When I first started out gigging at age 17, I was playing solo piano at a chinese restaurant. There was a dixie band on Saturdays, so the venue's not so strange. It's a strip club now.
I got $20 for three hours, plus beer and a plate of reheated chinese food leftovers. Awesome!
Mostly old timers who were there 14 hours, handing over their pension scheques to the barmaid. I did get to learn some tunes like "Sentimental Journey" "Melancholy Baby" etc
When I was 15 I actually played organ at my Catholic church. They needed a sub and I was too old to continue as the altar boy, and since the priest liked me .... I think I made $12.50 per mass. One day I brought in a Moog Prodigy, a little synth, and laid it on top of the orgfan. I used it for string pads. Sounded good. However, at the end of one mass I overheard an old lady berate the priest: "I've seen one of those things before [the keyboard] at the mall, and this woman was playing it nicely. But this guy [me] is ABSOLUTELY AWFUL". It could have been my long hair. I was asked to keep the Moog at home.
Too many other stupid freebies to mention.