I live in Brighton in the UK which is a medium size town of around 350,000 on the South Coast about 35 miles from London.

Brighton is a lively cosmopolitan City and is considered the "Gay" capital of England. As a seaside town it is popular with holidaymakers and sightseers as there are strong Royal historical links as the Royal Pavillion palace with it's onion dome towers is sited here.

The population is predominantly young and the music scene for them is excellent with a variety of pubs and clubs to go for a very diverse range of musical tastes. There are also several street musicians around some of which are quite talented.

However, for the "older" musician like myself there are fewer and fewer places to play live music. I had a residency at a cabaret restaurant in the marina here for over 9 years but there are no more jobs like that around anymore (thank goodness I hear you say).

I now play mostly clubs like ex-servicemens, political and recreational (fishing, bowling and sailing etc). I also play occaisional hotel lounges in neighbouring Eastbourne as this is a town where "older" people take vacations.

I have seen the music scene change here over the years as I used to sell musical instruments. This was both Home and professional organs and keyboards inc Hammond, Lowrey (remember the MX1!!) Farfisa, Elka, Technics and Yamaha. I also sold group gear as well (Guitars, amps, drums, synths etc). Over the years it was very noticeable how the business from many pro musicians reduced and the other stuff for the younger people increased.

One good thing though - there is very little competition around here for musicians who do what I do so there is still a fair amount of work as long as you don't price yourself out of the market.

Regards - to all - Keith (KFingers)