another way, an edit that is barely audible, a click, or the style is not quite dead center, is reason for "sorry, we can't use that" . And even when you do get the cut.... it's literally just pennies or at best a couple of dollars for the use. Getting past the keepers of the gates is the hard part.

Anyway...... my 2 cents worth

Last edited by Guitarhacker; 06/03/23 05:50 AM.
You can find my music at:
www.herbhartley.com
Add nothing that adds nothing to the music.
You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both.

The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.