Pay Us What We Deserve!

Hey everybody I hope everyone is as ready for the weekend as I am. Today's blog comes from an interesting discussion I had last night at the Copa Cavana open jam. This will serve as my bitch session for the week and it deals with the pay of musicians.

Now something I have seen through the bands I have played with lately is that payment of the musicians can be very dicey at times. There are many club owners or band leaders who find it fitting to short change a hard working musician. Why is this the case?

Well I think the main thing that can be said is greed. Greed club owners and band leaders want all the money for themselves and they don't give the guys who do a lot of the work a fair shake. Its a shame but its reality. I think a lot of good musicians are left out to dry more times than none.

Now why should musicians get paid what they deserve? Well is it right for a musician to show up to a show that pays the band $600 and he/she only ends up making $50! That in my opinion is ridiculous and I'm sorry to say it has happened to me before. Musicians are paid to not only play but in many cases do a lot of setup and tear down of equipment. That alone should merit a fair piece of the pie.

It honestly pisses a guy off sometimes when he gets short changed on a gig because of someone else's greed. Give everybody a fair cut and you will have a happier band. It may be harder to find those good paying gigs in localized bands now a days but at least express to the bar/club owners that you need to take care of your musicians and then take care of them!

Tell the greedy owners that good music comes at a price. If some sort of deal has to be worked out in order for the band to be adequately taken care of then fine, just make sure it happens. Even though the majority of musicians play for the love of music it is still a profession and you should be paid what you deserve for that profession. Don't make a good musician drive two to three plus hours away just to work his ass off for nothing. It is not right at all.

Until next time keep on rocking away music lovers,
JAS

New Music Thursday: January 27th, 2011

Hey there everybody its time for another installment of New Music Thursday here at Music Reviews by a Musician and for this blog post I would like to review a local Des Moines band. That band is Gimikk.

For some background on Gimikk here is the biography straight off their website:

Gimikk Promo Picture

"For the past six years Gimikk has been rockin' out in Des Moines and the surrounding area, earning its reputation as "The Best Party Band in Des Moines". With their high energy performance and amazing musical skills, topped off by the entertaining and charismatic persona of lead singer, James Brinker, Gimikk is sure to deliver a show unrivaled by any other local act."

To read more of the band's bio click here.

The main reason why I was turned onto this band is through an acquaintance with drummer Josh Tilton. Josh is a student currently at Simpson where i also attend. He turned me onto his band one day as he was looking to promote an upcoming campus show through the college radio station, KSTM FM, where I currently work as music director.

Needless to say I was intrigued and always willing to help out a fellow musician so I invited Josh up for an on-air interview to talk about the show and the band. It was during this interview that I got to hear the band's latest album "Travel My Direction."

This album definitely surprised me. From the album's opening powerhouse track Social! From the East Side, Baby! to the title track "Travel My Direction", there are definitely some great finds on this album. The entire band is well put together in my opinion from the vocals to guitars to drums, everything fits into this sort of 80's rock meets today's rock kind of feel.

Two songs I really dug were "Southern Star" and "Eye of The Cougar". Southern Star is probably considered the ballad of the album and it features great acoustic guitars and percussion infused together with great vocals and melody. I really liked that song from first listen and it is a step away from the powerhouse guitars on much of the album.

"Eye of the Cougar" is definitely a full on power monster of riff rock in my opinion. The synopsis of the song is focusing on a cougar out on the town looking for young guys and it provides for a fun and energetic tune to listen to.

In all this album and band is really interesting. Each member brings his talent to the band and it helps to make a very good local band. I am not sure if they will ever make it big but I think the potential is there to do so. I think the biggest drawback to them in today's music world is that they sound almost a little too 80's in my opinion. I think that is a genre that has really died away among young crowds and as much as I'd love to say it will come back, I don't think it ever will.

If Gimikk can stick true to that influence but modernize itself a little more, I think they have a great shot to take the next step. In the mean time to hear more from this band check out their latest album and if you are not doing anything tomorrow night, they are playing a 21 and over show at Des Moines House of Bricks starting at 9 o'clock. If you can check out this interesting local band.

Until next time keep on rocking away music lovers,

JAS

Photo used from Facebook, all rights are credited to Gimikk