Rog, there are fewer venues for live music pretty much nationwide. Much of this can be attributed to a substantial decrease in spendable, leisure money. And, for the most part, the younger crowds don't seem to want to do anything unless there is some sort of gizmo in their hand with a screen on it.

Now, as for "Time to move on." NAH! If you got good to excellent reviews, and if you don't mind performing for folks your age or older, than you should be able to find more work than you can handle. And, that's pretty much nationwide as well. Lets face it - there really isn't a lot of competition when it comes to live music, even OMB entertainers. And, I sincerely believe that the competition that exists today will soon go by the wayside. I have seen this in Maryland, nearby Washington, DC, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and all of Florida. If I were not so crippled up and unable to breath properly, I would still be out there working 7 days a week, and if I were physically able, working 2 jobs a day, and I'm not talking just 1 hour NH jobs.

I realize that Minnesota is a bit different than the Mid-Atlantic region, but not that much different when it comes to entertainment employment opportunities. Have you ever thought about contacting an agent? At one time I worked with 4 of them, all of which found some great jobs for me in locations that paid very, very well. These included nite clubs in Baltimore's Little Italy, Country Clubs, private parties and corporate parties. The corporate parties were the best paying, and I was often tipped more than the actual job paid. I had a bottom line for private parties, which was a minimum of $500 - no one even blinked at that price.

Now, if you're getting burned out, well there's not much any of us can do for you. Those things will happen with any kind of job, especially when you've been working nearly your entire life and it's a one man operation. For me, being a sole proprietor business has always been fun, mainly because I controlled my own destiny. Some folks just don't work well with that kind of load on their shoulders.

Ironically, now that I'm retired, I really wish I could go back to work. Sure, I enjoy sailing, fishing, working in the gardens, and I still sit at the keyboard at least an hour a day, playing old songs and working on new ones. Music has always been a large part of my life since I was just 5 years old, and I guess it will continue to be until the day I draw that last breath.

As an interesting aside, I drove past a restaurant last week, Bull On The Beach, which is a small chain, and they had a sign that said live music on the billboard. I decided to check it out. Well, live wasn't really live - it was a DJ! You gotta love it. A few weeks later, they closed the doors and a new restaurant moved in called Naughty Dogs.

Gary