What Don said here reminded me of one of my wisest music decisions.

In the 90's, when the DJ takeover was happening, I fought it tooth and nail arguing with myself every day that I'm not going to give up playing live music...that I trained as a musician and that's what I'm going to be to right up to my expiration date!

One day a friend said to me: "Don't you get it? You pay your bills with the money you make if you become a disc jockey and that, in turn, will give you the freedom to pick and choose your "live" jobs....and then you'll enjoy your playing even more.

And that's what I did after that. Both live and DJ (and Karaoke). Interestingly, I thought I would be bored standing there spinning discs, and........I WAS bored! But that boredom caused me to start interacting more with the audience and before I knew it, I became an "entertainer." And....for the first time I was able to stand up to sing, and "breathe" properly, and my vocalizing improved even.

Doing so many different things really helps you to grow in all areas of performance. I was lucky. I was able to move into something else that I not only really enjoyed doing, but it also......paid the bills!

BTW Russ, I've enjoyed reading your many poignant posts over the years! Especially this one that gave me a lot to think about as someone who was approaching "burnout" at the time!

http://www.synthzone.com/forum/ubbthread...sted#Post366334 (.......there are ways to make a really good living ($100,000.00, plus annually) by playing smarter, not necessarily better.)

Mark