Working

A day on the job in south Pinellas County

Alan Satkowski, 43, professional guitarist, bandleader, St. Petersburg

Is this full time or part time for you?

It's full time.

How did you get interested in this?

I started playing classical guitar at 5 years old. My parents bought me a guitar for Christmas, and I just never put it down. I started taking lessons, and my hands just felt very good on it. It kind of kept me out of trouble so the parents kept me going to lessons. I've been doing general business jobs for about 15 years, ever since I moved here. Those are jobs like weddings, bar mitzvahs, bat mitzvahs, commercial functions and sitting in with bands for occasional concerts.

What are you doing at these jobs?

Most of the jobs currently there is a computer-generated band running, and I play guitar to it. We have a (live) sax player, drummer, keyboard player and two singers. We play to a backing track.

What kind of hours do you work?

Gigs are, generally speaking, four hours a day, every weekend. Sometimes when the weekend work is not going so well I start teaching some.

What is your weekly schedule like?

I practice Monday through Friday eight hours a day. Friday, Saturday and Sunday, that's when I make money performing.

What is your practice routine like?

Every day has to involve scales, arpeggios, and sight reading (music) of some type. Sometimes you have to force yourself to practice. I have to be ready on a moment's notice. I could be playing in front of thousands of people sight reading something for the first time, or I could be in a smoky bar with 30 people getting paid 30 bucks.

How much traveling do you do?

Almost zero. I keep it down to a minimum because my daughter's here. I'm here all day for her; you know homework, high school stuff. I came off the road when she was born.

What's your favorite style of music?

I like the classical and the jazz.

How many guitars do you have?

Eight. Each one serves a different purpose. I have a state of the art Yamaha classical guitar. And then I have an F-hole or hollow body with steel strings, and its main purpose is jazz. Then I have an Epiphone solid body guitar for the general business gigs for sounds like Santana and stuff like that. Then I have a Fender Stratocaster I use for Jimi Hendrix kind of stuff. I also have several acoustical guitars.

How much money do you make?

About $23,000, give or take, would be an average year. But you never know what to expect in a given month. I mean, sometimes I don't make squat, and sometimes I get paid $100 an hour.

Any hazards of the job?

No. 1 is that driving in the middle of the night after a gig. You wouldn't believe how many drunks are on the road. I'm usually on the road at 2 or 3 in the morning, and that's all that's out there. There are also physical hazards. Eventually you do get wounded carrying gear in and out of places. And the other hazard is that whether you're singing or playing an instrument, you are bound to pull muscles and tendons. Right now I'm playing with pulled tendons in both my arms and it's just murder.

Any tips for aspiring performance musicians?

First and foremost you have to realize that you are going to have to practice every day. Review the easy; practice the new and hard. Also, you've got to read. I make more money reading music than not reading music -- sometimes six times the pay.

What was your favorite concert experience?

Playing with Dave Brubeck. He's a top-name jazz artist. I played with him probably about eight years ago.

Who are your musical heroes?

No. 1 is Andres Segovia. Most young players don't know who he is. He is like the daddy of the guitar. There has been no finer classical guitarist. Next down is Jimi Hendrix. He invented several different styles of music, and all the electric guitar sounds that you hear today.

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