RTP-area local music and culture

[skillet.gilmore AT gmail.com]

my band has never charged more than $12 for a cd at a show, unless the
other bands on the bill are selling their merch cheaper, in which case
we may drop our prices, too. that also depends on if we're outta town,
what kind of merch the other band is selling (cheap 50/50 shirts for
$10, low-rent copies of cd's for $10 or less). but we're selling
American Apparel shirts and hi-rent digipacs so we're we're not going
to drop our prices too much. if you want crap, go ahead and buy it.
market forces, indeed.

we charge what we charge b/c it is the only way we make any money,
aside from local shows and 3 or 4 out of town gigs that have finally
started paying off after 4 years of going there again and again.....and
by paying off/making money, i mean we break even, maybe.

our label gives us nothing but a cut-rate on the price of our cd's. we
pay for the t-shirts, the stickers, the posters, the gas, the food,
hotel rooms, new transmissions, tires, visits to the doc in a box, all
our gear, insurance, rehearsal space rent etc..... all for the chance
to maybe make $100 and get a free 12 pack. do the math and it will
never add up. and, we're one of the lucky ones, too, as the recording
of the cd was paid for by the label. initially, we paid all the
recording costs until said label stepped in, decided they liked us and
reimbursed us. we had planned on paying for all of it.

the are, literally, hundreds of dollars to be made over dozens of years
playing music.

oh yeah, then divide that 100's of dollars over dozens of years by 4,
as that seems to be the average number of band members.

this is all to say that, yes, bands can be greedy but it's only to
maybe, maybe cover their "monthly nut". i dare say that if a club's
expenses and their return were proportionate with a band's, you'd be
seeing a lot of $6 PBR's and $15 JagerBombs out there.

glenn, that's not a dig at you. just clubs in general that seem to have
absolutely no problem feeding their coffers by way of bands. i know,
i've worked in them and damn sure played in them.

so, if anyone wants to support some local music tomorrow night at the
506, the Strugglers, Patty Hurst Shifter and Dex and his New Romans
will be there, ready to see market forces in action.

in the name of rock,
sg