I do 30 jobs a year on B-3 and Rhodes with drummer...80 plus jobs on just guitar...100 on only piano and 60 or so with a band or with an arranger.

I guess the point is, you have to locate a market for what you do and how you want to do it.

I get top money for the area and a bank account to be proud of. Been doing it for 50 years in the best venues...no "animal" clubs, nursing homes or assisted living facilities.
(nothing against them...just don't do it).

Everyone should find what works and what they can live with. Either entertain, play or do a combination that you're comfortable with. Find your place in the spectrum.

But, DO IT! Use technology as a tool, but never as a crutch. This area is full of horn players, guitar players and keyboard players who couldn't beg a non-paying job without using sequences, mp-3's or other tools. Those are the folks that really piss me off.

UD, Tony, Chas, Diki, Fran, DonM and others (me, included) use tools (the degree of use varies between players; usually as a function of whether they are primarily entertainers or musicians), but they can really play. That's fine. They're successful and they've earned their success.

It's the "posers" (and believe me, they're everywhere) that makes it hard for those who do it right.

R.