WAAAY Off topic-What would you do!!!?

[billraydrums]

This stuff happens all the time. It's the nature of the business and you should move on to other things. Remember that when a door closes, another one opens. And sometimes you gotta knock.

[Mark P]

This is the not the 'music friends', it's the

MUSIC BUSINESS...

It totally sucks every time it happens, but this won't be the last.

MP

[Kurtis]

[MRhet]

. . . If you are a very good player and are versatile in styles you will keep working.

I knew there was a catch.

[Gaddabout]

If you are a very good player and are versatile in styles you will keep working.

I think most places beyond NY, LA, and Nashville, you earn your wings after X many years and you know almost every player in town. If you've retained a good reputation after that time, you make a decision to do it for the rest of your life or attempt to move some place bigger. The right decision is usually to stay where you are, but a lot of guys are always convinced Nashville needs one more hot new drummer.

[YamahaPlayer]

They still have music in Nashville?!

[perksworks]

Step 1: Take six months and dedicate it to creating work for yourself as a band leader. Once you get that up and off the ground, you'll be surprised how much your phone will start to ring from other musicians.

Step 2: On your gigs as a band leader make it a point to always be the worst guy in the band. Always surround yourself with people who are better than you. You'll be amazed at the affect on your playing and your business as a sideman.

Happy trails.

[YamahaPlayer]

.....


Wow. Really?

[robhaerr]

$500 for each band member= decent money

$500 for the whole band= the band is getting hosed, get someone else to negotiate the band compensation!

Or, find a band that doesn't low ball themselves and ruin the market.

Crappy DJs are making $1,000-2,000 or more.

[Tombo 7/4]

Guys, what bummer situations!

I feel blessed that I've never been in a situation where I was replaced or fired, but I can remember several times where I replaced another drummer in weird and obscure situations.
And once I found out, I felt bad for the guys and sympathized with them.

Once a bandleader wasn't happy with his drummer (if I remember, he thought the guy looked too old for the band) and called me on short notice.
I had an engagement ealier in the day and said I would be there tight. He said no problem and that there will be be a kit already setup on stage.
It was some festival and the kit the previous bands played on was the regular drummer's kit. So the bandleader kinda fired the guy just before the set and I ended up playing on his kit!?!
Then the leader started to dislike the bassist and replaced/screwed him in some weird way, then he disliked guitarist, then the sax player left, then band split...

Another time I replaced a drummer in a band cause the guy couldn't afford to buy drum mics!?!
The bandleader was full of cash and had bought a huge top quality PA (Soundcraft, JBL, Crown,...) with all the gear except drum mics. He obligated the drummer to buy his own and the best...

Other times I was rehearsing/gigging in bands somehow in secrecy because they hadn't informed the previous drummers...

And on gig pay... I've been in two bands where I was the only one who didn't get drunk on gigs. So I was the one who took care of gig pays with club owners.
Some guys in those bands had huge drink bills after 2-3 nights of playing. And it was subtracted from our pay.
I was often accused of screwing them because when splitting the money they were sometimes left with $40 because of their drinking while I got my whole $400...

Having spent my professional career half & half between music and engineering I can say that there are far more desperate cases in music.