Re: [TBL] Digest for the-bottom-line@googlegroups.com - 17 updates in 1 topic (How Many of Us Are Still Here)
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Enossified Ossified
Nov 20, 2022, 11:48:38 AM11/20/22
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Still here if not posting very often (as in almost never ;) ).
Playing upright regularly in one blues band, straight up 1950s Chess style.
Playing bass guitar in a funk band with female vocals that does a few originals and some blues covers as well, less often a band with some long time (like 40 years) friends doing a mishmash of rock, country and folk music just for fun not profit.
Been picking up a lot of sub work on bass guitar in another blues band that actually pays better than my “real” bands, go figure.
After 30 years when upright gigs dominated my calendar, it’s swinging back to bass guitar gigs.
Overall, things are a lot slower than it was 20 years ago when I was out 4 nights a week which is really good for a part-timer! At 68, I’m expecting things to continue to slow down. I’m just not sure when I’m going to hang it up.
I've had three hand injuries in the last few years from bicycle crashes that made it harder to play bass and made regular guitar chording impossible, looking into playing slide as an alternative. I’ve mainly switched to 5-string bass guitar because playing on the upper frets reduces the stretching I need to make. After cycling since childhood, I may have to give it up and find something else to keep myself fit. No arthritis yet, thank goodness.
The gigging scene has changed a lot over the years here in the Boston.New England area. A lot of venues have closed, particularly since 2020 locked everything down. Like most places in USA, pay hasn’t gone up one cent since the 1980s and tip jars are now commonplace…the best paying gigs are where the tips are about four times what the venue pays the bands, like $400 in tips and only $100 from the bar. The biggest surprise (for me) is the amount of work that’s opened up at craft breweries and farmers markets (mostly acoustic gigs at the latter). The breweries pay about double what bars pay and the hours are good for an old geezer like me. I’ve also done a lot of park gazebo gigs the last two summers and they also can play pretty good.
After all this pandemic crap, I’m realizing I need to tell the people that are dear to me how I feel about them while we’re all still here. I’ve been telling all the bandmates that I haven’t seen for two years how much I feel blessed being able to play with them again. I want to tell the rest of you TBL veterans that I always appreciated our conversations.
— Brian Rost
Playing upright regularly in one blues band, straight up 1950s Chess style.
Playing bass guitar in a funk band with female vocals that does a few originals and some blues covers as well, less often a band with some long time (like 40 years) friends doing a mishmash of rock, country and folk music just for fun not profit.
Been picking up a lot of sub work on bass guitar in another blues band that actually pays better than my “real” bands, go figure.
After 30 years when upright gigs dominated my calendar, it’s swinging back to bass guitar gigs.
Overall, things are a lot slower than it was 20 years ago when I was out 4 nights a week which is really good for a part-timer! At 68, I’m expecting things to continue to slow down. I’m just not sure when I’m going to hang it up.
I've had three hand injuries in the last few years from bicycle crashes that made it harder to play bass and made regular guitar chording impossible, looking into playing slide as an alternative. I’ve mainly switched to 5-string bass guitar because playing on the upper frets reduces the stretching I need to make. After cycling since childhood, I may have to give it up and find something else to keep myself fit. No arthritis yet, thank goodness.
The gigging scene has changed a lot over the years here in the Boston.New England area. A lot of venues have closed, particularly since 2020 locked everything down. Like most places in USA, pay hasn’t gone up one cent since the 1980s and tip jars are now commonplace…the best paying gigs are where the tips are about four times what the venue pays the bands, like $400 in tips and only $100 from the bar. The biggest surprise (for me) is the amount of work that’s opened up at craft breweries and farmers markets (mostly acoustic gigs at the latter). The breweries pay about double what bars pay and the hours are good for an old geezer like me. I’ve also done a lot of park gazebo gigs the last two summers and they also can play pretty good.
After all this pandemic crap, I’m realizing I need to tell the people that are dear to me how I feel about them while we’re all still here. I’ve been telling all the bandmates that I haven’t seen for two years how much I feel blessed being able to play with them again. I want to tell the rest of you TBL veterans that I always appreciated our conversations.
— Brian Rost
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