Hi Gary,

Well, since Steve is doing a “tell-all“ confession, then I’ll do one too. I don’t think I ever mentioned a lot about myself here as I can be a very private person sometimes.

I’ve been playing almost five decades now as a full time professional musician. There were many periods where I’ve done almost 7 days a week and periodically 2-3 in a day. I’ve worked the whole tri-state area and every country in Western Europe.....as an arranger player, an accordionist, a pianist, a disc jockey, a Karaoke jockey, lectures in libraries.....heck, I was such a hustler I was even doing singing telegrams in my spare time for about a year for $50 a throw. I even played for 12 years in a huge shopping mall every Saturday for nothing for the exposure.

I guess you could say after all that time playing in all those areas of entertainment, I must have something going for me. I do! It’s called “talent” and more important I was blessed, like yourself, with a good understanding of how to market that talent. You and I both know you couldn’t sell $10 bills for $5 without marketing skills. And, like you, I was also “blessed” with an enthusiasm for music and a good work ethic that helped me to dedicate hours to practice and memorization of songs and lyrics and keyboard technique and still take the time “in-between” to hustle work.

Having said all that, the point I’m trying to make is.....the changes I’ve seen over five decades! It’s simply not about “talent” anymore.....it’s strictly marketing, youth, and budgets.....but mostly BUDGETS!

So who suffers? The audience does. And, audiences are comprised of people…..and people make up the world. I tend to be an idealist and an altruist. I never cared about the money.....I cared about giving as many people as I could great music and great entertainment and that would be my contribution to society.

Now, I’m not saying that the current crop of entertainers are all bad. There are a few good apples in the lot, but in the old days there weren’t just a few “good apples” in the lot.....there were just a few “BAD apples.”

Anyhow, to get back on track.....what I’m going to say is probably unique to me (hopefully not others).

I’m just plain tired of the never-ending marketing, trying to compete with young kids, weekend warrior musicians who lost their day jobs and are playing everything from harmonicas to kazoos for a ham salad sandwich and the chance to get out of the house, volunteers who play for nothing, high school jazz bands seeking experience, unscrupulous booking agents (one booked me as a “world-class” DJ into an African-American Xmas party!), obnoxious clients who try and chisel you down on your price, the lack of respect for professional musicians (and professional “anythings” these days!), the traffic trying to get to a job, the constant trying to keep up with technological advances (?) in music equipment, the never-ending paperwork required for each job, and I can go on and on but I’m depressing MYSELF now!

I remember the way it used to be. You had a gig, you put your accordion, your Ampeg amp, your rhythm machine and your tuxedo into the trunk and you drove effortlessly to the job (today you need a moving van). Did your 4 hours, 2-3 hours in overtime, collected a good paycheck and everyone was happy.

Sure, I could still make a great living by “adapting” to today’s requirements but all of the above takes the joy of making music out of the equation. There’s just not enough time or energy any more to do both.

To be fair, this is the way it is in MY neck of the woods. I’m hoping where the rest of you live, it’s not the “free-for-all” that it is here. Frank Sinatra sang.....”If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere!” He wasn’t far off the money with that phrase.

Yes, one can transform themselves into “Super-Entertainer” (and maybe even have their own reality TV show), but does the END justify the MEANS? Does the law of diminishing returns come into play here? It was so much easier when “talent” was the only thing you needed and mature adults ran the world!

Mark