[Organizers] pay parity for callers & musicians

[Jennifer Sordyl via Organizers]

Out here in Coos Bay, Oregon, our small town dance pays callers $75 plus .08 cents a mile, and bands get $125 plus .08 cents a mile. Adding in rent, insurance and advertising, we rarely break even in our dances, which run from September through May. So we have a large fundraiser once a year that (hopefully) will cover losses. 

Some callers and bands won’t book for our dances. Sometimes it’s for lack of pay, and sometimes it’s because we’re not in the main corridor, we’re a little off the beaten path. Alternately, it’s a beautiful part of the world and many come and make a weekend of it to enjoy the ocean. We encourage members to make visitors welcome and accommodate the artists with comfy places to stay for the weekend, as a nice perk.

First time we heard of paying everyone equally was earlier this year, from Sue Songer & Betsy Branch out of Portland OR. I’d like to hear more about the logic behind other groups' decision to pay equally. As a musician, as well as the local volunteer who books bands and callers, I personally think callers work really hard and deserve everything they earn. Not that musicians don’t, but I’m not out there directing 20-50 people all evening.