I had quite a tough gig yesterday, my first paid gig since mid September. I’m a little ashamed to say I quoted quite low for it, but the event was for a good cause. I replaced a broken string a few days earlier. I got there and paid £5.40 for parking. I unloaded and took my gear up to the first floor, along some corridors and through the main room to the conservatory where I was to play. Times 3. It was a tough get in.

The gig went well and I was on form with good focus, energy and expression. It was a long set at 75 minutes without a break for the arrival of the guests and the reception. I was pleased to have the stamina. Chatting with guests, organisers and venue staff was fun. Then someone told me it wasn’t necessary to pay for parking that day. My heart sank. It was a relatively insignificant chunk of my fee but when I consider the number of hours I needed to practice to be able to perform at that level as well as admin time before the gig, insurances and travel, I’m almost certainly at a loss. So that fiver mattered. At this rate, playing for a living isn’t viable.

I did consider that if I had 3 gigs like this a week, I’d earn enough but it’s finding the gigs that’s the problem. I’d likely burn out within 6 months, but at the moment I’m burning out from lack of work and the underlying worry about that.

Money didn’t use to concern me that much. So long as I had enough to survive I was fine because I was doing what I love. Since turning 50, and with the steep increase in the cost of living, that has gradually changed and, unfortunately, music is increasingly becoming a job 😔 With retirement not so far away I need to make sure I have enough savings set aside to keep me going.

I’d say 95% of enquiries amount to nothing. I’ve thought about lowering my fees but then I may be undercutting others and it really isn’t the way forward.

My heart sank even further when I received this email when I got back, exhausted from the gig and my early start:

There goes my one and only November gig. There’s no point crying over lost gigs but Gizzajobmate!