Comments on: Why Move to New York City?

By: Craig Barr

Craig Barr — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 04:25:41 +0000

Your article really hit home with me. I am going on 55 years old/young and in 1985 I was living in New York where I was born and raised. I loved gigging and I recorded and produced my first vanity vinyl album. I sold the first 2000 by going business to business in New York and the Tri state. Eventually I sold over 30,000 copies of 3 separate releases and was selling them by bulk to vendors who contacted me from Goldmine magazine. Even with three kids and a day job I was teaching music, playing bars, weddings hosting a Public Access music show and rented out the Tarrytown Music Hall in 1987 which was then dilapidated. In May of 1991 I was bitten by a deer tick and was not diagnosed with Lyme’s until March of 1992 and by then I was sick and couldn’t even make a quarter of my declared income. I moved my family from New York to rural Wisconsin because that is where my wife was from. Homes were cheap and jobs were plentiful while in New York there was a severe recession. I regret getting sick but I raised now 4 kids in farm land. New York is the place to be if you are an entertainer, especially a musician. No other place has the feel, excitement and culture. I will always be a New Yorker and 20 years removed still seems like yesterday because what one can do in a day-lessons, day job and night gigs one would have to hope for a good month where I am now.

By: How To Find Work as a Gigging Musician

How To Find Work as a Gigging Musician — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 05:37:27 +0000

[...] Note: If you’d like to do this type of work but are not in proximity of film makers, you have to consider moving. [...]

By: Nick Rosaci

Nick Rosaci — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 18:48:20 +0000

Ditto to Dave. I went to school at UNF. Too bad we never met. I don’t think we have.

By: David J. Hahn

David J. Hahn — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 19:08:29 +0000

Well said.

By: cody walker jr.

cody walker jr. — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 19:05:57 +0000

I currently live in jacksonville fl. Between teaching lessons and gigging 1-4 gigs a week i have managed to make a decent living here. I often travel out of town to st. Augustine, fernandina beach, new smyrna beach, jax beach etc. Jacksonville is close to all of these towns. I also perform with 10 differnt groups, 3 of which i am the primary drummer. I have 2 backups for each group.. i have found that networking will get you more gigs than talent. Check out your competition and make them friends

By: Paul

Paul — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 19:06:26 +0000

That is certainly true, Kimberlye. You are putting in the groundwork that, hopefully, will serve you well.

What we need to realize, is that [i]every[/i] market has more musicians than it can handle. Demand is not elastic – there is no easy way to create one’s own opportunities to play out, and in some places without venues or money, no way at all.

I think you’re lucky to be in the South. There will always be a basic love and place for music in your culture!

By: Kimberlye

Kimberlye — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 01:26:50 +0000

Geographically the music circuit differs in every state. I am a female sax player from Birmingham, Alabama and I have the opportunity to experience the music scene in Atlanta, Georgia. It is slightly different on the caliber of musicians. However, I can also say the city of Birmingham, on the quality of musicians, are slept on. Even after the discovery of Ruben Studdard, Taylor Hicks, and Bo Brice, the city has incredible musicians that are undiscovered. Economically, Atlanta can accommodate musicians financially because there is a vast amount of revenue, venues, and events going on in and around the city. It is also known for its connections with high caliber professionals in the music industry around the world. In addition, high caliber industry professionals reside and operate companies in the city.

I found by communicating with some well-known local musicians that there are some struggles that most musicians are trying to move from and by discovering the issues, I can identify the same with local well-known musicians in Birmingham. Musicians feel they are not being paid what they are worth. But that can sometimes be questionable and accounts on the professional quality of a musician. It can also be the affects of a geographical area with the help of the economy. I am learning when it comes to geographical revenue, to research and observe the level of musicianship, musicians and the level of networks they are connected to that are not affected by any economical and geographical pressure and move in that direction using discretion, discernment, observation, and research. I agree that sometimes just because you move into a metropolis like New York does not necessarily mean you will become a working musician. You will have to work harder to stand out to cut through the huge pool of musicians there. As a female sax player, I am learning to be the fresh face and a little aggressive in a metropolitan city.

By: Paul

Paul — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 19:13:37 +0000

Another jazz player here. I’m in a box and have been for a long time – I don’t like New York, but my particular jazz passion (classic jazz) doesn’t seem to make sense anywhere else.

Like Onyx, I find NY too big and exclusionary to too many musicians. The competitive noise some call “electricity” drives me inward and keeps me from using my full ability. At the same time, the music I love – especially the “Great American Songbook,” which I always found a rich source of inspiration – seems more and more to belong to a certain generation and social group, mostly New Yorkers or people with that sensibility.

I bounced around town for 10 years or more hoping I’d find some kind of a place. I know now you have to make a place. NY isn’t the place for a guy like me to write his own ticket – but what I do has no context anywhere else.

By: Nate

Nate — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 15:41:18 +0000

I am a musician (bassist) and I studied classical music though never truly loved it. I was never able to commit to that music due to my back ground. I came to NYC not for music but for a job. I got out of school right in the middle of the financial crisis and the only place I knew I would be able to work some way of making a liing on my own was NYC which my parents live about an hour from. It really has been hard with crappy roommates and the shock of striking out on my own. I live in Manhattan but most friend musicians live in Brooklyn making it hard to get my butt and stuff over the bridge to practice. There’s also the issue of having a large deep acoustic instrument in a small apartment, making practice hard to come by these days. I’ve been hanging out with a manager and she’s hooking me up with a pretty good singer songwriter. I’ve lived here for nearly a year and I am working at this soul sucking job, things are getting better, but by no means has it been easy. My one word of advice is to anyone moving to a big city is to watch out for manipulative people. Make sure your living situation is with someone who respects you and is responsible, it will prevent you from doing a lot if you don’t.

By: Greg

Greg — Fri, 28 May 2010 12:21:28 +0000

I’ll keep that in mind, Dave.

I think that the few people actually willing to go through such an intimidating move are a self-selected top tier. Lots of people have dreams, but probably less than 1 in 100 are willing to move away from everything familiar to achieve them.