[Trombone-l] Fw: The Holiday Blues

[Bill Dinwiddie]

Hi Tim,

Sorry to hear that things are pretty thin for you this season. I have heard 
similar stories from many musicians here in Chicago. One excellent sax 
player told me that he has one gig in December, and it's not New Year's Eve. 
A very good trombonist told me that he has one Saturday in December, and he 
doesn't have NYE either. I am very thankful to have some work. I did 6 gigs 
in November and should have 8 or 9 in December.

I don't know how to account for the acute lack of work, but it seems to be 
the case in a lot of towns.

A Chicago musician (a very good one) sent out this e-mail recently:


What is going on here?

In 2004 I had 11 gigs in Dec.

In 2005 I had 8 gigs in Dec.

In 2006 I had 6 gigs in Dec.

In 2007 I have only 2 gigs in Dec.

I see a trend...

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                     \

Hopefully, this trend will end before the whole business implodes.

Good Luck,
Bill Dinwiddie
billdin at comcast.net





----- Original Message ----- 
From: <t.stone at att.net>
To: <trombone-l at server5.samford.edu>
Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2007 5:16 PM
Subject: [Trombone-l] The Holiday Blues


> Hi List,
>
> Things certainly have been slow so far this Holiday Season! Last year I 
> didn't have a single gig, yet another bone-playing friend of mine had a 
> long run on the Nutscratcher plus four church gigs! This year he's got zip 
> (so far), and I've got only two -- a holiday/90th birthday dance and a New 
> Years Eve gig. We were talking about this subject yesterday, and here's a 
> really interesting thing that he told me: He got invited to the annual 
> Trombone Christmas Party of a well-known LA professional bass trombone 
> player. This person's party is usually held on a Sunday night, allowing 
> all  the professional and non-professional invitee's preceding Saturday 
> night to remain open for gigs. Well, this year's party is scheduled for a 
> Saturday night because, it is rumored, hardly any of the invited 
> trombonists have gigs scheduled! And I've heard this same thing about a 
> decided lack of forth-coming Holiday gigs from players -- both brass, 
> woodwind and string -- in other groups I play in. Since
>  the L
> ist has been so lethargic this month, I ask this question in the interest 
> of creating some stimulating "End of s Lethargic November" conversation: 
> Do you find this trend happening in your part of the universe as well? 
> And, if so, what do think is causing it, and what can be done about it? I 
> know you all are not just lurking out there practicing your flexibility 
> studies and etudes! So come on now, let's get the blood flowing into those 
> ten digits and get some responses happening!
>
> Tim (Sitting On My Butt Hardly Giging At All This Holiday Season) Stone
> Granada Hills, CA
> t.stone at att.net
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