I'm Peter Martin, and I'm Adam Manus. Welcome to the You'll Hear It podcast.

Today we're going to talk about something very important, and that is gig etiquette.

What do I mean by gig etiquette?

Well, let's see, I know what a gig is, and I know what etiquette is, but it sounds French,

so I guess this is like how to play a gig in France. We. No, a gig etiquette, these are just simple things you can do, polite things you can do to be a good pro on a gig. Well, you say simple. If they're so simple, how come they're so rarely adhered to? People don't get raised right sometimes. Okay. I'm just saying. Can we solve all that in this podcast? We're going to try. Okay. So the first thing we're going to talk about is to let the leader lead.

Now, this is applicable if it's not your gig. If you've been called for a gig and you get on the gig and then you

start calling every tune and then you ask the club club manager for the check you might be

overstepping your bounds a little bit you know what I mean right but I've seen it

happen oh yeah so that's my first tip is to let the leader lead you're a side man

you're a side player let it happen let whoever booked the game let it happen

captain please okay yeah okay well along those lines for the next gig etiquette tip, I would say if you're a leader, you should lead though. Flip side of the corner. If you're supposed to be picking up the check and calling the tunes and letting folks know what's happening, you need to do that. You can't be like, oh, this is a group thing. thing. Yeah, of course when you're playing it's a group thing, but you need to really be there as a leader. That's why you're making more money or have your

name up there or whatever. I mean, the actual reality of being the leader of the gig, you usually

make less money or somebody even no money. But it doesn't matter. You're leading the thing.

Part of leading it is not only taking care of business, that's the etiquette of it but it's also trying to put everybody the best most comfortable position to be able to play great and execute and for the whole thing to look great and your name's up there as the leader so you're gonna be the beneficiary of all the glory and then kind of side-chaining on that, if it is your gig, you know, speaking

of the business, if it is your gig, be prepared with the music and the money. Don't show up and

expect everybody to know your arrangements because you have them. You know, make sure that the

people that you hired, that you give them the opportunity to excel. And, you know, if you have

complicated arrangements, maybe bring a charter at

least try to walk them through it beforehand right and then be prepared with the money you

would be surprised even as as you get higher up the jazz hierarchy how this still doesn't happen

even with some pretty pretty big names but you know if it's your gig and you're promising some money,

be at front with the money.

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