[Harp-L] Gig payment for harp players

[Mick Zaklan <mzaklan@xxxxxxxxx>]

   This thread reminds me of a conversation I had with Jim Liban earlier in
the year.  Hadn't seen him in 7 or 8 years and asked how he was doing.
Told me he was retirement age and collecting Social Security and Medicare.
That financially he was fine, unlike a lot of musicians we know.  He said,
"I have all my money; I made a conscious decision when I was 16 to pay
taxes on everything I made playing music."  Jim has been supporting himself
as a musician for over 50 years, by the way.  He went on to tell me that
over the years quite a few musicians would brag to him about how they were
getting over on the government, not reporting any of their musical income.
And many of them were broke now, destitute.
   If you're in it for the long haul, you might want to think about that.

Mick Zaklan