Jim-

I can't speak for your local area but I can about Dayton.

There's isn't much going on. Not many restaurants have live entertainment these days, almost none have dancing available.

La'Berge on Far Hills Ave. in Dayton offers live music in their lounge but they go through musicians like we go through socks. The pay isn't anything to write home about, you have to wait until the next day to get paid and they're freakish about volume.

Some places have a quite piano in a corner somewhere. These gigs, usually 3-4 hours in length pay a top dollar of maybe $125-150 + tips for the night.

I've done all of them around Dayton and just don't have any interest in going back. Its not my bag. The Heritage House might have been the exception to that and there were some discussions about me playing a couple of nights a week there a few years ago but then the owner decided to retire and close the business. I drove by there the other night on my way to the Dayton CC and its still closed.

That's Dayton, Cincy would have to be better- I just don't know how MUCH better.

So...with little dancing, the type of stuff that works will usually be soft, light jazz standards, ballads from almost every era, some suitable pop stuff. If you're good with requests that can come in handy, for sure...

Hope that helps...

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Bill in Dayton