Spalding, I'm the only one in the area that does jazz standards on a classical guitar in addition to keyboards and vocals. I specialize in cool jazz, where most of the others do either traditional jazz or standards only.

Price players have been around as long as I've been working. Some come in and don't even ask what the job pays...they say, "I'll do it for $50.00 less than Russ". It normally happens several times a week. The only thing different this time is the closing of the piano bar and the fact that I just started working for these folks. I'm careful, I think, not to price myself out of a job.

My main advantage is, I've sort of assumed the position as the "go to" guy for society jobs. I'm sort of a fixture for a certain clientel, which I know from business, university or social connections.
I suspect that talent has littele to do with it.

Luckily, I can go back to every place I've worked before, and they generally let me set the price, which I do at the upper end of the market. I generally stay for three years or more and leave for a change of scenery, on very good terms.

R.