Moving to Miami, Nashville or LA?

[Basshead]

Thanks guys, yeah i do reasearch about housing prices, kinda crazy here in EU too, Spain is hell actually... yeah I guess the US is going down pretty quick, probably the first western world in enter in the next massive crash...so better to move to South East Asia.

[Stevebol]

Thanks guys, yeah i do reasearch about housing prices, kinda crazy here in EU too, Spain is hell actually... yeah I guess the US is going down pretty quick, probably the first western world in enter in the next massive crash...so better to move to South East Asia.

If you just want to visit for a few months we can help you out. There aren't any gigs where I live in Yuma. I think there's a market for what you're doing.
Yuma is centrally located to Phoenix, Baja Mexico and the pacific coast in California.
North County (San Diego) put's you close to LA. That's where I vacation.

It's pretty tense right now in the US to be honest. I feel like I have to watch the news.

[Basshead]

Playing bossa and shit like this better in Miami I guess? or why not in Nashville or Las Vegas? not everyone plays this music anymore, most people are into blues, country and DJ.

[DawgBone]

Playing bossa and shit like this better in Miami I guess? or why not in Nashville or Las Vegas? not everyone plays this music anymore, most people are into blues, country and DJ.

You could do it in Nashville there will just be fewer venues to book and WAY less money involved. And I mean way less money. Nashville is traditionally a country town. And for a metro it's still fairly affordable because it's a poorer town. By "country town" I don't just mean country music, I mean country people from the surrounding rural parts of TN, KY, AL, and MS. They aren't going to appreciate bossa or flamenco the way it will be in other places.

Cities like Austin and Nashville are so inundated with live music that even someone playing world class stuff on a street corner or downtown club will mostly be ignored. There are hundreds of musicians playing those areas on a given night. How do you plan to stand out from them? You need to be presenting your stuff to the right target audience in order to be appreciated. I would suggest forming core goals and then writing out a plan on how you will achieve those goals if you come to the states.

Having a bunch of money to blow on career development as well as a very good plan on getting those results will be key. TBH I don't think you need to come to the states at all. I would write, record and release a record, and then do some heavy duty promotions from right where you are before you even touch US soil that way you've cultivated some interest in your material before you arrive. IME without promotions you're just another guy scuffling gigs in those cities.

[Stevebol]

Playing bossa and shit like this better in Miami I guess? or why not in Nashville or Las Vegas? not everyone plays this music anymore, most people are into blues, country and DJ.

I lived there from 2017 to 2022. You could make good money there. In general, locals don't like the strip. The only casino with an actual policy is the Orleans and that's off strip.
Some bands there have a local following.
Unless you're a major act with a history, no one is listening.

Vegas is the '9th Island'. Meaning Hawaii. HNLV has two shows. One for top 40 and one for their Hawaiian audience. It's like a senior's Tai Chi aerobics class. It's really cool.

They don't mess around in prisons in the Philippines. Just wanted to throw this in there;

I'd pass on Las Vegas. There's this;

Music Calendar - Coyote Bar & Grill Carlsbad

It's a growing scene. Driving from Vegas to the Carlsbad area is a different ball game than driving from Yuma to Carlsbad. From Yuma it's relatively easy.
I call Encinitas to Oceanside the mini gold coast or the stretch. It's 14 miles. They're suspicious of outsiders but it's not too bad. They just don't want to be inundated with tourists.
I went on a road trip with friend. We went from Vegas to National City and stopped in Oceanside. We decided to go to Yuma on the way back.

This is pretty real;

I go to Winterhaven and get on the 8, then through El Centro....

Long Beach! Oh nooooo....

[Basshead]

You could do it in Nashville there will just be fewer venues to book and WAY less money involved. And I mean way less money. Nashville is traditionally a country town. And for a metro it's still fairly affordable because it's a poorer town. By "country town" I don't just mean country music, I mean country people from the surrounding rural parts of TN, KY, AL, and MS. They aren't going to appreciate bossa or flamenco the way it will be in other places.

Cities like Austin and Nashville are so inundated with live music that even someone playing world class stuff on a street corner or downtown club will mostly be ignored. There are hundreds of musicians playing those areas on a given night. How do you plan to stand out from them? You need to be presenting your stuff to the right target audience in order to be appreciated. I would suggest forming core goals and then writing out a plan on how you will achieve those goals if you come to the states.

Having a bunch of money to blow on career development as well as a very good plan on getting those results will be key. TBH I don't think you need to come to the states at all. I would write, record and release a record, and then do some heavy duty promotions from right where you are before you even touch US soil that way you've cultivated some interest in your material before you arrive. IME without promotions you're just another guy scuffling gigs in those cities.

Please explain to me what you mean by career development, I got some money to blow to be honest, explain why I dont need to go to the US? money can pay good experiences, Thailand, Indonesia, China...look like a nice experience...the US too. Whats the problem with scuffling gigs? I dont get it.

[Stevebol]

You could do it in Nashville there will just be fewer venues to book and WAY less money involved. And I mean way less money. Nashville is traditionally a country town. And for a metro it's still fairly affordable because it's a poorer town. By "country town" I don't just mean country music, I mean country people from the surrounding rural parts of TN, KY, AL, and MS. They aren't going to appreciate bossa or flamenco the way it will be in other places.

Cities like Austin and Nashville are so inundated with live music that even someone playing world class stuff on a street corner or downtown club will mostly be ignored. There are hundreds of musicians playing those areas on a given night. How do you plan to stand out from them? You need to be presenting your stuff to the right target audience in order to be appreciated. I would suggest forming core goals and then writing out a plan on how you will achieve those goals if you come to the states.

Having a bunch of money to blow on career development as well as a very good plan on getting those results will be key. TBH I don't think you need to come to the states at all. I would write, record and release a record, and then do some heavy duty promotions from right where you are before you even touch US soil that way you've cultivated some interest in your material before you arrive. IME without promotions you're just another guy scuffling gigs in those cities.

He should be able to gig easily in San Diego County but it's 'word of mouth'. North County doesn't want to be overwhelmed by tourists.

This cracks me up for some reason. They gig all over the place;

[DawgBone]

Please explain to me what you mean by career development, I got some money to blow to be honest, explain why I dont need to go to the US? money can pay good experiences, Thailand, Indonesia, China...look like a nice experience...the US too. Whats the problem with scuffling gigs? I dont get it.

If you just wanna blow cash having fun then do that. Or if you just wanna set up mics in a studio you can do that and maybe work your way up to engineer. Or you could start your own studio in which case the problem is the rent money for the studio space, which seems to be a common problem since few studio owners actually own the ground the studio sits on....

Plenty of groups around here would hire a good guitarist willing to work for $50-100 per show, one to two shows a day, 4-7 days per week playing the same overplayed rock covers at the shittiest gigs booked by local grifter dirtbag booking agents who want 15% of the $250-500 guarantee split three or four ways and maybe summa your tips too. They retire to Hawaii and guess what you get?

On the other hand, if you want to be the boss, have your own group, and do the hustling then $ will get you the better players, pay for studio and production costs, merchandise, promotions, and connect you with publicists who can further connect you to radio, management, and more established industry professionals. Your options are basically a) working to build a career for someone else and possibly you as well if you have good chemistry or b) building a career for yourself or c) work for other losers on the low rent bar scene until you, or they, crash out.

That's why I originally asked you what you wanted to do and also suggested writing out, or at least thinking out, some sort of plan. What do YOU want to be doing in five or ten years musically? If you're just in it for the adventure then just jump in blind but the adventure is better, and moves faster, with a decent plan of attack. Speaking from experience here.

[Basshead]

Yeah I see, well after 25 years working as musician and sound engineer in Spain and London, I think there are more opportunities in the US in general, and people is more open minded for business in general too...after watching the news this week...does not look very welcomy LOL

[Stringswinger]

Yeah I see, well after 25 years working as musician and sound engineer in Spain and London, I think there are more opportunities in the US in general, and people is more open minded for business in general too...after watching the news this week...does not look very welcomy LOL

Don't let the fake news fool you. Americans are very welcoming. Many of us just believe that immigration should be done in an orderly and lawful manner. Just like they do in Spain (and every other first world country).

[Alter]

Bear in mind that if you visit for a few months (so tourist visa) and manage to get any work (which would be mostly illegal), it magically instantly shows up to any government computers when you try to get any other visas or extension visas, etc. Mails, facebook messages too..

[DawgBone]

Yeah I see, well after 25 years working as musician and sound engineer in Spain and London, I think there are more opportunities in the US in general, and people is more open minded for business in general too...after watching the news this week...does not look very welcomy LOL

Doing things the right way: Getting your work permit or artist residency would be step one before you arrive then. The last 25 years in the USA has seen most clubs going from paying bands/artists in cash to most having everything on the books.

Any gig that isn't a complete throwaway will be wanting W-9 forms from at least one member, who is then on the hook for paying taxes on any $ that isn't documented as being paid to the other people, i.e you get hit with a 1099 form by the bandleader which means the gov here will be wanting about 30% of your take since you are basically functioning as an independent contractor. Which means keeping your receipts for related expenditures so you can pay in less money during tax time.

You could still probably fudge your way through a lot of the stuff you will be dealing with business-wise on the shit-gig circuit by using an alias and just using BS numbers on the forms since club turnover rates are high and I never receive any tax info from about half the clubs in january, since their bookkeeper quits or loses their tax forms. But for the much better paying and more legitimate and respectable work it will definitely be something you will have to deal with. Definitely less welcoming and more hassle in that regard.

[Basshead]

OK lets open a LLC from abroad, quick and easy, I can use that to invoice shit, actually Ima start working with a big sync company from the US this week so I might have to do it anyway.

[DawgBone]

OK lets open a LLC from abroad, quick and easy, I can use that to invoice shit, actually Ima start working with a big sync company from the US this week so I might have to do it anyway.

That's an excellent idea!!!