Up until the early 1990's, there were quite a few wedding reception type bands playing regularly around the central Michigan area. Now, I'd be surprised if there are any - if there's entertainment, it's a DJ. We seldom hang long at such events, if I wanted to listen to CDs at high volumes I'd do it at home.

Great points about finding and maximizing enjoyment and growth in your musical niche. Probably easier for us day-jobbers I suspect. I've moved much more into roots type music these days, your basic blues, honky-tonk, Gospel, and the like. I like it clean, simple, and in the pocket.

I care more about the music itself than how it's made. Anything beyond acapella singing introduces tools to the art, and skill in using those tools is what counts.

Music is like color, there's an endless variety and we all have our likes and dislikes, influenced by individual perception. Keeps things interesting that way.