Just a thought... I have a friend who is a good musician whose band generally plays for money. She said that they won't play for free unless it's a really good cause, and furthermore, that they and other musicians generally shouldn't play for free because to do so undermines the efforts of struggling professional musicians. Her idea is that people won't hire professional bands that aren't famous, even if they're good, when they can get amateur bands for free.I can see where she's coming from, but it sure creates a predicament for amateurs like me. I'm nowhere near good enough to charge for a performance, and even when I get better I don't think I'll have any serious ambitions of going professional, but I enjoy performing what I can just for the fun of it, and people's attention is ample payment for me. But I would hate to feel that I'm making things more difficult for people who are more dedicated to their art and who are struggling to break into the business.
Marion