skip Heller <velaires@earthlink.net> wrote:
In an ideal world, there would be be no subsidy to speak of. A musician would have to go up in front of an audience, collect his fee from the promotor, and sell his own records at the end of the night, and, whatever he makes, that's the money.
(Before Ellery Eskelin objects to this, I've seen him sell enough to CDs at one gig to cover a bandmember's plane ticket and motel room, so shut up and prove my point, Ellery.)
Hey Skip, No disagreement from me...in an "ideal world" that is. But we ain't got one 'a them. But hell, lot's of shit gets subsidized, all the way up to big business and their tax breaks...oh, and don't forget that those CDs we sell cost something up front, so it's not all gravy. Even if I made and pressed them myself it would still take awhile to recoup the investment, particularly if I want to pay my musicans what I think they're worth. Tour CD sales help but it may not be as much as it looks. But it's more and more becoming the norm to sell on the gigs since the shops are not at all consistent in stocking these things. And besides, Gerry Hemingway is the king of on stage sales, one night in Ann Arbor I witnessed 75 CDs fly off the stage during a 15 minute break. Now that's a decent chunk of change...
I remember seeing Ellery's trio in '95 in one of the little rooms at the Knit playing for less people than I have fingers
I remember that gig!
And I'm reasonably sure this wasn't the only night that trio faced that unhappiness.
No, but thankfully things are a little better these days... Oh and Herb, I get the digest version of the Z-list which is pretty mush straight text. And in your responses to my messages there is no visual distinction between your text and mine, so it's a little hard to read...but thanks for your comments. EE ================================= ELLeRY ESKELiN/MiCHELLE VAn NaTTA RaMiChElLeRy/PrImE SoUrCe PrOdUcTiOnS http://home.earthlink.net/~eskelin/ =================================