Hope you all had a good Thanks Giving. I just had a great gig last night with Ron Vincent on Drums & Percussion and Jim Cammack on Upright & Guitar Bass. I played Guitar & Harmonica & Sung……. We did this at a cordial & supportive performance space: The Bean Runner Café in Peekskill NY .Present was a full house of music lovers. The owners Ted &Drew have a sense about them that’s reasonable. They supply a nice stage & good sound system in an artistic setting & FEATURE the music (what a concept). It’s accompanied by some good down home culinary delights .Some of the most talented players in the New York area appear there. I think the owners are fair, consistent, have a vision and respect the Artist. The performers in turn seem to appreciate this & do their best to make it a successful evening all around. The player’s albums also can be purchased. There is a music charge which totally goes to the performers; as it should be, they are filling the seats. The  Bean Runner does it’s homework with publicity & the featured artists have to do the same and bring in their fans .The days of walk ins are dwindling due to the economy  & way too many distractions; information overload etc. Above all a good relationship is necessary in all shared arrangements. You provide a service…..

Vendors would not provide goods without getting paid & neither should you. The waitress (in some cases) probably makes more than the entertainers even though what the Performers bring requires talent & 1000’s of hours of highly skilled preparation.

So for a good gig we need a common fairness doctrine of sorts: Have and give respect.

If an owner of a music venue does not apply a fair and reasonable attitude & appears to be a user………Don’t kneel……..WALK

Cheers, Brian Conigliaro