Hello Friends,
After I recieved twenty e-mails in the past week asking me to update the website, I figured it was time to finally do so. But allow me to get a few things off my chest. . . Those of you who are wondering why we're not playing much anymore should know that it's because of basic economics. People don't have as much money, they are afraid to spend what they do have, and the first thing they cut is going out to the bar. (especially our fan-base, which is mostly blue-collar).
Even if people do go out these days, they don't spend as much as they used to, so the bar-owner can't pay us as much as we're used to getting. We're not willing to play for less than what I consider a reasonable price, so we are playing way fewer gigs than we have since we started the band in 1993.
Here's where ya'll come in. . . When we do play somewhere, you need to go! There's a few bar-owners out there who don't want to see live music die! And will still stick their neck out and guarantee us fair pay because they don't want to see veteran musicians play for less than what they are worth. Do we want to live in a world with just DJs? Does yet another profession need to be replaced by technology? Especially one that relies on human expression?
Do you want your hard-earned bar-dollars to go towards more TVs and arcade games, or to us musicians? Think of our spouses who were already bearing the brunt of the bills! There's all this talk about "Save the planet, Go Green" that's fine, it's a good idea, but how about "Save the People, Go Human!"
- Go see a live band
- Go to the cashier's line at the grocery store
- Go to the teller at the bank
- Avoid chain/franchises that are laying people off and doubling their existing employee's workload
- Hire a shade-tree mechanic, odd-jobber, or anyone who's lost their job and is looking for ways to make extra money
- Buy used! Broke people are selling their stuff, stuff they don't really need, stuff you might need! Why buy new stuff when you can save money buying used stuff, and help people at the same time.
If you think about it for a few minutes, I'm sure everybody reading this can think of dozens of ways to spend their money in ways that help save jobs or help people that have lost their jobs.
I'm not talking about spending more money, just putting more thought into the money that you are already spending. I know so many people that have lost their jobs or are making less money and I myself am facing a major fallout in how I've made a living for 17 years. We need help. No one is asking for charity, just that people think a little more when they distribute their money.
Thank you for listening. Sincerely,
"Pistol" Pete Midtgard
411: I (Pistol Pete) will soon be teaching bass/guitar/ or even band leader lessons at Motor City Guitar in Waterford. Call them for more info and to let them know you are interested.
click here to find out where we're playing.