Mark
Great post and so true. When practicing piano for all those hours years ago I would never believe I could make more money playing records ( then cassetts, then CD's and now Ipads) on jobs. Just did a Wedding, One hour piano for the cocktail hour and three hours DJ . I'll liked,the piano part LOL !
A constant in the market is solo piano gigs but everything else has evolved maybe not for the better as Mark noticed with the Kareoke show in the park he attended.
If we're able to match our skills to appropriate jobs we're lucky and can still enjoy our chosen profession. Ii too enjoy the piano again and use the Arranger whenever I can. Making people happy makes me happy and so it goes.