Integrity, so exceedingly and decidedly void today, is still something that each of us responds to positively when we encounter it. Integrity tells me that, when encountered as either a response or an offer, it holds the readiest of value to everyone. Oh, there are those in denial -- it implies putting one's neck out. The reasons are theirs, but opportunities are missed, whose rewards are more than affirming. When you speak directly and honestly to the most directly honest part in the other p... Read Full Story

Since the MyGigNet mission is to serve the people -- you -- that will help to build it, we are compiling a survey that we hope will give us a clearer idea of what it is that you want, need, and hope for. While we are working musicians with a lot of years of experience, we are experienced enough to know that each person's perspective is different. Our intent is to open the channels for a real dialog here, to determine priorities, and to establish a solid starting point for our data model and o... Read Full Story

Throughout the course of this undertaking, I have been met with either an open understanding of what we are attempting to accomplish -- for both those that create and those that enjoy music -- or a very conventional perspective that cannot see the forest for the trees. The first group is comprised, mostly, of the people that we are trying to serve and, most openly, by those that are younger. The second group is represented by mostly older musicians and aficionados, but seriously strong in tho... Read Full Story

In this particularly perilous time, we are faced with ever mounting issues of personal and social survival. There is a certain conditioning at play, which causes us to acknowledge the more modest, but immediate relief from our travails. We have become too easily distracted by details, by personality, by headline, by sensation, and all for the illusion that we survive for some future benefit. If conditioning holds out, this future remains just that -- future -- never attained, never arrived at... Read Full Story

Times like these are reminders that, when we rely on others to do right by us, we -- the common folk -- are the first mentioned and the last regarded. Our economists, pundits, and politicians bluster, boil, sidestep, rationalize, and argue over an abundance of small points that have each been inflated to category 4 and 5 storms, just by the perceptions that are being shaped. Everything is a problem. Everything is a crisis. And no one is attending to the real answers.The infrastructure of any ... Read Full Story

I just received an email asking, since there have been no new blog posts, if MyGigNet is dead. I assure you that it is not. The tasks that we have laid before us have been very involved, from determining database issues (acquisition, access, security), to the formatting of the PPA, its programming, spread sheets that investors need (yes, there are people out there that are very attracted to our mission), business development, marketing, site development, and on and on and on..........We are h... Read Full Story

The need for MyGigNet is apparent in so many ways. I speak to working musicians, to teachers, to students, to organizers and activists, to fans, and the list goes on. Each and every one has expressed frustrations, from simple searches to finding gigs, connecting with like-minded musicians, programs, funding, guidance, etc. This list, too, goes on and on. MySpace frustrates them, Sonicbids frustrates them, download sites frustrate them, repetition frustrates them. It is not just the process, i... Read Full Story

Preface: It has dawned on me that, the closer we get to launch, the greater the need to clarify what it is that we intend to do. Yes, we have a huge idea; we also have the means (capital considerations notwithstanding) and the opportunity offered by convergence of timing and events. The ideas driving MyGigNet did not come flying out like monkeys emanating from a dark human orifice. It is the culmination of 6 1/2 years of organized, determined effort. It has been defined and refined countless ... Read Full Story

The benefits of the Internet, with open access to more information are obvious. Opportunities abound for the connections of innumerable resources, along with their creative, productive use. For the innovator, this is a vast, uncharted territory. There is, however, a caveat. The value of any tool is directly tied to its more common use, as well as its varied applications. The problem with holding a wealth of data is that, for the average person, it becomes a double edged sword. First, it requi... Read Full Story

Gas prices are rising to the point where we could find ourselves playing gigs that will net a loss from just the commute. I know that the “pay to play” element is rampant in major markets, but this is going too far. It's bad enough that, when commute time, alone, often puts us in the position of receiving less than minimum wage for our efforts, we have to consider the possibility of not playing in order to keep from sliding further behind, let alone get ahead. Add rehearsal time, equipme... Read Full Story