Cruising Musician Looking for Work and Advice on the West Coast

[wingonwing]

Planning a trip from Oregon to Barbados.. God save us !! Why I could'nt find a boat closer to home...
Am an accomplished musicion were going to try to plan a bunch of gig's and work along the way. Have found a dinghy that can carrie the music equipment nearly cost as much as the boat. Any good Bars close to Marinas or Ports along the way that cater to live music that any of you may know about would be a great help...(Irish Pubs in Particular) Yeah Yeah.. The Jimi Buffet Dream " I know but it's my own dam fault" As for the trip any good tips on decent cruising guides that cover the west coast would also be appreciated. I've got enough literature on the Carribien to fill a Library (Van Sants Bible by my bedside) but nothing on the West coast I never thought we'd cruise it.

Much Thanks !!!

[Serenity_]

Where are you picking up the boat in Oregon?

If you are going to be in the Astoria (columbia mouth) area and want to see if you can find a gig or 2, contact Heidie at hideouts@gmail.com. She pretty much books all live music that comes through Astoria. She is quite strict though with booking and you need to have a definitive timeline of when you are going to be here.

[maxingout]

That is a very big gig. My son is a musician, and he found lots of places to play around the world when cruising as long as he didn't want any money. If you depend on your gigs to pay for your food, you probably have stumbled upon a great weight reducing plan.

[wingonwing]

No offence, but the money I have put aside from playing music these last few years actually paid for my boat (and she wan'nt cheap) I'm no rockstar but I'm good at what I do. It's a business like any other one. Requires hard work research and foresight. Just like preparing for a long cruise you start with your boat,then your rum line, and try to prepare yourself for every senario that could possibly go wrong along the way. It's the same with being a musicion. Granted if I landed let's say in Ft.Lauderdale with a guitar slung over my shoulder wearing a big grin and start asking around as to where I can get a bit of work playing music for the week you can be dam sure I'll go hungry. THATS WHY WERE ASKING QUESTIONS NOW !!! Funny enough we've allready got booked to play at a Hotel in Puerto Vallarta of all places for 3 weeks in November I'm looking forward to that a little break before Panama...

[itchybro]

Wingo,

Sent PM. Would've sent link but, this is my first post and I'm not a "trusted' member yet. (which I actually think is pretty cool for the forum to do. )

[Mimsy]

wingonwing, I was a professional muscian for many years so I'm not talking out of my butt. Get an agent. Yes, you will have to pay them 10-15% but that motivates them to get you as much $$ as possible. The bonus is that you never have to fight with an owner when they short you your pay (and they will). You just hand the phone to your agent.

I have several friends who did a few cruises on cruise ships. If you aren't a big drinker, since all of your expenses are paid except alcohol you canget a tidy bit of cash. If you have your boat moved to the port of the ship, pretty easy to do a few tours then return to your boat, cash in pocket. If you get in well with a bigger line, you can do a few tours out of one port, move your boat to the next port, then do a few more.

If you don't have a local following, you won't make very much money doing bar gigs. Why would the owners want to pay someone that nobody knows when they can play CDs for free?

I did bar gigs early on in my career- there is no money. Eventually, I moved forward enough to play large festivals. That is where the money is. Plenty of Festivals through out the Coastal US and in the Carribean. EWuropean Festivals used to be great for foreigners, now if you aren't EU its tougher.

Product sales will feed you on a cold night, you have to have good product and enough people in the audience to buy them. Once again- cruise ships and festivals. No way will you move enough product in a bar to be profitable, especially after you pay all the import fees and taxes.

Cruise lines & Festivals, you'll need an agent to get into them but there's your answer.

Hope this helps.

[Janet H]

Originally Posted by Mimsy

wingonwing, I was a professional muscian for many years so I'm not talking out of my butt. Get an agent. Yes, you will have to pay them 10-15% but that motivates them to get you as much $$ as possible. The bonus is that you never have to fight with an owner when they short you your pay (and they will). You just hand the phone to your agent.



Hope this helps.

+1

I agree here - one of the biggest issues you will face is that paying shows have to be lined up in advance - usually several months. If you're traveling it's tough to stay in contact to see to these details. An agent can do this for you and may even be able to leverage your proposed cruise as cool marketing tool.

Also be sure to check out any issues you may have at customs with instruments. I have had them impounded more than once on exit until I could prove they weren't: a. purchased there or; b. I had a appropriate papers to work in that location.

One final issue - if you play stringed instruments get serious about protecting your string inventory from ocean air. I HATE taking dead strings out of a new package....

[Mimsy]

Onemore thing- we never payed the West Coast of the US because the money SUCKS. A lot of venues there are pay to play. Your best bet is to get some session work while out West.

[Mimsy]

Originally Posted by Janet H

+1

One final issue - if you play stringed instruments get serious about protecting your string inventory from ocean air. I HATE taking dead strings out of a new package....

Janet, if you are playing guitar ELixirs hold up really, really well. If you are playing Fiddle, you are pretty much screwed.

If you are playing banjo nobody will be able to tell what your strings sound like because they will have their fingers in their ears anyway.

[itchybro]

Here's a question from a land locked picker:

SO, as someone who scores film and TV, in GENERAL how good is the broadband in the average Marina. I wondering if it's possible to say, finish a project, move to another berth down a coast, do another project yadda yadda.

I'd probably only be sending mp3's for approvals but, full rez cues could get larger.