Lucky,
I apologize for stealing your thread. On a serious note, the music job market here is pretty bad. There are LOTS of great musicians and not many jobs.
As a result you can hire them pretty cheap. Jam nights are very popular here where the pickers don't even get paid.
There are five Casinos, but they book mostly bigger name acts and road acts. Not too much for locals, and the competition is stiff. The casino audiences are a high percentage of old retired people from Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana. They like Country, and vintage rock & roll. The entertainment directors for the most part are ignorant as to what music to bring in. The EDs are fairly young and usually come here from out West or back East. They tend to hire the type of music THEY like and that might be more popular in other parts of the Country. And, they don't seem to be able to hang onto their jobs. About the time you get your foot in the door, there is a new young face to try to please. The casinos do pay well though.
Even the nursing homes here rarely pay for entertainment, mainly because so many well-meaning musicians go do them for nothing. And unlike in some places, some of the guys who do it are decent entertainers.
I have been truly fortunate to scratch out a living here and it's mostly because I take care of business by pleasing the customers, not drinking on the job and going the extra mile. Believe it or not MOST musicians won't do that.
I hope you find a place where you can be happy and make people happy with your music.
If you want to come look around, you have a place to stay!
DonM