I played a family reunion one time with a bud. It wasn't my family but his aunt wanted us to play so we showed up and I think it was 10$.

 I never stocked my grocery shelves with $$ from my artistic endeavours. Maybe I missed something, maybe I didn't. I think it would have been a good experience to get into the big bucks but then maybe it would not have been as much fun either.

In high school (I think I was 14), someone at my church asked me to play on her record.  Her style was vastly different from mine, but it still sounded fun.  She had piano, bass, drums and a few strings.  We rehearsed in her living room for a few weeks.  My drum parts were very minimal (and somewhat soft).  The Carpenters rocked harder than we did.

We recorded in a metallic barn-like structure.  We recorded the backing tracks in two days (about 6 hours per day).  She and her husband paid me $75 for my time.

I never heard the record and I have no idea what her name was/is.  I was happy with my compensation.  Other than my earlier tale of woe, this was the least I was ever paid for a gig.  Sadly, it was also the most.  Everything else I've ever done was for free.  I never claimed to be a genius.

 They say the best things in life are free.

  I agree with that one unless it was the free computer monitor and vaccum cleaner offered to me by the lady at the sale who said that they were "potentially" fixable. She gave me a few things free and I gave her free garbage removal.
 Or the free grandfather clock I was offered to listen to a sales pitch for share condos on the beach. Four hours and a lot of patience later we walked out of there with our 10 dollar china special clock. The one with the tiny battery powered thingy on the back and all of the fake stuff on the front......ah the fun I had when I was young and stupid. Now that I'm older and stupid I have learned a few things :)

 I  play for free every week but thats another story.....I keep thinking that maybe someone will notice I'm not being paid and pay me.If not thats ok too.

Black Mariah, the band I played in when I was in California, played 3 or 4 nights a week at a place called Pat's Grass Shack in Goleta. We were just starting out and we played for free beer and the gate.
Cover charge was usually $1, so we often played 4 hours for less than $20 on week nights.
But it was fun.

I once played at a ski resort, but it didn't snow that weekend so they sent us home after the first night and never paid us anything. Our agent took me to court to collect their commission anyway, and I lost the case because the contract didn't give me an out if we didn't get paid for the gig. 

Another horror story. I got into an argument with the drummer at a gig . He owned the vans, so I got left there in Missoula, Montana, along with the guitarist who'd sided with me. I not only didn't get paid for the gig, I had to ship my 600-lb organ and Leslie back to Seattle. Then a month later I got a letter from the musician's union saying I had to pay a $100 fine for "quitting without notice".

bitflipper


Then a month later I got a letter from the musician's union saying I had to pay a $100 fine for "quitting without notice".

Did pay your dues at the same time?

Bit that guitarists name wasn't Sandy was it?
If so, he had a drumset that was his share of the PA system LOL.
Now this is going to be nuts if you were one of the guys gigging with him.

I always got paid.

I never got paid enough.

Jonbouy


I always got paid.

I never got paid enough.

You Am makin' up for it now with your fees and surcharges.

One of the first gigs I did was in Reading (the 'Target Club', I doubt if it still exists). Our fee was to be £40.

The audience was very hostile (not really surprising in hindsight, we were ****). The singer got more and more wound up and ending up trashing the house mic stand. Guess what they deducted from our fee? Yep, £40.