Sunday, August 1, 2010

Sometimes A Dream Turns Into A Dream

I think it's time to end my freelance career. What do I mean by that? I don't mean it's time to stop playing cello or quit my band or anything like that. But ... I think it's time to stop playing with random rock/folk/singer-songwriter/whatever groups for barely any pay & I think it's time to stop taking random gigs that again barely pay. More particularly, I need to stop going into NYC for barely any money ... It's all good and well to get experience, but I've got plenty of that, and I'm even developing the technique & level that goes along with that. However, I need to pay bills ... and I don't mean leisure/pleasure bills, I mean I need to keep a roof over my head & have enough money to get food, etc. Taking these gigs has messed with this in two ways: 1. I'm never really making any notable money & 2. It clogs up my availability to work, which is just not something I can keep doing. I need to set clear guidelines with myself for what the minimum I'm willing to do a gig for is & I need to come up with times that I just can't fuck with, because either I need to actually take care of things around my house, or I need to not skip work.

That being said, I'm in a band, I'm sort of in a (currently) inactive piano trio (that I can make active again by freeing the time) ... I think if anything I'm doing as a performer is going to pay (short of weddings & musicals) it's one of those two ... why should I put my time into other things that I don't even necessarily believe in & that won't pay my bills?

As far as I can tell, these are the only things that pay reasonably in terms of performance (or have paid reasonably so far)

Weddings - usually $125 to $200 per gig
Musicals - usually $50 per show or something like that ... not a lot, but not horrible if it's not too far of a commute (ie, not in NYC)
Solo or Ensemble Performances as part of a music series - usually about $150, sometimes more.

Here's what doesn't pay well:
Playing with bands - if I'm *lucky* I make $50 per show (commute costs $17 round trip) ... after rehearsals, next to nothing

Here's what I haven't even touched into:
Subbing for an orchestra - I just don't have the contacts for this ... I don't know the people doing these things

So I guess I'm not really saying I have to stop freelancing, what I am saying is that I have to stop taking gigs that don't make financial sense & that don't work with my schedule.

I want/need to make teaching my main income. It's one of the only things that will give me flexibility and pay well. As a performer, I need to concentrate my efforts into Edensong & into the trio & my own solo stuff (which I hope to make a financial asset within the next few years) ...



Ok, needed to get that all off my shoulders ... I wish this wasn't the first blog post I'd done in months, but things have been so unbelievably busy & I just haven't had the energy/inclination to write...

In other news, I've started doing the real recording for my solo album & am planning to have it out in November (or earlier if possible).

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