I’ll never forget the first time I got paid for a rehearsal! Many moons ago, within a year of moving to L.A., and having met quite a few pro musicians at a late night Jam every Friday and Saturday night at a place called “56 West” on Melrose, I was asked to sub for another bassist who got sick. Marc Hugenberger invited me to come down to 3rd Encore for a practice with this artist, and I was already ecstatic about the fact that they had a bass amp for me there and all I had to bring was my bass. The band was KILLER, the studio just as amazing and when the rehearsal was over, they asked me what I needed to make! I was flabbergasted! So much fun AND you’re gonna give me money?
This is the problem with making music your profession: it’s just too much fun, so it doesn’t seem like work. Of course, your landlord doesn’t care about that, and demands cold hard cash! There are only so many hours in a day and if you’re not careful, all you do is rehearse every day of the week, never making a penny, other than the measly $50 or $100 on weekend gigs. When you get higher up on the ladder of session guys in L.A., there’s more money to go around. Even people who are financing their own shows, should pay you for rehearsals. When folks get married, they don’t expect a hotel to give them the ballroom for free to practice the ceremony, do they? Whenever you make a deal to do a showcase, make sure you specify how much the gig pays, and separately what you need to make per rehearsal. Especially if you’re good, and are prepared so you can nail the tunes in one, extra ones are for the artist’s sake, so it should cost him or her. The pleasant side effect is, that you will start moving in far more professional and thus efficient circles. When guys are getting paid, they are expected to BE ON TIME, be prepared. Everybody wins…..
