The Steel Guitar Forum

The best paying gigs I ever worked were in the late 60's and early 70's,these were lounge lizard gigs,usually trios. sometimes two pieces,also worked a lot then at Fort Benning in the Officer's club,payed good but boring as hell.In the dining rooms had to play dinner music REAL low,Made you appreciate those smokey redneck honkey tonks,when you could turn it up and play. DYKBC.

Don't really know about the small country scene out in the 'burbs and small towns. In the roots and rock clubs around the city you get whatever the door is, plus maybe free drinks, and sometimes a meal. If you are the only act all night, the take can be anywhere from $10-$100 apiece, depending how big your draw is and how high you can set the door price. But a lot of the rock clubs insist on having two or three groups a night. They figure each group brings in a separate crowd of friends, and the sum bumps the bar profits up. But by the time the bands split up the door, you're lucky to get $20-$30 a man. The problem is that since the big baby boomer music explosion of the '60s, music is so much fun, and so sexy, that everybody and his brother wants to play, and the skill level is set pretty low. So there is just a huge over-supply of musicians.

We actually make more ($100-$200 apiece) playing for the occasional private party (birthdays, graduations, weddings, etc.).

The best money is in summer festivals and concerts at colleges. These can pay a couple of thousand for the band. But they are infrequent and require a lot of leg work to get booked.

The next level up from the small clubs is the bigger multi-genre clubs that feature nationally known traveling performers who are semi-stars in their own niche genre. I'm guessing they make a few hundred to a thousand or so a night. Seems like they are barely making a living, and it's a hard life on the road. But they are doing what they like, without a day job.

Then of course there are the big concert venues with the national stars who can charge $50 and up for tickets. I guess the ones who perform a lot are doing pretty well.

YOU ALL HAVE BANDS??????

At the lake we're lucky to get duo work. But it does pay nice. I don't go out for less than 100.00 and sometimes I get more.

In Seattle with the exception of a few places, its 3-4 bands a night. There are probably at least 500 working bands in this city, fighting over an ever dwindling amount of venues. The venues know this and pay accordingly. Its a bookers market here. If you throw a rock in seattle you will probably hit a guitar player. (feel free to come here and try, I will supply the rocks).I try and hire myself out to as many bands as possible to make anything per month, since I cant really get a guarantee from the bands I am permanently attached to. Luckily the other more skilled steel players here are all very busy and make up a tiny percentage of the total musician base or I would be S>O>L.

After 40 years of playing I now make hundreds of dollars a year.

We average $1400 a weekend. Most gigs pay $1200 for a Fri/Sat. We have a couple 3 day gigs that pays around $2450 and another 5 dayer that pays $2800. We spit it all right down the middle X 5 piece.

JW

Dave Harmonson wrote:After 40 years of playing I now make hundreds of dollars a year.

Dave you pack up Zoe and I'll pack up Carrie and lets move to the 4 figure poster's towns!

The group I'm with only play the good one's. $1000.
per hour. From there on up. Party's , fairs and special events. We have brought in $6000. for a front show and after hours get together.
We don't go out unless we get our price.

Bill... that's pretty impressive money. Whats the name of the group? Any Website?

. . . the good one's. $1000.
per hour. From there on up. Party's , . . .

"Ladies and Gentlemen . . . please make welcome . . . THE GRATUITOUS APOSTROPHES!"

Sad state of affairs isn't it? Considering that we have years invested in learning our skill, thousands of dollars in equipment and "tools" of the trade. Yet, we are offered (and usually accept) low wages because we enjoy what we do.
I quit playing in bands years ago and now do a single (guitar) playing light jazz and dinner music. Less hassle, more $$$, and I don't have those 'ringing ears" at the end of the night.....
I wonder what would happen if I called a plumber and offered him $50.00 and a twelve pack for an evenings work?

The sad part is that some bands will play for almost nothing and thus the bar/club owners or person that does the bookings won't pay any more, even though they get what they pay for with the cheapie bands. There are many "one man" or "two man" jobs that you can make a little $$ off of and that is another reason they won't pay much here in Florida.

The worst place I worked was in Nashville and their "Broadway wages". In the early 70's when I was there it was $15 per man - regardless if you were Buddy Emmons or a nobody like me. I hear the "Broadway wages" are not any better today and some are just working for the tip jar.

There was a comment about not having Unions as the reason bar pay was so low. I have to disagree, when I first moved to Kansas City, Mo., most bands were getting $35 per man but the Union scale at the time was $22.50 per man (the net was less as the Union got their cut out of that). In the mid 60's when I lived in Harrisburg, Pa. I was in the Union as no one would hire a non Union band or musician and the Union scale was $12.50 per man,and that's all many clubs would pay. I had just got out of the Air Force, stationed in Biloxi Miss, and we got a lot more than that playing around Biloxi (this was way before the Casinos hit Biloxi). Florida is a "right to work" State and no one that I know, except maybe the musicians at the Theme Parks, are Union.

The musician's pay will vary from location to location, just as day job pay can (will) vary within a company depending on the location of the job and the cost of living in that area.

I put my steel gigs on the back burner in the mid 90's when I started getting work at the Greenbrier Hotel playing solo guitar for reception/dinner gigs. The pay reached 175.00 for two hours. As life is unpredictable, the pick-up steel jobs came out of nowhere at times. Still your average club pay but was lucky enough to do both in one night. It was a nice ride while it lasted. My intention was to not depend on PSG as it involved a band and solo work was looked to be a logical alternative. Currently playing PSG for Taylor Made during the fairs and festival season is paying more than the hotel job and that is with a band that has eight members. Who'd a thunk it? Don D. P.S. The resort hotel scene is going through a dramatic make over. I was lucky to be at the tail end of the "Good Old Days".