Comments on: Making A Living

By: Joe Lewis

Joe Lewis — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 16:17:00 +0000

I fall into the Charles Ives school of musician. I practice every day, compose when I get a chance, and most of my thoughts lie in music-related topics. My day job? Lead web developer for a major laboratory. It is incredibly fun work and equally as rewarding as my former music career, and I of course tell people what I do for a living when they ask – with much pride. But outside of work, I am usually thinking about working on scales and bowing technique and playing Bach.

By: Elaine Fine

Elaine Fine — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 12:35:00 +0000

If I were to value my self-worth in monetary terms, I would be in bad shape. As a musician I sometimes get paid to write music (most of it is published, some of it is commissioned), play in three orchestras, teach private lessons, teach music appreciation at a community college, write program notes, review CDs, write magazine articles, and do occasional copy work and editorial work. I don’t get paid to write most of the music I write (I do it because I love to do it), play recitals (I practice as much as I can too), or play in my medieval/renaissance group I love. All in all, if I were not married and did not live a very frugal kind of life in a rural area where the cost of living is relatively low, I would not be living above the poverty level.

By: John Grillo

John Grillo — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 13:06:00 +0000

Musicians have no value in our modern society. People get paid for the value they bring to the marketplace. The question is: Why should musicians get paid? We don’t make anybody any money. Our good or service is worthless in the eyes of the modern marketplace. Goverment and religious organizations used to set policy in the world, now it is the Global Market Economy. Thats why I think the Arts suffer and will continue to do so. However, I think our value comes from a spiritual perspective. When we play a concert and somebody in the audience has tears in there eyes and has been touched deeply in their soul, there is no monetary equivalent to that. Best of luck to all musicians out there!!
Keep the Faith
John Grillo
Grillo, INC.

By: Jacque

Jacque — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 14:41:00 +0000

For a long time, I worked temp jobs through an agency during the day. That was a pretty consistent way to have some steady income while gigging. Then, the summer after my daughter was born, the temp jobs dried up for a number of weeks, and what would have been a flush time--since I had landed six weeks playing "Sideshow" in Skokie--turned into scraping by on just the income from the show.
It wasn't too much longer until the demand for health insurance drove me to accept a full-time, permanent day job, and not too long after that I couldn't keep gigging, especially not the drive to Rockford and back five or six nights in a row, or the week camping in some stranger's home in South Bend.
My name is now off every contractor's list, I don't do casuals, nobody asks me downtown to CRC to record commercials. Every now and then since I've gotten a show for six to ten weeks (Bill and I have subbed for each other to make those work) or a call to play in Elgin or with CJP.
This is a long response to a simple question. How do I respond when people ask? I always say that I'm a musician. And that I work at Cars.com as User Experience Manager. And I trust that (and work hard to insure that) one day I'll have enough success with Chicago Bass Ensemble to leave the land of the normally employed and be a musician again. In the meantime, I am lucky that I do enjoy my day job, and I am determined to make my own opportunities artistically.
You can picture me with a sort of grim and determined look at this point: not in a perfect place, but damnit, I'm going to work to enjoy it and improve it.

By: Brian Roessler

Brian Roessler — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 03:56:00 +0000

I live in fear of that question! At parties I’m always sure to ask others what they do first, and then ask a lot of questions about their answer. The hope is to keep them from getting around to asking me. There just something so overwhelming about trying to explain what I do, and why I’m playing Menopause: The Musical this weekend, and why it sucks, and how that fits in with the other (“serious”) things I do and… anyway, thanks for the post. Good to be reminded I’m not alone.

By: Jason Heath

Jason Heath — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 19:17:00 +0000

Great post, Bill! Thanks as always for your insightful observations on life as a performing musician.