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Oct 15th, 2010 @ 11:16 am
Hartsfield MusicPark
Text from a Facebook blog and the subsequent exchange. It speaks for itself.
HARTSFIELD MUSICPARK
Ugh. I really didn’t want to write about this. But here it goes, just a few words on a gig gone bad. My band (one of them anyway), The Fiddleworms was hired to play the Hartsfield Jam at HartsfieldMusicPark(http://www.facebook.com/hartsfieldmusicpark) on September 24, 2010. It was to be a weekend long outdoor music festival located in Lawrenceburg, TN. We agreed to a set price, which was lower than our usual fee since this was a new event. The band showed up prepared and well rehearsed and we put on a good set, fulfilling our part of the deal. Attendance was dismal at best. We did our part to plug the gig on Facebook and by word of mouth as much as we could, keeping in mind that we were booked only a couple weeks out from the show. I don’t know what the Hartsfield people did to promote the festival, but the end result was that they failed to honor their end of the deal. Instead of properly promoting the show and budgeting for the acts they hired, they apparently chose a “wait and see” type of approach to determine whether they would actually pay us. Needless to say, the end of the evening found us without a dime in our hands. After a couple of empty promises that the check was on its way, it became apparent that this guy had no intention of paying the band what he owed, nor was there an offer for any kind of compensation whatsoever for gas (we all had to drive an hour to an hour and a half as some of us came from the Shoals area and some of us came from Huntsville) or expenses, which were minimal in all honesty. So now I feel like it’s necessary that these people be called out for their bad business practices in an effort to give some of my fellow musicians around here a heads up on the matter. Here’s an exchange below that occurred on the Hartsfield MusicPark Facebook page after the festival weekend. Their status update is in bold and the comment thread follows below it. Not only do they have it in writing that “come hell or high water” they will pay us (it’s in the low 60s and not a cloud in the sky as I type this), they even play the victim a bit. In all fairness however, the beef jerky was really, really good. Hartsfield Musicpark The JAM - Both Yesterday and Todays shows were absolutely amazing. Tons & heaps of superb acts, Angela Hacker, James LeBlanc and Zac Hacker are the tighest stars on the music scene today. Scott Boyer brought me to tears, Jesse Price gave me goose bumps. Another bunch of killers performers to see tomorrow ~ September 26 at 1:22am · Comment · Like . Jonathan Dillard: wish i could have came out tonight! spent the evening at the dr.’s office instead….. September 26 at 1:31am · Like Susanne Reeves: Scott Boyer, what a poet and songman! September 26 at 8:13am · Like · 1 person Matt Ross: You know what brings me to tears? Driving an hour and forty minutes each way to play this show Friday night with the Fiddleworms and getting stiffed on the money you guys agreed to pay us. Great business practice. September 29 at 9:28am · Like John James Tombyll: I second that Matt. September 29 at 4:00pm · Like Hartsfield Musicpark: thanks for bringing your friends September 29 at 8:49pm · Like Hartsfield Musicpark: I guess you’ll be happy to know that because of the low attendance, I’m now more than $6,000 in debt, trying to do a good thing, and am losing the property, but if you’ll send me your address, come hell or high water, one way or the other, I will get you paid! I don’t understand why none of your fans were there, but what few people were there, became your fans! Great show. Sorry it didn’t work out. September 29 at 10:15pm via Email Reply · Like Russell Mefford: the Fiddleworms are a proud member of an amazing music community. My bandmates trust me to negotiate and handle the booking part of the business and, as much as we all love music, it is a business. When told this was a new festival trying to get off the ground we asked for a lower amount than our normal fee. My exact words were “this is what we must have to play your festival.” I was left a voicemail (which I saved) from the festival agreeing to our offer and I later spoke with you reconfirming our guarantee. Two of us drove from the Shoals area and the other three band members drove from Huntsville. The festival was located on a beautiful piece of land in southern Tennessee. We met some nice people and played our set. There was maybe 20 people there. Had you offered each of us $50 to help cover gas we would have taken it. But you let us walk away with nothing. You would not return my calls for 4 days and only left me a message yesterday after Matt started these Facebook posts. Matt commented that his post may be vindictive but all we are asking for is what you agreed to pay us in the first place. You may think you are helping the music scene by throwing a music festival. By not securing the funds you promised to pay the musicians you are, however unintentionally, killing it. September 30 at 11:44am · Like · 3 people
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Jonathan Carter Matt and other artists, that is the biggest load of venue bs I have heard in a while. I hope that the karma this cat has headed his way is not as bad as the end result he left with a fine group of musicians. I also hope that his unmatched l…See MoreOctober 5 at 2:51pm · 
Kirk Bowie Russell If this guy had his thinking cap on he would have done a little pre-planning. Sounds like a wash to me, and I for one am glad to have the heads up.October 5 at 3:11pm · · 1 person
Debra Williams Shared Emailed and TaggedOctober 5 at 3:40pm · 
Dave Erickson Matt, sorry you had to learn the hard way. Stories (and a few personal experiences) like this are *exactly* why my band refuses to play gigs even remotely similar to this anymore.October 5 at 3:46pm · 
Harry Delugach Unfortunately, Dave’s right — this is not a new story. When you think about it, it’s really remarkable that nearly all the gigs we play are by word of mouth, nothing in writing and no legal recourse if someone doesn’t keep their word. The only option is to tell every musician you know so they won’t also get burned by the same folks. What goes around does eventually come around.October 5 at 4:20pm · 
Matt Ross Dave and Harry, I’ve learned a LOT the hard way in this business. Been doing it for over 20 years. I’m aware this is nothing new. Now we have the power to call out people who screw us over in a very public forum as a way to help our fellow musicians. That’s why I posted this.October 5 at 4:35pm · 
Louis Grant sorry about your ordeal! I have never seen the Fiddle Worms but have heard much good things about the band. Maybe you could do a show at Sports Page or Hatties where we know 2 things! People will show up! and You will get paid! Good Luck Guy’sOctober 5 at 4:42pm · Dave Erickson Yep, I know you have “been around the block,” so to speak. And you’re doing exactly the right thing here by posting about what happened. The point here is that anytime a potential gig has the word “festival” or something similar in the title, it raises a red flag with me automatically unless I know ahead of time that it’s actually legit. And even then, it’s not necessarily worth doing <cough SXSW cough>.October 5 at 4:45pm · Matt Ross I hear thatOctober 5 at 5:08pm · 
John James Tombyll I was thinking maybe i could add something to your note…..but it would appear , my friend,you’ve said it all!! : )Kudos…..looking forward to our next gig…whenever that maybe!October 5 at 5:29pm · 
Susan Delaney I’m glad you have a forum like this to spread the word, Matt. This sounds very similar to that Bear Hollow show our mutual friend and you guys were supposed to play. We had bought tickets to an afternoon and evening show and when the show was canceled and we tried to get our money back all he kept telling us was how much money he lost and that he was going to have to shut the venue, blah blah. $80 bucks I’ll never see again. Sorry you and your band had to go through this.October 5 at 5:31pm · 
Karen Tyson Sorry, Matt. Aren’t there written contracts?October 5 at 5:45pm · 
Scott Boyer There are contracts but they can be a burden to deal with. Usually myself and most of the other musicians I know book gigs based mainly on verbal commitments. The only time I will demand a contract on a local gig is if the person I am dealing with has been problematic in the past.October 5 at 6:44pm · 
Jenae Townsend Not to sound crude, but what a bunch of assholes. Er, or asshole as case may be. Very well written by the way.October 5 at 6:51pm · 
Donnie Garvich Good to know Matt, thanks for the heads up.October 6 at 9:09am · 
Sharee N Jason Miller i like to break shit when people do this to my band. At least it makes u feel better.October 7 at 3:53pm ·
