That's strange, 124, I would have thought Edmonton would be more open to arrangers and arranger players.

I sell a lot in Newfoundland...of course, it's a port city and very diverse...wasn't unusual to see a pair of musicians with a full PC on stage, and them playing along with a squeeze and a guitar and playing Newfie tunes to Band-In -The Box jigs and fast waltzes.

When I was working in St.John's at A.L.Collis&Son, we had instruments at the store that no one in Canada had...the first E-series, the Yamaha Music computer (the CX5M), the first "new" digital Hammond...all kinds of stuff...and, we sold it!

Cape Breton is steeped in fiddle music and we sell a lot of digital pianos to the accompanists...you'd think arrangers wouldn't go well here, but I worked the biggest restaurant in the area for nearly 12 years running using various arrangers.

My buddy is 6 years at the restaurant he plays...of course we always kept the repertoire fresh, and even traded styles and arrangements.

I just had a gut feeling to take the winter off, and slow down a bit, which is not too difficult for me as I'm naturally lazy.

I'll start back up in May or June.

Still doing the Yamaha stuff, though...don't want to starve.

I'm glad there is a market for arranger players here, even if it's a bit small...I like working alone; I guess it's a control thing.

Ian