THE PUBLIC’S RADIO: A Wakefield

Bittersweet Melody

One musician from Wakefield who’s taking on new jobs but struggling to pay for basics, like food and rent

In partnership with The Public’s Radio • ThePublicsRadio.org • By Joe Tasca

Dylan Butler is used to starting his workday when most people are ending theirs. He’s a musician, and on this weekday he arrives at Hill’s Tavern in Chepachet at 5:00pm to set up his drums and run a sound check. Come 7:00pm, it’s showtime.

Butler’s been making a living as a full-time musician since 2017 when he left his job at a trophy shop in Smithfield. But it hasn’t been easy in recent years. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit and bars and clubs shut down, his income stopped virtually overnight. He went on unemployment and pandemic stimulus checks kept him financially above water. For Butler, it was hard to accept after spending three years successfully living his dream.

“I was so busy, I didn’t even have to look for the work,” Butler said. “So that was nice. I was making good money and getting tons of practice time, which is just as important to me as the money. I was really rolling. And then with COVID, it was a pretty heartbreaking thing losing that revenue stream.”

Now that live music is back, Butler is playing about three shows a week, but he’s still not making nearly as much money as he was in the winter of 2020, before the pandemic. Venue owners have higher costs now because of inflation, and those added expenses often get passed on to performers.

“A lot of bars just are basically not able to pay what they had been paying before,” Butler said. “The first thing to always get cut when budgets are getting cut is art and music, unfortunately. The past couple of months have been tougher than it has been in awhile with inflation and gas prices. I drive all over the place with a Jeep-full of drums. It costs 80 bucks to fill the tank right now. So yeah, I’m paycheck-to-paycheck.”

Butler says the fact that venues are paying less for live entertainment is forcing him to diversify his skillset in order to make more money. He teaches lessons occasionally, and records live shows for other musicians. It’s a lot of work, but he says it’s worth it because working with students makes him a better person and sound engineering makes him a better drummer.

But even though he’s doing more than just performing, paying the bills hasn’t gotten any easier. As the cost of living continues to rise, Butler has had to make a number of sacrifices just to get by. He says 75% of his income alone goes to paying rent at his small apartment in Wakefield.

“I mean, I don’t have internet at my apartment,” Butler said. “I canceled basically everything that costs extra money. Like, I’m down to the basics and just able to barely get by, even though I’m hustling every day of the week, playing shows and really going at it but really feel like I’m spinning my tires sometimes financially.”

Butler says he doesn’t mind hustling. He drives all over the state to play live shows. One night he’s in Smithfield, the next night he’s in Narragansett. He also travels to Florida for a small tour every winter and he’s opened for well-known acts like Buckcherry and Ace Frehley.

While performing is his passion, he knows that financial stability for a full-time musician in the current economic climate is precarious, at best. He says he’d love to play weddings and corporate gigs someday because those opportunities are much more lucrative. For now, he’s trying to stay focused on the present moment, but that’s not always easy and he admits it can be frustrating.

“You get people telling you to get a real job and people that don’t understand it and people that think you’re just chasing a pipe dream or whatever, but I know there’s no other way I can be happy,” Butler said. “I don’t know how not to do this. I don’t know, it’s like a double-edged sword. It’s bittersweet right now.”

Butler says he doesn’t want his current financial challenges to force him to give up on his dream. He says someday he’d like to be able to save up his money and buy a house of his own, and he thinks things will all come together in time. For now, he says, he gets to do what he enjoys everyday, and for Butler, that’s what matters most.

Joe Tasca can be reached at JTasca@RIPR.org

Alicia Reynolds

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