Moving to Washington DC area

[whagen]

Hi,

Although I?m checking this forum out for a while, let me introduce myself since I haven?t been posting a lot.

I?m a Dutch drummer, been a pro for a couple of years, but decided to also take a ?normal? job to be able to play what I like instead of what pays the best (oh oh, that alone is enough food for a topic).

I?m offered a job in the US and decided to go for it, meaning I?m going to live in Bethesda for 2 to 4 years.
My question is, am I allowed to play there? I?ve heard about this union thing that prevents people like me to go out and play.
Are there any DC located HOD members out here? I will most probably arrive Oct. 31 and like to check out the area music wise.

Any advice/tips would be much appreciated.

Greets,

Wim

[Oddtime]

Hi Wim,
I am from germany and moved to Los Angeles 3 and a half years ago to study drums. After my graduation, I decided to stay.
The biggest problem is, that I didn't have a working permit the first 3 years, so I couldn't actually play gigs that payed. Do you have a greencard, or just a permit to work for your employer, who is sending you to the U.S. ?

[whagen]

Hi oddtime,

My employer will arrange for a j visa, I have no clue wether this only applies to this one job for them. Can't find anything either in the visa jungle on the internet.
I'll just have to call the US embassy if this topic doesn't provide additional info.

Thanks for the response,

Wim

[Shawn40]

Hi Wim,

Do you know Wim De Vries ?

Good luck and have fun in DC.

[whagen]

nope....

[sipandbite]

hey man the music scene in dc is pretty strong. between dc and baltimore there are a bunch of really serious drummers and musicians in general. bethesda is about 10 minutes outside of the dc line. you can go down to an area called "adams morgan" in dc and see some pretty serious players usually during the week. weekends tend to get pretty lame in dc cause the tourists come in and drink. it isnt odd to walk into some bars in dc and see guys like sean rickman, mark prince or bruce guttridge playing latin/funk/jazz gigs on a tuesday night for 100 bucks. you wont have a problem playing here btw. the days of union gigs are long gone. if you want to play more society band things then you might have some issues since the agency's will want to submit information for tax purposes. many of the musicians in the dc area are from other countries and work all the time.

[troutbrooke]

Originally posted by WmH:
My employer will arrange for a j visa.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">

(J-1 Visa) an alien having a residence in a foreign country which he has no intention of abandoning who is a bona fide student, scholar, trainee, teacher, professor, research assistant, specialist, or leader in a field of specialized knowledge or skill, or other person of similar description, who is coming temporarily to the United States as a participant in a program designated by the Director of the United States Information Agency, for the purpose of teaching, instructing or lecturing, studying, observing, conducting research, consulting, demonstrating special skills, or receiving training and who, if he is coming to the United States to participate in a program under which he will receive graduate medical education or training, also meets the requirements of section 212(j), and the alien spouse and minor children of any such alien if accompanying him or following to join him;

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">This visa doesn't allow you to earn income by any other means, BUT, I wouldn't let it stop you. Just don't let anyone know about your specific visa, just in case someone decides to 'rat you out' and inform the INS. Or, you could just play gigs for 'free' and be paid in non-cash terms (like food, or hard goods, etc).