Leona Lewis is seeking session musicians - Be aware of this first

thisisguitar

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10154863428795634&set=a.10150178431305634.426436.568710633&type=1&theater

This guy is owed over £3k for work done for her, have a read if you are thinking of doing any.

frankus

She's been to the cunch... I took her there.

Cacofonix

thisisguitar;27897" said:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10154863428795634&set=a.10150178431305634.426436.568710633&type=1&theater

This guy is owed over £3k for work done for her, have a read if you are thinking of doing any.

Lockdown on that page.

mike_l

frankus said:

She's been to the cunch... I took her there.

pervert.

thisisguitar

For those that can't see it it's a letter, and this post goes with it:

Luke Juby

Dear musicians/MU members/session fixers,

Leona Lewis is looking for session musicians for a gig next week in London.

Please take two seconds to read this if you have time. Back in March I was contacted about putting together a band, BVs and show for Leona Lewis (literally 200+ emails) and I have still not been paid in full - it has become pretty apparent I never will without going to court. 

If you want to know more just send me an email but keeping purely to the facts... 

I paid the guitarist £1000 out of my own money as he had a family and I'd booked him for the gig. 
Their accountant emailed saying that if we wrote to him again, trying to track down the money owed, he'd charge us £300 per hour. 
Management have ignored and continue to ignore emails. Tour management... John Martin... that might require a personal message in which I'd be happy to divulge more. However, please don't mistake any other tour managers with the surname Martin who are respectable and honest and have no affiliation to him.

I have deliberated with whether I should 'go public' with this for some time, but today they contacted one of the guys I put in for that gig, the very guitarist that they f***ed over, with an apparent nonchalance or perhaps arrogance that he'd still work for them.

I know how hard it is on the session scene. I'm also not naïve and know that someone will take the job on. 

I had worked for Leona for about 4 years, under different management and tour management. I really like her. She's dizzy and fun and I considered her a friend. I also wrote a song on her third album (which incidentally was much better than Dr Luke's one they chose for a single with the lyrics "a dum-dum-diddy". It didn't chart...). 

This business is hard enough without those in power taking advantage of the very backbone of the industry ie. the musicians.

For those of you who know me, I hope you feel I'm an honest and moral person in business. For some time now I have turned down work that I feel didn't represent the true worth of a session musician, and then more often than not turned it down again when they raised the wages to an acceptable level out of principle. 

The MU can be skewed towards classical/musical theatre musicians and projects however our session circle is so small I think every one of us would have mutual friends in the pop scene.

Should you want to do the gig rehearsals are on the 25th with the gig on the 27th. I personally will not be paying you however. Ensure you have a watertight contract for the entire engagement. I can pass on her managers details if you wish.

If you're lucky enough to be too busy, don't want to risk non-payment, or feel that morally professional musicians should be paid for the services they provide then I hope this may help any decision.

With deep regrets,

Luke

imalone

By the time I got to "please take two seconds to read this" I was at about two seconds and bailed.

ICBM

thisisguitar said:

Their accountant emailed saying that if we wrote to him again, trying to track down the money owed, he'd charge us £300 per hour.

I remembered this thread when Leona Lewis came on my iTunes shuffle just now...

Personally, I'd be inclined to get a good lawyer and instruct them to respond by telling the accountant that the matter is now in their hands and that unless the money is paid in full, any future correspondence will be charged at £500 per hour, to be added to the outstanding amount.

There's no excuse for behaviour like that.

Failing that, go to the Small Claims Court.

Or a professional debt collector.