Corona and It’s Impact on The PSG Gig Economy

[Jamie Lennon]

Georgettes dates all got pushed...which sucks as its only my income only for a while. Im on salary which I hope stays....musicians have took a huge hit

[Donny Hinson]

I know a lot of people no longer get a newspaper. Here's a link to an article about the Corona virus problem that musicians face:

https://www.baltimoresun.com/coronaviru ... story.html

[Rich Upright]

I agree with Donny. This country will be changed forever. And, not for the good.
Might be selling my D-10s for a couple hundred bucks apiece.

[Don R Brown]

I agree with Donny. This country will be changed forever. And, not for the good.
Might be selling my D-10s for a couple hundred bucks apiece.

Rich, I'll give you $500 for the pair!

[Rich Upright]

I agree with Donny. This country will be changed forever. And, not for the good.
Might be selling my D-10s for a couple hundred bucks apiece.

Rich, I'll give you $500 for the pair!

Well; it hasn't come to THAT yet, but I'll letcha know if it ever does.

[Fred Treece]

If you think you qualify as a gig worker, apply for unemployment benefits under the CARES Act. If your state hasn’t made a deal with the Federal government yet, write a nice letter to your representative and tell the administration to get off their butts and do it. There is no need to suffer more than you have to.
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/26/gig-wor ... -bill.html

[Kevin Fix]

Guitar player in our group is checking into the "gig" for compensation.

[Bruce Meyer]

All my gigs, which are backing up a Christian songwriter doing benefits, of course are canceled. I also did a duo at assisted living and nursing homes, which were the first ones canceled. It was not any income producer for me. I feel hugely sorry for all the full time musicians here in the Nashville area. I think it will take years for things to come back and many of the honky tonks will be out of business.

At my age, I cannot envision doing another gig anywhere until there is an effective vaccine. Probably in a few years.

[Andy DePaule]

This is a sad thread, Bad for those depending on gigs for some or all of their income.
I'm kind of lucky having a business only effected a little by this and also being semi retired I have more than enough to live well on.

I sure do remember the years when I depended on the extra income from weekend gigs to help pay the bills and raise my 7 children.

As I understand it, those checks from the government will go to anyone who files income tax? However $1,100.00 or $1,200.00 a month won't go very far these days.

Sorry for those that will end up selling equipment at bottom prices just to eat and pay rent and utilities.
Lets just hope this all ends very soon and the country gets back to work. Wish there was a way to predict when that will be.

[Bill McCloskey]

"As I understand it, those checks from the government will go to anyone who files income tax? However $1,100.00 or $1,200.00 a month won't go very far these days.
"
I believe it is dependent on what you made in 2019. My understanding is that if you made over a certain amount last year ($75k? ) you are ineligible. so even though I retired and live on social security this year, because I worked last year and made over $75k I will receive nothing.

Happy to learn I'm mistaken

[Jim Cohen]

You may not be completely ineligible over a certain level but get a reduced payout. But there is a level where the payout would reduce to 0 also

[Donny Hinson]

For those who get laid off from their full-time day job due to the virus outbreak, a weekly check will be issued from the federal government in the amount of $600, and this benefit extends to July 31, 2020 (four months). However, you don't get this until you file for and collect your state's unemployment benefit! (The $600 from the federal government is in addition to whatever amount you're eligible for from your state unemployment benefit.)

[Fred Treece]

What Jim & Donny said.

Also, the CARES act is not just the stimulus check, but includes unemployment benefits for people who would not otherwise qualify - namely, gig workers like musicians and Uber drivers. I’m not going to post links because they might be different state to state. EDD’s are overwhelmed all over the country, but at least you can try to get an application started, and I believe those are downloadable. A friend of mine here in CA just applied and it took her 40 hours to finish with the application process, so be prepared for frustration.

[Fred Treece]

Important information for renters and on government-backed mortgages, eviction and foreclosure moratoriums for homeowners:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business ... t-due-faq/

We all know the Forum is probably not the best place for reliable information, but some folks here appear to be desperate and maybe this will get them started on a path toward better resources.

[Dave Mudgett]

I posted the correct income limits for the stimulus payout on page 2 of this thread, with a link to an article that explains it as well as to the original text of the bill that was passed:

(c) LIMITATION BASED ON ADJUSTED GROSS INCOME.—The amount of the credit allowed by subsection (a) (determined without regard to this subsection and subsection (e)) shall be reduced (but not below zero) by 5 percent of so much of the taxpayer’s adjusted gross income as exceeds—
(1) $150,000 in the case of a joint return,
(2) $112,500 in the case of a head of household, and
(3) $75,000 in the case of a taxpayer not described in paragraph (1) or (2)

The amount is $1200 for a single taxpayer, $2400 for taxpayers filing jointly, plus $500 for each dependent child under a certain age (I believe under 18, but you can read the text, I didn't go that far). It goes to zero at an income of $99,00 for taxpayer filing singly, $136,500 for single head of household, and $198,000 for taxpayers filing jointly.

This is separate from the unemployment payout, which has indeed been extended to gig workers who would not normally get unemployment. But I'm pretty sure that is run by the states separately, and as stated, one needs to apply for that separately.

[Billy McCombs]

We will get thru this. Our Grand parents and parents lived thru two World Wars and the Great Depression. As a Nation we will be stronger than ever. Only buy American made even if it cost a little more. To hell with the over seas CRAP!! Remember that what doesn't kill you will makes us stronger as a nation. LOL

[Larry Bressington]

It's all dried up for sure, i'm thinking this might be as bad as the dust bowl era of the 30's financially. There's an awful lot of people who rant against the government helping others at tax payers expense, but i'm thinking now they might rethink that viewpoint considering how the govt is doing all it can to help them too.

I think the whole world is doing the very very best they can to keep their nations afloat and help the human race survive this financial storm, i commend them all.

[Tony Prior]

Well, Lowes and several large grocery chains in our area are asking for workers, Lowes is offering $18/hr . The grocery chains don't have enough people to fill the shelves , they are hiring.


Stew Leonard's, Norwalk Ct ( grocery's) is advertising $20 an hour for workers !

I wouldn't subscribe to total doom and gloom just yet.

[Larry Bressington]

Well said Tony, you do have a valid point, I think they’re doing the same here actually at the hardware and grocery shops. We must keep on no matter what, if truckers and grocery operators go home and hide it will be doomsday.

[David Ball]

There used to be occasional migrations of lots of the East Tennessee population and the Michigan/Ohio/northern manufacturing towns when the work was good up there and not so good down here. Then, when the economy shifted, you'd see the migration going the other way. I guess we've always moved to where the work is. It's not so much a geographical thing now days, but the same principle applies.

I was born in Michigan of Tennessee/Kentucky parents but lived most of my life in Tennessee and Kentucky...

At least somebody's hiring.

Dave

[Dustin Rigsby]

Well said Tony, you do have a valid point, I think they’re doing the same here actually at the hardware and grocery shops. We must keep on no matter what, if truckers and grocery operators go home and hide it will be doomsday.

I’m a trucker. Thank you for your appreciation. Many of us are nervous ,but doing our best to get down the road. For the first time in my career, most four wheelers are courteous instead of flying by me and flipping me the bird. We as a nation will get through this. It will fundamentally change us and the world around us. Every nation must learn to be self sufficient. We are now seeing the issues that arise when everyone in the world depends on the cheapest way to get their goods. We need a return to proper education so as to teach skilled trades instead of producing would be philosophers and unskilled citizens. We can’t all be sports stars and singing sensations... there is no shame in a good days work in a factory or on a jobsite.

I wish all of you good health and food security! I’ll do my best to truck it to you. WASH YOU HANDS LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT, BECAUSE MY LIFE DEPENDS ON IT TOO !

[Don McClellan]

A hungry man is a dangerous man and if his kids are hungry he's a very dangerous man. How many more months, weeks or even days can people all over the world go without an income. I think most Americans would be surprised to know how many people world wide live hand to mouth and simply can't endure this lock-down much longer. There will undoubtedly be mass protests, rioting and looting sooner than later. I think we'll see special police forces given the green light to shoot and gas protesters, rioters and looters and these people won't be just a bunch of no-goods, it'll be people just like you and I with their backs against the wall. Desperate times call for desperate measures. It's going to get ugly fast. Desperation will be here shortly. We ain't seen nothin' yet!
It seems obvious to me that this can't be about a virus. I believe the Coronavirus is just a smoke screen to cover up a much more sinister agenda.
I wish I could be little more optimistic but I can't. I'd be kidding myself but I sure hope I'm wrong. Good luck everyone, Don

[Charlie McDonald]

What is obvious to you isn't obvious to me. The condition of overcrowding has created other challenges to the future.
Desperation need not be the only choice. Choosing to live together in cooperation can bring changes to the status quo.

[Dustin Rigsby]

A hungry man is a dangerous man and if his kids are hungry he's a very dangerous man. How many more months, weeks or even days can people all over the world go without an income. I think most Americans would be surprised to know how many people world wide live hand to mouth and simply can't endure this lock-down much longer. There will undoubtedly be mass protests, rioting and looting sooner than later. I think we'll see special police forces given the green light to shoot and gas protesters, rioters and looters and these people won't be just a bunch of no-goods, it'll be people just like you and I with their backs against the wall. Desperate times call for desperate measures. It's going to get ugly fast. Desperation will be here shortly. We ain't seen nothin' yet!
It seems obvious to me that this can't be about a virus. I believe the Coronavirus is just a smoke screen to cover up a much more sinister agenda.
I wish I could be little more optimistic but I can't. I'd be kidding myself but I sure hope I'm wrong. Good luck everyone, Don

I’m not discounting you at all, but the virus is very contagious and is virtually a new pathogen to humans to which there is no immunity. I don’t doubt that other forces are at work as well. I’m one of those folks who understands that most of the rest of the world does live hand to mouth. That’s not lost on me at all. It may be upon me to employ skills I learned as a youth to keep my family alive and afloat. Had we not taken mitigation measures, the death toll would have been in the millions instead of the hundred thousands. It was a dastardly thing to do for the Communist Chinese Government to not admit they had a problem sooner than when they did. It amounts to biological warfare. That’s for the elected officials to consider. I just want to survive.

[Dave Mudgett]

... It seems obvious to me that this can't be about a virus. I believe the Coronavirus is just a smoke screen to cover up a much more sinister agenda. ...

Full brakes on! This is a thread about the impact of the current pandemic on the PSG (and more general musician) gig economy. That topic is relevant to many steel guitar players on this forum, which I believe is why it has been allowed to continue.

Conspiracy theories are not relevant, act as flame bait, inevitably lead us totally off-topic, and every time someone posts one, an otherwise useful and relevant discussion winds up getting shut down. We should not go here, this is not the place for that.

I’m a trucker. Thank you for your appreciation. Many of us are nervous ,but doing our best to get down the road.

I'm not sure everybody gets it - the culture is full of people who feel entitled - but I sure do. Do your best to stay safe, brother.