The Steel Guitar Forum

Well I just got the phone call that the legion that we were playing on Friday nights has had a board meeting and they have decided to cut their expenses. Naturally the live entertainment was the first on the chopping block.

They are down sizing the stage to add two more tables so, they asked the our band leader what he could do with a smaller stage area. Hence no more drums, bass or steel guitar. From now on it will just be the lead guitar and vocalist with her acoustic and canned back up.

Now the option for me and heavy thought is to face the facts and pack it in altogether after 53 years of music. I do love competition horseshoes and there is lots of that around here.

You can always move to Mtn. View AR. We have people here fighting to play for nothing. Spend $,$$$ for equipment and can't even make gas money.

Hey Brothers, I feel your pain. It's tough all over right now. I'm lucky in the fact that I'm playing with an established well rounded country band and we play nearly every weekend but I'm not making the kind of money I once did. After gas, a few beers and breakfast it's hardly worth it.

JW

For every door that closes or gets closed, just remember, another one opens! I decided many years ago to play as long as it last then move on to something else, somewhere else. Most legions/halls don't know how to keep a good band. There's usually bickering over this or that or somebody offers to play for less money. Loyal band members that watch each others back is a big plus also.

Our Legion had Country bands on Thursday and Saturday nights for 30 years but in the last year or so were losing money on Thursday so it was cut out and to make it worse they only have a country band 1 Saturday a month for a 3 hour gig, needless to say the good country bands quit playing there.Now the Elks club has cut out Friday nights and only have a Saturday matinee so we try and book 2 Saturdays in a row and we don't have to move the gear out.
Jobs here are getting fewer and fewer.

It doesn't help to be told that "a steel guitar in a band is nice but is a bit like having extra window dressing." These were the exact words that were laid on our band leader.

That's the way the pickle squirts however.

It's always sad when something good comes to an end. But ya know Les, it sounds like you had a pretty good ride there for awhile. That's more than most people get. Who knows, something else may come up.

Of course, the more common phrase goes:

'As one door closes, another one slams in your face...'

There was a point quite recently when I considered quitting the road-gigs or theatrical runs from which I get my income and seeing what there was locally. Stories like this, however, convince me that I'm better off doing what I do and putting up with the traveling.

We're very close to being in a recession - I'm afraid there's going to be more of this before it gets better again.

Sounds like the band leader is a "Strong" character. Sounds not important when it comes to keeping the gig

Sounds like it wasn't a very active gig to begin with !

The Legions do this all the time with new officers , new boards etc. A gig with a Guitar and a singer doesn't say much for the gig to begin with to me.

I played in a local group several years back here in Charlotte that played 2 gigs/month at two different clubs. One was a Legion. The gig was always cram packed. A new guy was voted in charge of something or other and the first thing he did was change the bands !

Back in the 70's we had a weekly Fri night Legion gig, a packed house every fri night.. Same thing happened , a new guy was voted in, he approached the band and said he had to cut our pay if we wanted to keep the gig. So we did the next best thing, we played Johnny Paychecks "Take this Job and Shove It" for our last song that night and walked. About a month later we were contacted to come back by yet another new officer but we had already taken another gig. Our band leader told them we would come back for double the price. Of course they said HUHH ????

Sounds like you need to kick the lead geetar player right square in the knuts, find a decent singer and do a BIAB/Steel geetar and singer duo.

Works for me between jobs and the pay can be better.

Good luck my brother

My situation is just the opposite. Last year I played 115 club dates plus some steel guitar club meetings an two steel guitar shows. The only downside, I had to get out of a great traditional country band. It got to where we only had two jobs per month. I got into this band of young guys)22 to 35 yrs. old) that play Texas Music, top 40 country, and some pretty wild rock and roll. We do play about six country standards. the pay is twice as much as the traditional band. These guys pay me good and treat me good. Even unload and load up my rig . Not my choice of music, but it helps pay the bills and allows me to keep top notch equipment. They are very understanding in letting me off to play the Texas and Oklahoma shows. Hope I can hang in a while. Jody.

I'll agree with Jody. I played for years doing standard country covers. Usually playing for six drunk truckers who could care less and a bar maid with a low head to tooth ratio, barley making gas money. Now that I play for a band that does a WAY different kind of music, I've toured the world for four years now and the tattooed, mohawk'ed kids love it!
(in helsinki tonight)

I fall into Jody's age group (55 + a bunch). I lead a youth band at my church that has become the Sunday praise band. The key word here is YOUTH! We play a few (very few) traditional hyms and lots of new Christian contemporary/rock music. Nothing stays the same forever...you have to keep moving with the new wave or you become FOSSIL MATERIAL.