Donny is right about that. There is still a demand and especially for OMB's that will always be there. The qualifier is that it's not as prevalent as it was just a few years ago. That translates to that although the work is out there, you have to work harder to get it.

Lately, in dealing with other issues I have, I've been thinking about one of the basic rules of success:

DECIDE WHAT IT IS YOU WANT, DECIDE ON WHAT THE PRICE IS TO OBTAIN IT, DECIDE DO YOU WANT TO PAY THAT PRICE!

I'm saying right now, with me, I know there is plenty of work out there for a good OMB, but I'm not sure I want to "pay the price." The price for me is having to deal with the complexities of hustling bookings these days, dealing with obnoxious clients for events and inexperienced AD's at the nursing homes, the agents who will rip you off financially and violate your talent, making the requested and required demo's that you never needed before, doing auditions for nothing, and, most of all, reminding myself how bland an audience can be nowadays (relative to the party moods of yesteryear when you often had "doubles" on weekends, 30 jobs for every Holiday and you booked New Year's five years in advance.....and......how the success of the party landed on your shoulders and you came through like a "champ" and felt important 24/7...from one gig to the next).

That was my OWN rant.

But, again....there is almost as much work out there still, if you want to pay the (current) price.

You can even "invent" work. There was a period when I was doing "singing telegrams" with my accordion and making a lucrative business out of it. Mmmmm...$50 a pop for 30 seconds of work! Now that I think about it, I just might go back to doing that again.

Mark