The Steel Guitar Forum

I think it would be fun to compare what kind of money us steel players make playing local bars/clubs/honky tonks/weddings/fairs etc. Of course I am not asking "big league" pros to divulge thier professional incomes... just us "local yokels" that play weekends at "Joes Bar and Grill".. My band is 4 piece.. We have a good following and play weekly. Our minimum is $400.. never less than $100 a man, and often make 150-175 a man. Thats actually very good for the icy cow country I live in [NY State}.. I suppose some guys will laugh at these rates,but I think it would be lot of fun to compare what we "part timers" make for a weekend night gig. I hope no one will think this is offensive. I just think it would be fun to share....... bob<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Bob Carlucci on 30 December 2003 at 04:48 PM.]</p></FONT>

In my neck of the woods the pay depends on where you're playing....bars usually pay a minimum of $50 per man...dance halls usually at least $100....the money I make pays for cd's,strings,new equipment,lessons,etc..I'm usually happy with whatever amount I get.

Fifty bucks, two enchiladas, rice, and beans.

$50-$75 average ..no rice and beans..

For many years I supplemented my income by playing in honky tonks on weekends. That sort of work began to lose its appeal to me after I quit drinking. I typically made between $50 and $75 for a night's work.

These days, I make $75-$125 when I play a country gig. Mostly wineries and outdoor summer concerts. My original band, Open Hearts, doesn't make any money to speak of, but it's more satisfying.

------------------
<font size="1"><img align=right src="http://b0b.com/Hotb0b.gif" width="96 height="96">Bobby Lee - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs, Open Hearts
Sierra Session 12 (E9), Williams 400X (Emaj9, D6), Sierra Olympic 12 (C6add9),
Sierra Laptop 8 (E6add9), Fender Stringmaster (E13, A6),
Roland Handsonic, Line 6 Variax</font>

Bob this may not count since im just a bedroom picker now but from 1981 to 1988 i played friday and saturday nights at a big VFW.We played for the door and made $350.00 to $400.00 per man for the two nights.Those days are gone since karaoke has taken over,no live bands in this area now.

Wayne

You guys get paid???????????????????? But seriously, out here on the frontier of western Pennsylvania we usually get 50-70 bucks a gig with 4 or 5 players.

So far 55$ is the lowest on a 5 piece per man per night on a Fri Sat. That's at a Moose, and an Eagles. One other club , it's 60$@. Just played last weekend at an eagles for 85$@ of the two nights. This NYs it's $150@ at the Eagles in Gresham, then Thurs at Jubitz Truck stop $75@, then Fri Sat there for $116.50 @ night. I don't miss any weekends, and usually play 1 5 nighter besides. Jan it's every weekend, and the last week 7 nights. Feb it's every weekend so far and maybe a five niter.

That's usually in addition to a full work week, and even when Construction has been going full swing, I've managed to play that much. It's off totally right now which just means more practicing.

No rest for the wicked OR the stupid.

Had the same schedule for the last 20 or so years. In the 80s there were lots of 7 niters and road gigs with summer fair tours. With the computer arriving in 96, I've been able to keep track of the dates.



EJL

Four of us in the Texas Pride Band, all of us are over 50 years of age, and the band books for $500 a night and we're covered up right now. Not one week between now and Feb 1, that we don't go at least 3 nights a week.

Tomorrow, New Years Eve, the price is $1200..The Kareoke boys haven't taken us over yet, but there are some bands in this area going belly up because of it.

FRED

------------------
The spirit be with you!
If it aint got a steel, it aint real

My full time job is playing steel. I played steel for 5 years(1996-2001) for a Western group called Wylie and the Wild West. Its a national pro group that plays Western and honky tonk. I quit playing full time with the Wylie in 2001 because of burn out. When I was with the group we played 120 dates a year. Fairs, festivals, and the Opry in Nashville. Generally I got $200 per show with Wylie, and the show lasted anywhere from 1-45 minute set to 2 sets. The Opry pays differently depending on the amount of songs that you get to play and generally you dont know how many songs that you will be doing until you get to the Opry for the show. I still play from time to time with Wylie and just got back from doing the Opry earlier this month. Thats Wylie's voice yoldeling on the end of the Yahoo commerical. Right now, I play in a local band based out of Spokane Washington. We play private clubs and all the rest. Its a 4 piece and get $62.50 to $75 per man per night. Most of the time 2 nights, sometimes 3 nights a week. We do some fairs and festivals in the summer from time to time and that will range about $100-$150 per man. Duane Becker

I made as little as $0 and as much as $425, but most of the time I make somewhere between $50 and $150, I've made $300 for two sets of music, I've made $50 for 4 sets, I've made $100 for 1 set, it's all over the place. The band I play with now doesn't do top 40 jukebox gigs. We are an original showcase act. I feel petty lucky that I'm getting paid at all!

Happy New Year! Dave Z
themothertruckers.com

(Thats Wylie's voice yoldeling on the end of the Yahoo commerical.)

I 'spect Wylie gets more pay for one yodel every time it plays than we all get for several jobs.

More power to him. He adds the kicker to the spot and it is perfect.

I have a 4 piece band,lead guitar,drums,girl on keyboard who plays bass and myself.I make $80.00/night and we play 2 nights at the Legion and 2 nights at the Elks club.The 1 nighters we usually make $125 to $150 each depending on the type of job.Two of us are retired so the extra spending money is good but mostly do it for fun.

we are right in line with most of the above posts.the Sunday jam is $50.the rest is $65.-$100. NY eve $250.each for 4 piece

In Nashville...?...free soda...money? nah...

In the late 40s it was a different world, we played for tips and about $6'00 to $8.00
each. That was big money then I worked all week for $10.00.
In 1950 union scale was $1.35 an hour. So it was better than than the job.

ernie

I don`t think anyone in L.A. would laugh at a hundred bucks a night.
Mark

For a six piece band:
Bars $50-100 per man. Weddings min $100 per man (we may raise the minimum to $150 because weddings are long and usually not much fun). Anything involving travel is an extra charge depending upon distance. We did pull $8500 for New Year's Eve in 2000 (the world did not end and prices are back in the $1000 range for NYE). Opening band jobs for Jr Brown, Derailers, et al, maybe $100 - 150 for the whole band. Thankfully, this pays enough to keep me from having to work a second job.

I forgot to mention that up here in the fur north the clubs (Eagles,Legion,Elks and Moose) set a price at $70.00 per man plus a $10.00 leader fee.3 piece would get $210.00 plus $10.00 leader fee and 4 piece would get $280.00 + $10.00 but that's the max. if you go 5 piece you take the cut.I'm very fortunate that my girl on keyboard plays bass so that lets me play steel,fiddle,harmonica,rhythm and do sound checks.Life is goooood ! !

I make enough to classify my playing as a self-supporting hobby!
~~W.C.~~

Can't speak for steel players specifically, but for bands in general, Austin (a little like Nashville I bet) suffers from a pretty severe imbalance between supply & demand. Good paying in-town gigs are few and far between. I'm giddy if I make $50 for a night's work. You'll often have to pay for parking if the gig's downtown, too (!)

The best I've ever done was with a group from San Antonio, playing steel "on call" when they were within a couple hors driving distance...then I paid $5-$10 in gas to make $50-$100 in one of the outlying honky tonks...

Adding to the sentiment expressed above already, I feel very fortunate to get paid for playing gigs at all. I would play for nothing, and have done so several times this year.

This year's been a little slow for me - I've worked a total of 42 gigs, down from 70 last year and over 100 the year before. The pay has ranged from $0 to $140.

I've had 7 or 8 cancellations at the last minute, too.

I've done two opry gigs this year, both times filling in for someone else. These pay good but are really difficult for me to get ready for, and both times I've gotten an extreme case of stage-fright, dropping the bar, getting my fingers stuck in the strings, etc...

I've also worked on 2 opening act gigs where we only played about 50 minutes each time.

On average, I get $100 per gig for 3 1-hour sets. And the clubs are not giving band discounts at the bar any more either. One club gives us a great dinner when we play there, and 2 rooms to split between 5 guys...

Tonite, I'm booked for a private party/CD release gig for $200, so I'm happy about that - and looking forward to bringing in a productive and (musically) rewarding 2004.

Answering the question Do I make money with it ...? I keep track of all expenses, gas, oil, food, rooms, phone calls, strings, clothes, trips to St. Louis, learning materials, CD's bought to learn tunes, etc. After all that is factored in, it is not a profitable endeavor by any measure - but that isn't my motivation. It helps to get a few bucks every time though.

Happy Holidays, and best wishes for a great 2004 to everyone!

Jim C.<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by JamesMCross on 31 December 2003 at 08:03 AM.]</p></FONT>

Most local music clubs in Boston, you are looking at $150 for the night for the band, down from $200 in 1980 when I started playing out!

Touring bands do better but not fantastic, depends on the draw and guarantee vs. % of door etc.

The bar scene is strictly for fun as you are barely gonna make lunch and gas money.

One of the best acoustic gigs is the local bluegrass bar in Cambridge (CANTAB LOUNGE) pass-the-hat open mic with featured band- a 4 piece can bring in $500 on a Tuesday night! All proceeds from a voluntary $5 donation. The bar makes a pile because the place is always jam packed.

Wedding bands run the gamut; you can see between $75 and $600 per member depending on the gig/band/area. Lots of "leader's fees" and crap like that, which I avoid by playing in my own bands where everyone gets the same bread. Good friends, good fun and minimal BS.

------------------
http://www.johnmcgann.com
Info for musicians, transcribers, technique tips and fun stuff.

Sounds like it is about the same no matter where you are. Around central Texas the rate is 80-150 a night. I have never figured out why if you entertain in sports the cost of the athletes has gone from 100 thousand a year to 25 million a year in the last 30 years but in music you entertained for 80-150 a night 30 years ago or today. Wierd.

George, I think if you compare the top echelon in both fields, you'll find it's not all that different. How much do the Stones make? Clapton? McCartney? You're comparing club sidemen on the one hand with the top pro ballplayers on the other!

(Personally, I don't think ANYBODY's worth that much money; but I freely admit to sour grapes! LOL!)