Just try to remember, John, that the number of gigs you do a year is not the indicator of how good or bad a musician you are. It's the indicator of how successful a self-promoter you are, how well you tailor your presentation and repertoire to your audiences, and how good a businessman you are (and how hard you want to work at it!)...

There are studio musicians here, songwriters, composers of film music, even some who play primarily 'live'... Just because they aren't playing 500 NH gigs a year makes them no less 'good musicians'. There's a LOT more to being a good musician than just the QUANTITY of jobs you can do (this is NOT me saying those with a lot of gigs are bad musicians, just that those WITHOUT that hectic schedule may be just as good! ).

Try to take advice and help from whatever source it comes from, and don't get defensive when it might involve learning non-arranger (or PART-arranger) techniques. Every bit helps. I learn PLENTY from hanging around here, and I certainly don't get worked up about the source!

But chas is right... Especially as you are in that 'newbie' stage, lecturing us on what constitutes 'accepted' use for an arranger, or how we should use our long-learned techniques comes off as a bit brash...