A question about steel guitar jobs

Steven Black · From: Gahanna, Ohio, USA

How come some states have lots of jobs for steel guitar players like California or Texsas or Chicago or New York and states like Ohio or Kentucky or Indiana or Wisconsin does not have the paying gigs as they did in the early to late nineties?

Jerry Hedge · From: Norwood Ohio U.S.A.

I know here in the Cincinnati area, there are about 7 players that work with about 5 to 8 bands. Two of the guys only work with 1 band, and the other 5 work with a band, but sub for each other when that band's main steel player can't make a gig. There isn't really a lot of work. I play with a band,sub with a couple and make up the slack playing guitar and bass with blues bands around town. Most of the country bands play new country and aren't interested on hiring a steel player. In Texas, it seems, the country scene is a little more classic country oriented.

Steven Black · From: Gahanna, Ohio, USA

Hello Jerry, thanks for your reply,do you think the steel guitar will be used in other kinds of music since new country is phasing it out? I have noticed a lot of rock bands are getting interested in it and jazz bands love it so do blues bands, but jobs are still few and far between.

Steven Finley · From: California, USA

What California jobs or gigs might that be?
Ive played so cal. for 38 years, all of the work I get now is out on the road with Tom Bovine, and 99
percent of it outside of California,California has
dried up for the most part for live country music
people in California seem like they would rather
dance to a dj or some kind of rapp crap, then support REAL LIVE MUSIC.

Steven Black · From: Gahanna, Ohio, USA

Hello Steve, I guess there are a lot of factors that prohibits steel guitar jobs from happening today, and it sounds like it not just country music that is affected but other music as well.

Jerry Hedge · From: Norwood Ohio U.S.A.

Richard Sinkler · From: aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana

Here in Northern California, there are lot's of bands that want a steel player, but most of the gigs now are in small clubs, actually just a bar, that can't pay much. Even if a band can pay a steel player, there is the matter of enough space to set up a steel.

I usually play in a band, but because I had a transportation issue, they replaced me. I just do fill-in work now.
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Mark Wayne · From: Wisconsin, USA

Steven, look for the pockets..
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Bob Carlucci · From: Candor, New York, USA

Richard Sinkler · From: aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana

Stefan Robertson · From: Hertfordshire, UK

Sounds like the UK

Some nights a good rate but most of the time peanuts
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Michael Hartz · From: Decorah, Iowa, USA

I guess I should count my blessings. I play in a 6 piece group with a soundman that gets and equal cut and we're pullin in anywhere from $185 to $400 a piece, per gig playing damn near every weekend in Eastern Iowa and Wisconsin. I've had to become a utility player ( guitar, mando, 6 string banjo) because there's not alot of steel in modern top 40 country but that's okay, better then not playing at all I guess. Here in Iowa and Wisconsin pretty much every town has a town celebration and Fire dept. dance fundraiser every year. These gigs pay quite a bit of money and keep us EXTREMELY busy throughout the summer into fall. We do the club and casino circuit through the winter to keep busy. Do towns in other states have celebrations with street dances and live bands or this a midwestern thing?

Bob Hoffnar · From: Austin, Tx

Kevin Hatton · From: Buffalo, N.Y.

Bob Hoffnar makes an excellent point. It's all about attitude. There is no such thing as "there is no place to play anymore". If you have the right players you can play anywhere you want, draw a crowd and get paid well. I'm making $250 for a nights work in February in N.Y. The problem is with the players that make up the band, not a lack of venues. Organizing an entertaining band that people want to come and see takes a considerable amount of effort.

Joseph Napolitano · From: New Jersey, USA

I think a lot of it is geography . Plenty of gigs at the Jersey shore, especially in the summer, as this is a resort area. I'm a six string player that doubles on steel ( relatively new player on steel) in a trio. No one around here is interested in classic country, we've never gotten a request for any. We put steel in a lot of Springsteen songs, Stones, etc..and play some newer country. Anyone looking to play steel on classic country around here is not gonna be playing out.

Richard Sinkler · From: aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana

Herb Steiner · From: Spicewood TX 78669

RANDOM THOUGHTS DEPT. : Disappearing gigs... aging audiences, local economies, real estate appreciation.

Fans of traditional country who listened to the classic tunes when they were actually contemporary hits are now in their 60's at the youngest. I'm 68 in two weeks and I don't feel like hanging out in a honky tonk anymore even if I'm playing there! Laughing

So an aging part of the audience base is being lost by attrition.

Another factor might be the local or regional economies. Much of the country music fan base is folks working in basic blue collar industries or agriculture. How's the manufacturing scene in the Rust Belt lately? Dwindling local economies damage live music scenes. No money to spend on non-necessities.

Texas has been doing well economically in recent years, thanks in great part to the oil and gas industries, agriculture, and especially high tech industries. So there are still dance halls in the rural areas of the state that attract the fans of traditional country music. Bands have to travel all over the state to make a living. Tough work - Texas is a big state.

Plentiful jobs in the cities is another thing entirely; the land underneath the venues is too valuable to keep in their current use, so the buildings are sold and turned into more profitable businesses.

Example: Here in Austin Texas in 1973, there were a dozen or more country music clubs just within the city limits of Austin... when the town had only 250,000 people... that you could hear real country music every night of the week. Now in 2015 there are two and the town is over 1,000,000. The land underneath the buildings is too valuable to have one-story nightclubs there; the landlord wants to build condos or offices with retail space on the first level and underground parking, or sell for big bucks to someone who does. So the honkytonk has to go. It's happening to rock clubs as well, incidentally.

Currently many of the gigs in this town are now small combo jobs in restaurants, start early and rarely go much past 9pm. There's also a smattering of mixed-genre clubs in various parts of town that are generally in a constant state of wondering when the phone call from the landlord to discuss the lease is going to come.

Other topics to discuss that contribute to dying music scenes: DWI enforcement by increasingly militarized police departments; modern pop-country saturation of the airways that force-feed music to the general public; obsession with spending time online instead of experiencing the real world; all of the above.
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Son, we live in a world with walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with steel guitars. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Lt. Weinberg?

Jon Jaffe · From: Austin, Texas

Well said Herb. I am fortunate to play enough to keep my fingers exercised, and pay off golf bets without ever going to the ATM machine. What many steel guitarists, and other side musicians forget, is that we usually do not pound the street looking for gigs. Show up on time. Maybe help set up or tear down. Get paid. Adios.

Thank the man or woman that hires you. They did the work, schmoozed the owner of the venue, counted the tip jar, and filled out the 1099.

The glass is half full in Austin.

Rich Upright · From: Florida, USA

Plenty of gigs in Florida if you wanna play Skynnyrd for the door. There are a few country gigs, but the pay sucks & they have eliminated the steel, since you NEED bass, drums, & guitar, but you don't NEED steel. Also, the musicians & bands here are mostly substandard & unprofessional. (How do you show up at a gig without a spare cord, picks, or strings?) A lot of back stabbing here among the musicians, too. I have been lucky enough to have landed a house gig with a top traditional country band, but it's 80 miles from where I live. Great bunch of guys & gals, & they do REAL country the way it SHOULD be done. You ain't gonna hear no Jason Aldean or Miranda Lambert here.

Gotta get me a van with a sleeper.
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Jerry Overstreet · From: Louisville Ky

There's steel work around Louisville Ky, mostly south of the city or in southern Ind., though. Not a lot, but I get calls all the time looking for steel players. There's a few jobs, just none of the steelers around here can handle it or want to.

Mostly VFW's, Legions, Opry type jamborees etc. Generally one day...Fri or Sat. nites, but sometimes both. Full weeks work playing music unheard of around here, but Union contacts get you green sheet dates, plays like the Always Patsy Cline deal etc. if you're willing to join up. Plus the occasional session if you're up to the task.

Ain't gonna get rich, but one could work quite a bit if they're not real picky and willing to travel some 50-60 miles for anywhere from $50 to $125 pay.

Richard Sinkler · From: aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana

I look at it this way, I'm not really doing it for the money. I don't have much time left. I just want to have fun before the curtain comes down. I drive no less than an hour, and often two to three because of distance and/or traffic. Generally, if I can make enough to have an equal amount for gas and tolls, and some for my pocket, then I am content.
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Carter D10 8p/8k, Dekley S10 3p/4k C6 setup,Regal RD40 Dobro, Recording King Professional Dobro, NV400, NV112,Ibanez Gio guitar, Epiphone SG Special (open D slide guitar) . Playing for 54 years and still counting.

Bill L. Wilson · From: Oklahoma, USA

I don't frequent bars other than when I'm playing in them, so I'm not sure who has steel guitar in the bands around here. We try to make at least a $100 a man for a (4) piece band, sometimes more, sometimes less. The money is not that important to me either, but it is nice to have a little extra cash in your pocket after gigging for (4) hours, and then driving (3) hours back home. This last Sat. night, I played in NW Okla. till 1:30AM, got in bed at the hotel (free room) at 3:00AM, got up at 7:00AM, ate b'fast and headed out to the Arlington Texas Guitar Show. Arrived at the show at 1:30PM, looked at guitars all day (even saw a nice red Emmons D-10 P-P 8x5 for $3450), got back home at 9:30PM. Gettin' to play and look at guitars is the life I always dreamed of having. Now if I could just afford the $275,000 '59 Sunburst Les Paul that Drew Berlin had for sale, I'd be "Settin' In High Cotton".

Tommy Shown · From: Denham Springs, La.

Well said Herb. as always.

Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

I don't frequent the bars much anymore, but that's because they don't have music...at least, the kind I can put up with. I have pretty broad musical tastes, but a B3 or a good piano player who can sing a little is all I really need. However, most of the "bands" are either too loud, or they play modern (radio) stuff with dostorted guitars and crashing drums, which doesn't interest me.

Oh Well

Guess I'm getting old.

Niels Andrews · From: Salinas, California, USA

The only thing I would add to what herb said, which was well stated is, one it not just Steel Guitar or Country and second BMI licensing is a big thing in California for small establishments. Live Music Venues are a vanishing event or a one off happening.
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