There have been a fair number of Karaoke singers trying to make a living in the NH circuit here as well. Nealy all of them are doing other things. Those of us that play an instrument, sing and entertain the clients and residents of the various facilities are still working. And, most of us can barely handle the volume of work that keeps coming in. Over the past four months I know I've turned down at least 50 jobs because I just don't have any more room in the schedule.

As for the pay, keep in mind that the vast majority of these facilities are owned and operated by huge corporations, companies that more often than not are thousands of miles away. I bill each and every one of the facilities where I perform, which currently numbers 32. Pay checks average about 4 to 6 weeks before showing up in my mailbox. Not unlike any other business, and something that you build into your weekly/monthly budget.

At this stage of life I no longer am looking for work--it finds me. But, when I was actively seeking more locations to perform I found direct mail followed by telephone calls and visits to activity directors was extremely effective. If I were 30 years younger, knowing what I know today, and having today's technology, I could easily perform 800 to 1,000 jobs a year. I still have a reasonably good voice, but I feel my chops slowly slipping away. It upsets me a lot when I hit a bad note or slide a bit on my timing, but it's inevitable and comes with age.

Ironically, when I had my daughter with me a month ago, and she was singing several songs with me as a duet, I had ADs come up to me and offer more money if I would bring her with me in the future. Unfortunately, it's not what she wants to do, but thankfully, she was there to help me out when I needed her. In the next few weeks we hope to record a duet CD, which I will post on some of the forums. She has an incredible voice and she put a lot of emotion into each song.

Cheers,

Gary