When I performed with a full band (5 & 6 piece), I played a 12 string guitar, 6-string electric guitar and a mandolin. We worked one day a week at best, and we were considered pretty damned good by our competition, often outbooking them by a 2 to 1 margin.

When I switched to an arranger keyboard, it didn't take long to be working 7 days a week, sometimes 2 to 3 jobs a day, got paid a Hell of a lot more money than when I had to split everything with 5 other guys, worked shorter hours, mostly during the day, and was in high demand for corporate parties, political fund raisers, weddings (which I turned down - hated them,) and high end restaurant jobs. Yep, I guess I was looked down upon by the "so called" pros out there that were lucky to book one or two days a week. However, I was never on stage to prove anything to a pro musician that may, or may not be in the audience. There were only one group I was there to satisfy - MY AUDIENCES! If I could not satisfy my audiences, I would have quickly been out of a job.

The band members I performed with, one of whom was Peabody trained, all had other sources of income. They needed to make enough money to support their families, pay for a home, afford health and life insurance, and have some sort of retirement plan other than Social Security. As a pro musician, they didn't have those benefits, but damned, they sure sounded good.

We had a bluegrass fiddle player that could play better than Charlie Daniels, a lead guitar player that had a photographic memory and after hearing a song a single time, he could play it as good, or better, than the original, a drummer who could play Wipe Out without missing a beat, and myself, strumming my 12-string and singing. (The ladies loved my voice. ) Our sax player was inducted in the Musicians Hall of Fame when he was just 45 years old. Unfortunately, Jim died while performing at local marina while playing his sax to backing tracks. He had a massive heart attack and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Now, some of you may recall a You Tube video that had a 6-piece band playing on stage, then one by one, the musician put down his instrument and walked off stage, while the music continued to play. After the last band member walked off stage, a small curtain was opened revealing an arranger keyboard being played by an OMB entertainer. He sounded exactly the same as the live band and no one could tell the difference until he was revealed.

Now, did I sound better with my lowly arranger keyboards than I did when performing with a live band of pro musicians. Probably not! However, I was working every day of the week, and my old band members still felt fortunate to get one or two jobs a week at a local bar or nite club. Anyone that has been in this business for more than 4 decades will tell you that bars, restaurants, country clubs and nite clubs still pay the same as they did 50 years ago.

Now, there are exceptions. Captain Russ, who frequents this forum, makes a lot of money with music, however, not as an onstage performer. Russ, unlike most pro musicians took music to the next level, creating commercial videos for some of the top corporations in the world. And, those corporations pay top dollar for his product.

I also went another route for many years, doing voice overs for local automotive dealerships in and around Baltimore. It paid much better than any music job I ever had, but the work was very demanding and I wasn't having as much fun as I did while performing onstage with my arranger keyboard. Consequently, I pretty much gave into being an onstage entertainer and never looked back.

Now that I have retired, I mainly play the arranger keyboard and spend time trying to create new sounds and styles, which I give away to others so they can enjoy them as well. I always thought how it was hysterical, at least to me, to be looked down upon by the "so called" pros, who in reality, were not as successful as the guy sitting behind his arranger keyboard and working every day of the week. I think they may have been a bit jealous!

Gary