playing full time vs being a weekend warrior

Russ mentioned 20,000 gigs in his lifetime (unless he's including a previous lifetime in the count?).

I figured out a few years ago that my own count is 15,000 +. I went full time in my early 20's and have been playing full time ever since. Of course, you have to remember jobs were hanging off of the trees just waiting to be plucked in those pre-DJ days.

Donny mentioned in another post that when we talk we need to remember each other's background if we want to be understood. The full-timer vs the weekend warrior.

Speaking for myself, I've been through it all from the days you'd be playing seven nights a week and wore a business suit in the night club you were playing or you'd walk into a VFW and the people were lined up wall to wall, laughing, joking having a good time and just waiting for the musician to come so the dancing could begin. And the 2-3 hours overtime you would get on every gig. Right up to today's audiences who are so busy working their smart phones they don't even know you're there. Or they're sitting there making plans for when they can leave the event. Jobs no longer go 4-6 hours, they barely reach two hours before they're totally bored.

The point is, speaking for myself, unless you've lived through those times and through the days when you had a simple keyboard and you made it work, and technological breakthroughs in music equipment happened so slowly you had time to adjust, and changes in audiences, etc, you're not going to understand a person who has.

So Donny is absolutely correct that full-time professionals, those of us who took stagecoaches to a gig in the early days, are going to talk differently and understand differently and have a different slant on things than those who play on the weekends.

BTW: any others who come close to Russ and me?

Mark I'm 64 started on stage professionally at 14 I totally agree it was a glorious time for musicians gigging 20 years before arrangers were ever thought of for sure all sadly gone but the experiences live forever in my heart and soul always, as a matter of fact I still have my "FRILLY" Tuxedo shirt & Velvet Bow Tie gig clothes hanging up in the closet!! lol,... ....short story.....when I was a kid around 10-11yrs old playing keyboard/piano my dad put me playing with some older guys in big bands, one time during a break one of the band members todl me " hey you know when we take breaks dont go smoke or hangout outside always go SMOOZE" ??? As a stupid inexperienced kid I said "What the hell is SMOOZE"? he said you know go out into the audience hug the ladies, shake hands give out business cards get NEW Work etc etc .......then I understood what he was saying and to this day I still SMOOZE always!!


I'm glad you catch my drift and can dig what I'm saying!!

take care

It's too early to count that high, and math makes my head hurt, but I'm sure I'm up in those numbers too. full time for most of 5 decades, and still at it

I've been a full-time pro for more than 40 years, and part-time before that.
I have probably averaged 5 nights a week, plus a few doubles.
40 years times 50 weeks is 2,000 weeks.
2,000 times 5 is 10,000 nights, give or take a thousand or so.
Those of you who have done 20,000 jobs are truly workhorses!

I'm in the same category as DonM when it comes to numbers, but the past 30 years have been the most active. The prior 20 years were mainly weekend warrior jobs.

Gary

I believe the original post was thosw who preformed live and those who didn't. Big differences in perceptions and opinions about things there. But full time vrs. weekend warrior. I don't see any big differences except the pressure to keep booked that the full timer has. And where is the work nowdays to keep a full timer going ? Even top Wedding and Coorporate Bands are basically just working weekends so if some of them do nothing during the week are they still full timers ? And my hats off to those who have done it in the past when things were good and not fallen into a lifestyle that can eventually eat you up.
One of my favorite bands here is ROSS2, a husband and wife team and they are doing 5 days a week but also run a small construction company so where do they fit in.
Weekenders still try to preform their best on the best equipment so what seperates them from full timers ?.

Bill , I think you are right.. I don't see any difference in a weekend performer and full time performer...
The skill level doesn't change...in fact I can see the weekend performer putting more into it.... not a job for them, where as full time it most certainly is a job... and it shows.

I have seen it over and over...guys missing family advents for last minute gigs..even poor paying gigs..

I have worked full time businesses.. Music store and Contracting at the same time , and played 2 or 3 nights a week..
I don't even want to think about doing that again..

Fran, you were too old to do that crap when I first met ya!

All the best,

Gary

Gary I was doing it then.... (1982-2002)

I began "part timing" with a couple of bands in the 60's which eventually turned into working at least every weekend and most holidays for a couple of decades. I now wish I could get those holidays back. In '91 I sold my day-time business and took on a 6 night a week gig at a restaurant. First off, it killed the opportunity to play the better paying once-in-awhile gigs....and secondly, I got burned out in about 11 months. I quit and got back into the weekend business and some assisted living jobs during the week. If you call that "part time", then I can tell you I enjoy part-timing a lot more than working full time in a restaurant setting.

The senior jobs also offer the opportunity to do a variety of things I could never do in a restaurant. Between the variety of music played, the humor, the one on one interaction with audience and the appreciation showed by the audiences, I much prefer being a "part-timer". Another bonus....most of the jobs are during the week and i get weekends off.

Eddie

Good point Eddie. As much as we all love music, there is a big difference in playing where and when you want to and having to play where you can to feed the family. OTOH, when one gets established, like Don, Donny, Gary, and others. they don't have to scratch for jobs and you are doing something you love. Case in point; I may never hit the big time, but I look forward to and eagerly plan for every engagement. When I no longer do, I hang it up.

Here's an appropriate song that I wrote in about 1976.
Part-time Picker - https://app.box.com/s/zmi0p24uv6ul24ev6ipqjv4l6hmkv8wh

Thank you, thank you very much.

Great song Don. I really think it has potential. Maybe send some demos out. I can imagine Willy Nelson doing a great job with it.

Love it, Don. Kinda describes a lot of us old guys.

Gary

Thanks guys, I have a whole PILE of 'em!