RE: Getting paid to play

[Rob Monn <robm@mailgate.nytimes.com>]

My old band -- Julia Galaxy (a group in which i used my jam man
extensively) decided that to get started we would have to play at a venue
regularly that didn't have a door.  this meant that we didn't get paid --
but we bartered instead... usually free drinks, which was nice... we'd
show up early, catch up with each other and drink a beer or two before we
set up.  point is this:  we built up quite an audience...  drawing more
than 100 a few times on a sunday night in dc!  then we were approached
about a new place opening in a not so frequented neighborhood that needed
some draw to get going.  we played there for $150 a gig weekly for six
months *and* got to go hang out there, drink for free, whatever as much as
we wanted.  we made contacts there and so on...

because we played for free until the opp came up we never felt like we
always played _our_ music, our way.... and it paid off.

until i moved to nyc, that is.