In this part of the world, the greater Baltimore Metropolitan Area, the highest paying restaurants in Baltimore's Inner Harbor pay $100 for a 4-hour job Monday through Thursday, $150 for Friday and Saturday, and Friday is usually a 5-hour job, $100 for Sunday. Big Deal!

I just left the marina where my son keeps his boat, where we also had dinner. There was a "Have Guitar Will Travel" guy there with a Peavey 600-watt stereo amp, 4 speakers on poles, and a beat up old acoustic guitar rigged with a pick-up. He was singing through what appeared to be a Shure SM-58, and had a half-dozen loose-leaf binders sitting on a chair next to him. When he was on a break, which was shortly after we arrived, I talked with him. He was paid $75 to do 3 hours outdoors. To be perfectly honest, he was overpaid. He sounded like crap, his dead time between songs was horrendous, and he couldn't carry a tune in a 5-gallon bucket. He said the weekend rate was $100 for 4 hours, and the rate was the same for a duo.

So, it appears that Captain Russ has a better paying nite club and restaurant market than we have here in the Mid-Atlantic region. It may be a bit better in central and northern New Jersey, but no one can afford to live there on an entertainer's salary.

Cheers,

Gary