Russ, I performed for my Sister In Law's 50th wedding anniversary, however, they, and my wife, were the only folks in the audience that I knew. All of the others, about 150 or more individuals, were folks that my sister in law and her husband knew from Louisville and Lexington. I never met any of them before that night. So, I assume their responses were valid, however, I didn't research the area to see if there were any other OMB arranger keyboard players/entertainers in the immediate area.

A few weeks after the event, I had a half dozen telephone calls from folks in that area that wanted to know what it would cost for me to perform at private parties and another wedding anniversary in Louisville or Lexington. I gave them a ridiculous price, mainly because I really didn't enjoy the 11-hour drive from my home to Louisville where my wife's sister and her husband have resided for the past 45 years.

And, yes, you apparently DO work in a completely different world. When I was doing the club/restaurant circuit in Baltimore, mostly in upscale restaurants (I performed regularly in three of them) in Baltimore's Little Italy and the Inner Harbor, most of the guitar players, many of which were extremely talented, were not working more than one job a week, and many were working just one or two jobs a month. In contrast, the better keyboard guys and duos, such as arranger keyboard player Jerry & Elsa Burns, a Peabody trained pianist and incredible jazz singer, Larry Scott, Ray Bastianelli, Johnny Walker, Bobby Bassett, Al Rosi, Helmut Licht, Norrm & Carlos and a few others, all of whom played arranger keyboards and were very talented vocalists as well, had all the work they could handle, and then some. Jerry and Elsa were also part of the Zim Zemeral Band, which employed many musicians from the US Navy Band. During the Carter Administration, Zim's band played a couple jobs at the White House.

Ironically, a significant number of these same, talented, individuals eventually transcended into the senior circuit, primarily for the increased income and better working hours. Nearly every one of these individuals worked 5 to 7 nights a week when we were working the club/restaurant circuit, which is far more than any of the top guitar players in this part of the world ever dreamed of working, even those that were highly trained, highly skilled and very talented. So, yes, I guess it's a different world here when it comes to the musical entertainment biz.

All the best,

Gary