Like the realtor said; it's all about location, location and, of course, location.

My shirt tail cousin lives about 50 miles from here in a growing city of 250,000+. He gets what he wants $$$ per hour there.

When he comes to my town, 50 miles away from his home, he gets exactly half $$$ of what he gets in his town....same show.

Today, he is headed to the assisted living home where his mother lives. It's in the town we grew up 25 miles from here. He will play for free because he is told there is no budget for entertainment.

I do a monthly gig in our home town at one assisted living place and get paid my regular fee. It's the only place I play because the rest don't have budgets for entertainment...even though these places are very healthy financially and make a ton of $$$$ off of the residents.

It's location that makes a huge difference.