JazzWriter

I'm a freelance writer by day and a working jazz musician by night, and often I am able to combine my two lines of work. This blog is for posting gigs & various rants about music and life in general.

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Location: Central Illinois, United States
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Thursday, November 20, 2008

slow times, hard times

Has anyone else been experiencing a downturn in your gigging world? Besides my weekly jam at Panache--which I fear may become a bi-monthly gig after the first of the new year--my calendar has been fairly empty. I don't even have any Christmas parties booked--a first in the 10 years or so I've been working.

Part of this is my fault. I'm not making any effort to book new gigs. In fact, I've actually passed along some work to others because I didn't want to bother with it. I'm at the point where it's more trouble to book the band, plan the set list, find charts, deal with the contract, etc. etc. than I want to deal with. Making arrangements to have someone watch our 2-year-old is not always easy, especially since many gigs are out-of-town and some don't end until late. Yes, I realize this admittance makes me sound lazy, but that's not it, really. I'm just not in the music mindset these days, I guess.

The other part is the economy. I see it at my weekly gig every week...there just aren't as many people going out. You can't blame them. Those couple of bucks are probably better served to keep a mortgage from going under anyway. I mean, which do you need more, a roof over your head or a cup of coffee? (In the morning I would probably answer the coffee, but after I've woken up and begun to think clearly I'd venture the more practical response.)

So how about you, fellow musicians? What's your calendar look like for the holidays and after the new year?