If you start talking to players on breaks (if they have one) or between shifts, you will find some are Broadway regulars trying to hustle a living, some are road guys playing for fun, some are networking and honing their chops, some are newbies to town trying to make contacts, while others have been squeaking out a living by playing solely on Broadway for years and even sometimes decades. The Players that work on Broadway work at an often grueling pace, and these gigs serve different purposes for many of them. The audience is here to drink and sing along with familiar classics so this typically keeps the song lists to well known and well worn tunes, with some exceptions of course. The biggest hits by the biggest Country artists of all time Merle Haggard, George Jones, George Strait, Hank, Waylon, etc., plus some lounge standards like Mustang Sally, Honky Tonk Women and Pride and Joy are regularly beaten to death. The Music played by these singers and musicians are a mixture of old Country standards for the most part (see Nashville 100 song list) and some newer top 40 country/ pop/ rock. It is also common for players to do “doubles” or even the occasional “triple.” Just like it sounds, a double is usually 2 shifts back to back and might equate to 8 hours of nonstop playing other than the 20 minutes in the middle that it took you to move your gear to the next club. You can still have a 7 piece band but you will only get $100 total base pay to split among the 7 players. It is also important to note that there is often a cap on base pay at the clubs in Nashville, for instance $20 per player up to 5 players. If you take a break you might lose your crowd as there are so many clubs in walking distance. Relying on the tip jar for pay is one reason why there are minimal breaks. If your front man knows how to work the crowd you might make upwards of $100 per man, if he doesn’t, you might make only $25. The Pay for most of these clubs is $20 to $50 base pay per player plus tips with a few places offering slightly more. Tootsies and a few others actually have an 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM slot for acoustic solo acts. During the meat of the tourist season, which is April thru November, many clubs add on an afternoon shift from 2:00 to 6:00 that gives a few more slots to bands and solo performers. There are 2 shifts that bands and singers can play 7 nights a week year round 6:00 to 10:00 and 10:00 to 2:00. When I first moved to town I hit these spots nightly to break myself in. This fact helps make it the most obvious place for someone new to town without any contacts to start meeting some players and singers and attempt to insert themselves into the scene. The music (and occasional slaughtering of music) can seem almost non-stop. If you take a drive down Broadway with your windows open, you will hear the sound of a dozen bands booming out the open doors of clubs in tight proximity, creating a hellish cacophony of drums, guitars and twang infested vocals that can be heard nowhere else. Most of the clubs on Broadway have an old western honky tonk feel to them and feature live music 7 nights a week. First and foremost, Broadway is a 3 block stretch of maybe 20 or so clubs lining both sides of the street that provides a year round destination for tourists, many whom travel from around the globe to visit some of the more famous spots on the strip such as Tootsies, Roberts or the world famous Ryman right around the corner. It is a truly unique place and deserves its own category. Lower Broadway has what is probably the biggest concentration of nightclubs featuring live music in the city. Honky Tonk: a usually tawdry nightclub or dance hall especially one that features country music.
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