Burns-bass

Lovely pre amp. Great purchase!

I had this discussion with my daughter. If you do something as a profession (I write things, for example) and someone asked me to do a job I would expect them to pay for it. If I choose to do it for free, that’s on me. But the *assumption* I would do it for free is where the problem begins. You and your friend have a lovely arrangement, but I understand what our headless friend was saying. My friend fixed a split seam in a double bass. I offered to pay, he refused. We settled on a charity donation and a crate of artisan beer. We were all happy.

Stunning work and a wonderful gesture.

You’ve dodged a huge bullet there. We’re playing in a lovely arts centre. Good crowd, good veggie food and we can basically do what we want. Sort of the opposite of the gig you’re describing.

We’ve just been offered £250, a free meal and three free drinks to play at what will be a crowded venue that I’ve always wanted to play at it with people I like and music that makes me smile. This, to me, is success.

Yes, I get all that. It's why a songwriting credit is worth more than a performance one. The thing is, I don't really get much enjoyment from songwriting. On my own, at least. When I was playing in originals bands, I loved the collective songwriting process. But it's not something I really fancy doing myself. And that's OK. I'm happy working through the last 4 centuries of music. I'm currently playing baroque double bass pieces for nothing more than the enjoyment of doing so. Which leads me on to the next point. There's often antipathy to people who play covers, as if it's somehow artistically less valuable than playing "originals". It's an interesting one. Most of jazz is (or was, if you're looking at the classics) technically covers, because they're reusing melodies and chord structures that someone else has written. In my band, we play new versions of old songs. They bear little relevance to the original (and we have a lot of fun). In some cases, it's much more artistically rewarding than playing in indie bands (or any other musical idiom where people expect you to conform).

i'm sorry, it was a glib point and my tongue was firmly in my cheek. I live in Bristol and there's an amazing jazz scene here with some absolutely superb players. In fact, it's impossible to keep up with it all.

Problem with endurance based sports is genetics is going to limit ability so don't be angry at yourself, but your parents, grandparents and forbears. (I know researching this is what you do as a job, I'm just making a silly joke as it's Monday and I'm bored and should be working.)

The problem is that what you love then becomes a job, and inevitably you view it differently. Gareth Bale is a good example of a world class sportsperson who viewed football as a job (with golf his real passion, apparently). I guess my point is that money taints your relationship with anything, be it music, sport or, in my case, writing. I spend all day writing things (magazine articles, websites, reports, etc.) and I earn a very good living doing it. I'd always written a bit of fiction but the idea now of spending my spare time writing fills me with horror.

I think in sport you have a tiny elite level where people will pay (although we were able to watch some of the UKs best female hockey players for nothing), and a massive amateur and semi-pro tier where people won’t pay (and mostly won’t watch). Live bands you’ve got a the elite level and a massive semi-pro tier where people receive some payment, but from the venue not the audience. When I play sport (badly) or run, cycle or canoe (badly) I do so for myself. When I play music it’s almost always with and for other people. Quite what this means I don’t know.