My remark......

'music not being fun anymore,' I meant for working musicians out there in the "battlefield" (the venues). Now there is mountains of paperwork involving each job, traffic to get through, tons of equipment to carry, inattentive/unappreciative/rude/musically illiterate audiences, contemporary music that sounds like a washing machine on steroids and impossible to play without 1/2 dozen sequencer programs running simultaneously, etc

My original remark above seems to have gone somewhat astray by the time you get to this point in the thread.

ALL of what you've discussed here has been important, but, when I wrote what I did, the point I was making and the reality that I have to accept is that all the peripherals involved in doing a job now is detracting from your concentration on the music itself....performing AND practicing. I backed up and took a long hard look at what I have to do these days to continue working, even though I'm extremely good at what I do to begin with.

I didn't even mention “hustling” the work. Sure I could get as much work as I want if I spent whole days on the phone making contacts, maintaining a web site, reading the newspapers every day for events that I‘ll type into a database and contact for next year, etc. Let's face it, the "numbers" game ALWAYS pays off (you get back 5-10% of what you put out in advertising, phone calls, networking, etc.

Then the previously mentioned traffic.....ever increasing traffic. I leave two hours early for any job now, I carry detailed local road maps of where I'm going in case in case I get stuck on a main highway so I can get off and take "back roads." I maintain two vehicles in case one breaks down. I subscribe to two "automobile clubs" with 100 miles of free towing on each so if I break down on the way, I call one club to tow me there, and the other club to tow me back. I keep up-to-date emergency lists of available replacement musicians for each job I do should something happen to ME and I can’t get to the gig.

Which brings me around to the equipment. I always carried two sets of everything in case something breaks down there. Now it's not just a keyboard, drum machine and adequate sound system, but almost enough to fill a Piper Cub. The sound system alone takes up half of your vehicle space and almost ALL of your energy.

I "stepped back" a while ago to view the whole music scene now as an outsider looking in as compared to "not being able to see the forest for the trees." What I came up with was this: literally you CAN be working all day and every day of the year, you really can, but you would have to spend most of your time between gigs addressing what I wrote above. There IS plenty of work out there, just not as much, so you have to work harder to locate it and then rope it in. That takes time!

I find myself spending an inordinate # of hours making phone calls trying to reach unreachable people, getting to gigs through traffic that is becoming like the General Motors proving grounds, having to make sure I lift weights every day so I remain strong enough to carry the equipment (I use the keyboard for bench presses!), and the final payoff.......the lack of respect and appreciation I get when I'm performing. I'm treated no different than any employee in the place, and sometimes not even as well as a waiter.

The plus side of the constantly changing music scene is that it forces growth, both musical and mental and that carries over into your personal life too. Constant change is the magic bullet that keeps you stimulated and stimulating! I've managed to metamorphasize from a shy accordionist in the early days to someone who can take that mike in hand and walk out on the floor, face 500 people, kibbutz with them, sing a song (with Karaoke backing), and ultimately handle any situation that arises because I learned to go with the changes in performing (up to now). The changes being you need to be an entertainer now, and not just a musician (and I can’t say I don’t enjoy the attention I get being “out on the floor” and feeling like a small potatoes headliner!).

If any of you are wondering, I'm NOT a novice at this. I play professional piano, synthesizer, arranger keyboards, accordion, organ. I'm a trained vocalist. For the last 15 years, I've also done up to 100 jobs a year as a DJ, and I have a complete Karaoke setup for Karaoke events. Yet I get no respect from anyone anymore when I do any of these things, exception being when I sit at the piano, but even there people think nothing of talking loudly while you're performing.

I thought I would play right up to my dying day, but this is the first time in my life that I'm thinking of giving up the whole kit and kaboodle, cashing in my SS, cut my expenses, tighten my belt and doing music simply as a hobby. It’s a decision I’ve been thinking about for a while now, as I’m really not enjoying my music like I used to. I don’t want to be another Chuck Berry....having to play into my 70’s when my heart is not in it anymore.

More power to you guys who want to stick it out. To you folks, I admire your determination!