# Pro gigging musicians



## marcos (Jan 13, 2009)

Just curious to how many working musicians,part time, full time, basement players etc.. there are on the forum here. How many gigs a year do you play?sdsre
I'm a part time musician and get out about 20-25 times a year or so. I also play in 2 duo's and am currently auditioning for a small trio that plays a lot of private functions,parties etc... in our area. Being retired and having a very,very understanding wife permits me to do this.


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## hardasmum (Apr 23, 2008)

My band is a serious hobby. Unfortunately due to work commitments and kids (our bass player and I have two each!) we've only been able to play about six shows in the last year. We do find time to do a fair bit of recording though.

Playing the Corktown Tavern in Hamilton tonight if anyone is around!


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

I'm in a new band, a bass player and a few tunes short of booking shows. I didn't get to play as many gigs as I would have liked in my last band - once every week or two would be ideal. I wouldn't be able to figure out how many I played in 2012 offhand.

I teach guitar every week, does that count?


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## Guitar101 (Jan 19, 2011)

Iv'e been looking for a lead player for a couple of years now. It seem's most musicians my age (62) want to sit at home watching TV. I'll keep looking though. There's a fellow in Port Hope I'm trying to get a hold of named "The Lazy Limey" if anybody knows him, let me know.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

I gig a bit with a contemporary Irish singer in a four piece band (keys, bass, guitars and other strings, vocals, concertina). Also have a guitar/fiddle duo, and I hire out as a sort of mercenary musician for one-offs, recording, or just sitting in. My blues/rock/folk/country cover/originals band broke up at New Years after several years...I'm sort of looking for new opportunities. On the side I sing in a church choir and do some community gigs. I also do some minor instrument repairs though I don't like to take business from friends who do it for a living so I don't do a lot of it.

In my day job I teach full-time private music lessons (theory, guitar, bass, mandolin, banjo, ukulele, occasional vocal coaching), with 60+ students, in my home lesson studio. This is most of my income.

Peace, Mooh.


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## ezcomes (Jul 28, 2008)

about once a month...sometimes a little more...sometimes a little less...we do originals gigs and covers nights...we try to keep it fun...and not play so much that people can get tired of you...


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## marcos (Jan 13, 2009)

Mooh said:


> I gig a bit with a contemporary Irish singer in a four piece band (keys, bass, guitars and other strings, vocals, concertina). Also have a guitar/fiddle duo, and I hire out as a sort of mercenary musician for one-offs, recording, or just sitting in. My blues/rock/folk/country cover/originals band broke up at New Years after several years...I'm sort of looking for new opportunities. On the side I sing in a church choir and do some community gigs. I also do some minor instrument repairs though I don't like to take business from friends who do it for a living so I don't do a lot of it.
> 
> In my day job I teach full-time private music lessons (theory, guitar, bass, mandolin, banjo, ukulele, occasional vocal coaching), with 60+ students, in my home lesson studio. This is most of my income.
> 
> Peace, Mooh.


Youre a busy man Mooh. It seems with all the members here trading and buying instruments that there would be a ton of working musicians.


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## marcos (Jan 13, 2009)

Guitar101 said:


> Iv'e been looking for a lead player for a couple of years now. It seem's most musicians my age (62) want to sit at home watching TV. I'll keep looking though. There's a fellow in Port Hope I'm trying to get a hold of named "The Lazy Limey" if anybody knows him, let me know.


I've just turned 60 and see less and less musicians our age out there.


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## Chito (Feb 17, 2006)

When I get the band going, we usually play at least once a month. With this new band, in the last 4 months we've been focusing on writing originals with the purpose of coming up with a CD very soon. But we had an opportunity to play regularly once a month at a local bar so the focus has been diverted a bit. We're still continuing to write more songs but now we also have to at least play a set of covers so we can fill up the time we're playing in that once a month gig. I've been playing around the bars in Ottawa for the last 19 years in different bands. But the most I've gigged over those years is about 2-3 times a month.


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## Fajah (Jun 28, 2006)

For the last couple of years, I've been playing out about 3-6 six times each year. Could out play more if I wanted to but I'm just as happy getting together every Monday night to jam/rehearse. We play a mix of jazz and blues, mostly charity/fundraising events. 

My band consists myself on guitar, a keyboard player, and sometimes a sax. I use bass/drum backing tracks which I record myself so in essence, it's me on bass as well. I resorted to this format because I can't find a like-minded, mature (we're in our 50's), bass player that has decent jazz/blues chops..... and that's happy to jam weekly and gig the odd time. 

I will say that there are aspects of the "virtual band" thing I really like, and our audiences are quite amazed at the sound.


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## loudtubeamps (Feb 2, 2012)

I'm a self confessing "Gig Pig". I don't spend much time on the instrument at home so I look for opportunities to play out as much as I can. 
Winter here is typically slow, only one gig since I played New Years. 
Summers are good and the gigs are plentiful around the resorts and with corporate functions.
I hear the the music scene is much better for giggin' out east........yes/no??










Cheers, d


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## marcos (Jan 13, 2009)

Fajah said:


> For the last couple of years, I've been playing out about 3-6 six times each year. Could out play more if I wanted to but I'm just as happy getting together every Monday night to jam/rehearse. We play a mix of jazz and blues, mostly charity/fundraising events.
> 
> My band consists myself on guitar, a keyboard player, and sometimes a sax. I use bass/drum backing tracks which I record myself so in essence, it's me on bass as well. I resorted to this format because I can't find a like-minded, mature (we're in our 50's), bass player that has decent jazz/blues chops..... and that's happy to jam weekly and gig the odd time.
> 
> I will say that there are aspects of the "virtual band" thing I really like, and our audiences are quite amazed at the sound.


I've been doing the ¨Virtual¨ band thing for 20 years now and its been great money wise. Hard to get guys that are like minded and want to practice every week. I also do my own drums,bass,strings,piano to give it a personal touch.


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## marcos (Jan 13, 2009)

Chito said:


> When I get the band going, we usually play at least once a month. With this new band, in the last 4 months we've been focusing on writing originals with the purpose of coming up with a CD very soon. But we had an opportunity to play regularly once a month at a local bar so the focus has been diverted a bit. We're still continuing to write more songs but now we also have to at least play a set of covers so we can fill up the time we're playing in that once a month gig. I've been playing around the bars in Ottawa for the last 19 years in different bands. But the most I've gigged over those years is about 2-3 times a month.


Back in the 90's doing the ¨Country¨ gig thing, we were going out 2-3 times a week.We had a booking agent that would take good care of us and business was very good. The most i've played is 5 times in one week and that was exhausting to say the least,especially when I was working.


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## fredyfreeloader (Dec 11, 2010)

marcos said:


> I've just turned 60 and see less and less musicians our age out there.


Oh we're out here, the problem is we fall asleep shortly after dinner can't play to well with the mind at rest. LOL


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## bw66 (Dec 17, 2009)

What money I make, I make from the guitar, but its from teaching, not gigging. I only teach part time, so I'm thankful that my wife has a good job. 

My jam buddies and I recently formed a band when a local singer asked us to back her up at the local fair. We've never been paid, except for some swag and a tiny honorarium. I'm told that we could get paying gigs, but we really don't have the time as we all have busy family schedules. Maybe in a few years when the kids are older.


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## Starquasi (Feb 11, 2009)

Without doing any hustling myself, I'm usually booked 5-8 nights a month (Fri/Sat) with either a classic rock band or my country band. I do get occasional calls for "sideman" type jobs, but those are few and far between. I'm working on getting my solo singer/acoustic rep together as I'd like to fill up my weeknights during the summer with this sort of work.

I still work a day job, so I guess I would consider myself semi-pro.


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## bluesguitar1972 (Jul 16, 2011)

Gig 1 or 2 times a month in the winter - picks up in the Spring and Summer. I have a full time job and family, so gigging every weekend isn't what I'm trying for. Basically, I'm pretty much as busy as I'd want to be. Looking at starting up a 3 piece deal, but not going to be gigging as much in the 4 piece bar band I was doing before. Most gigs are a duo we do. Easier to get paid as a 2 piece around here.


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

I'm in a bar/cover band and a Springsteen tribute. Between the two, I'm gigging about 2-3 times per month on average. I don't really think I could handle more even if I wanted to, so I'm pretty happy with it.


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## loudtubeamps (Feb 2, 2012)

Money is only part of the equation for me, it is nice to get a decent pay-cheque for time and travel. My biggest motivation for playing out is the opportunity to interact with fellow musicians. The better the gig and the more open the tunes are for going outside, the less I think about the wage.


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## allthumbs56 (Jul 24, 2006)

I split time between a cover band and an acoustic duo. Between these, I did 46 gigs in 2012 and 13 so far in 2013.


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## robare99 (Jan 9, 2012)

Cover band. 

We might play 10 times a year. Basically as much as we want to. I do sound on the side and that keeps me pretty busy as well.


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## Chubba (Aug 23, 2009)

kind of up and down for me - when the band I'm in can keep a steady line up, it's about 1-2 times a month, usually with some extra stuff in the summer when it's going well  I like to play when I can - if I didn't have 2 kids, and the responsibility that goes along with that, I'd likely be involved in one or 2 more projects...

i also do some solo acoustic stuff, and pick up stuff where I can, but I don't push that too much. I played a couple of summers at a local farmer's market, and I really enjoyed that. I skipped last summer for no specific reason, but I think if they're doing it again this year, I may try to get back into it...I've learned a lot of new songs, and that gives me incentive to want to go and play...


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## Big_Daddy (Apr 2, 2009)

I'm one of those 60+ year old guitar players who would like to play out more. Our band did 7 or 8 gigs last year, mostly parties and benefits. I'm retired and have more free time than everyone else, all of them still working with active families. I should just be happy that I'm healthy and able to play I guess.


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