For the last few months I’ve been doing solo piano gigs about once a week at the Carmelite Hotel in Aberdeen. I took on the job knowing that the pay was rather less than the going rate for live musicians (the Carmelite pay £50 for a 3 hour performance) – but given the current economic climate, I considered myself lucky to be getting paid for something that I love doing. It quickly became apparent that my role was to provide background music for guests and paying customers. I was fine with this and have quite enjoyed the opportunity to create an atmosphere while people sit around chatting and drinking. I would bite my tongue whenever someone approached me with a (usually awful) request –
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