Re: [dcab-l] Looking to book gigs, but have a conundrum....

I don't play clubs (saloons, bars) anymore because of that.
I find that bluegrass is more lucrative at vineyards, private parties, and special events. Playing in a saloon from 9-1 for $60 is not my idea of fun.
Remember the Birchmere? Remember how much bluegrass they USED to have.
They cut way back when bluegrass Artists were not drawing the people.
Even the Seldom Scene is only there once in a while.....
Bill

On 4/2/2013 2:54 PM, Tim Kruzic wrote:

Good comments by Bill and Lissy.  I think what a lot of musicians fail to consider are the economics of running a venue.  Look at someplace like the Friendly Inn or the Tiffany Tavern.  They make money on food and drinks.  For them to make $500 to pay the band, they need to make a PROFIT of $10 from 50 customers.  Doesn’t sound to hard does it?  The Friendly only seated about 40 people.  On a good night with music, I bet they rarely made a profit of $1,000.  There were a lot of nights where there were only 20 people there.  The venue owner/operator has to average out those tough nights with the good nights.  Venue owners typically don’t care whether the music is good or not; their concern is whether the music positively projects the image of their establishment and makes money for them.  Gisela (The Friendly Inn) and Ted/Nancy (Tiffany Tavern) were a bit unique in that they came to appreciate bluegrass music and musicians and stuck with bluegrass through the years.  To most other owners, it’s simply a business proposition.  And given the size of their establishment, the amount of money their patrons are willing to spend, whether a cover charge works for them or not all are the basic economic issues that they evaluate to determine how much they can pay a band.  If you owned one of these establishments, would you want to go to the extra work and expense if it was only a break even proposition for those nights?

 

I wish those venues could pay more, but I understand their business calculations.  That’s one of the reasons Blue Daze did not go out of our way to play “club” type venues other than the Friendly Inn.

 

Tim Kruzic