Well, I'm 65. But I'm not doing this stuff full time. It's a hobby business for my wife and I. Kudos to those of you making decent $$$ playing..I have friends that make pretty good money around here.

My first thought when reading this thread is that this is all about entertainment. The folks that I know that get the jobs are good entertainers...despite whatever music they use.

I book for a local entertainment place called the Dalton Opera house. The big names(for us anyway)we brought in throughout 2014 all used some sort of Karoke system. Most of our audience are grey hairs and they could care less about the fact that it's karoke. But what these folks could do was entertain...and they did it well.

My wife even commented about us going to a karoke style and maybe someday we will do that and use the Tyros to make tracks.

I'm not crazy about a Karoke system for what we do. Here's why:

(1) We still have to bring in a PA, mikes etc.

(2) With Karoke you need a laptop and hopefully some words co-ordinated with the music...in case you get lost and that happens. With Karoke, the music doesn't care if you don't know where you are.

(3) Karoke can't be spontaneous. When we go to assisted living places and play music halls, some times, if the crowd is small enough, my wife or I will go out, get a partner, and dance...then a number of folks get up and dance. Try doing that with a Karoke program.

I do admire those folks that try to make a living doing this. It ain't easy. I've got a second cousin in a town about 40 miles away who plays 4 - 5 times a week...hauling equipment etc. He works hard but he also makes some pretty good $$$. He uses a three piece, guitars, bass, and drum machine.