I know one thing, I've been in this business long enough to have accumulated several hundred dollars in savings!

This train is not going to a good place. Here is where the answer lies.

John C.

Well, I guess my record of gigs played is not as impressive as I thought.

62 years, with 9 weeks off. At least 4 nights a week, with several thousand recording sessions. That's only 15,000 total.

Russ (I'll keep playing til I get it Right) Lay

geeeze talk about chest pounding? lol....
what's next how many white castle hamburgers did someone eat in one sitting?

Gotta love the White Castles!

Russ (Burp) Lay

oh yeah Russ I have one 5 min away for when I get the craving
...YummmmY

Age 86 – playing jobs since I was 28--- average 3 jobs per week.
86 less 28 = 58 years of playing jobs. Averaged 3 jobs per week X 52 weeks = 156 X 58 years = 9,048 jobs in my lifetime of playing. And I hate accepting that I must the fact that it’s time to stop.

Did I get bored doing the same over and over? Did I try to be more of a performer? Did I ever get burned out? No, I did my best and never gave a thought to anything but me doing a good job.

90% of my jobs were catering jobs with 100 to 800 people. Most were 4 hour gigs; 40 minutes on the hour; continuous 55 minutes on the hour.
My point: I allowed myself to be what I am without questioning what I was doing. There was my band and there were people who came to have a good time.

All my jobs came through recommendations; no ads or booking agents. I just tried to be the best I could be. My only thought: How can I make this better?

None of the above was written to exalt John. In fact I never added how many jobs I played until this thread. My desire is to share the joy of music entertain; other than a new born baby music has to be the greatest. (smile)

John C.

I never counted them, and my only regret is that I had to retire - I really didn't want to ever stop being an entertainer.

All the best,

Gary

John's a class act. We're all better for knowing him!

All the best, friend!

Russ