I've decided I want to start looking into moving after the Holidays. I've been thinking about it for a couple of years now.

Musically, the area where I am now is, at best, difficult, and, at worst, hopeless.
Hard to play under these circumstance. It dampens both your creativity and your enthusiasm.

Do any of you have any suggestions on where YOU live now or where you would like to live that I can consider? I'm all out of ideas other than North Carolina. But it doesn't have to be in the States. I wouldn't mind a foreign country even.

My only criteria is that it needs to be conducive to work (playing music) and where folks are much easier to get along with than what I have now.

I'm in the New York City area if you haven't figured it out already.

Lucky

Under a stone!

The Sarasota, FL area has just been voted #1 for retirees and Punta Gorda-Port Charlotte area(where I live) is #9.

SW Florida is cheaper and is full of friendly seniors looking for entertainment.

Bernie

Alot depends on what your target audience is. Who do you want to play to, what type of music?

I agree. Much of this depends upon the type of music you perform, whether or not you sing, and the audience you hope to target.

No matter where you move, you'll need some up front money to live on until you build the number of clients and get the paychecks rolling in. If you are already established in your current location nut not making enough to make ends meet, you may want to try expanding your current client list by doing some aggressive marketing.

Making a full time living in music is not a cushy way of life, though some folks would like to portray it as such. It requires more work than anyone can imagine in order to be successful. There are thousands of musicians in the NYC area, and it's likely that less than 1-percent actually make a decent living from music alone. Keep in mind that if you averaged $100 a day net profit from playing clubs and played every day of the week, this amounts to just $36,500 a year. I don't think you could live in that amount in NYC, or for that matter, any other major U.S. city.

One of the reasons I switched to the Nursing Home circuit is if you are set up properly, with a system that can be easily transported and quickly set up, you can perform at as many as three locations a day. And, in some locations there are enough of these facilities to make this possible. Under these circumstances, you can make good living, support your family and be home for dinner every night.

Good luck in your search,

Gary

always feeling positive and upbeat, I see...

Lucky,

My wife and I were considering moving to Ocala, Fla and almost purchased a home there in October should be plenty of opportunity to play to seniors there. It's a long story why we didn't buy this year but let's say we've postponed the decision for 18 to 24 months since we have to complete work here in the North East and have a family situation which hindered the decision.

I'm familiar with housing costs in metro NYC and North Jersey! If you head south you'll be just blown away by what $100k gets you, in fact at $80k there's some very nice homes for sale as well. I'm talking gated 55 plus communities with swimming pools, golf courses, tennis and state of the art work out centers.

Don't come to where I am in North Louisiana. You don't get to experience a lot of snow or ice. You have to mow grass 9 months out of the year. Too much spicy Cajun food (and women). Everybody takes their time doing things--you can't get anybody to HURRY. Government isn't nearly as corrupt as it used to be; it's hard to get by with much.
I have to walk 50 yards to play golf, and more than a half mile to launch my boat.
If you're going to be away from home for more than a week, it's a good idea to lock your front door.
There are no subways or elevated trains. The traffic jam is from 5:00 to 5:15. All the cops know my name, so I can't break any serious laws without embarrassing them.
We have the smallest Bowl Game in the history of football. You have to have at least a break-even season and guarantee 38 fans to qualify. Air Force is coming this year. I think it's because they can land free at the AFB.
It's hard to drive anywhere on Sunday morning, because of all the traffic from people going to and from church.
We had a terrorist threat last week, but it turned out it was just a Mormon with a backpack full of literature.
Women still dress like they did in the 70's--long hair, tight jeans and no underwear. No wait, that's a GOOD thing.
Anyway, I have all the good music jobs tied up, so go somewhere else.
DonM

Don
That's a hoot

WOW, sounds like Paradice to me

Cheers
GJ


[This message has been edited by Gunnar Jonny (edited 12-17-2010).]

I forgot to mention, cost of living is very low. Here is our home. http://comps.fotosearch.com/bigcomps/CLT/CLT002/b3820.jpg
DonM

Still looks like Paradise to me, even the car looks newer and in better shape.

Don,

Looks like you added a neat addition since I was there. Is that a one-holer or a two-holer?

Gary

HAHAHA, that is THE best post in the history of SZ. Bar none, I don't give a damn who you are. 'Cept I kinda have a bias. Damn, that's good stuff! I might be only one who appreciates it but you done good!

Back to my moonshine.

Heck Bill, I live in a Metropolis compared to you! You do have a new truck stop now though.
There are more people that work in Bill's truck stop than there are residents in his town. They have ONE policeman and he drives a 1971 2-door Ford Fairlane with a hand-painted star on the side. He never takes fat people to jail because they won't fit in the back seat. That and they don't have a jail.
Bill has written a song about every person in town, and every person who has ever lived in the town. When he finally writes enough of them, he will put them all on a CD.
When you drive into town there is a sign that says "You are entering P**** D*******. " If you look in the rear view mirror it says "You are LEAVING P**** D******."
I'm not disguising the name of the town, that's actually the way they write it. The guy who paints the signs learned his ABC's but not how to put them together. He quit school before they got to ciphering.
They do have eleven beer joints though. It's a good thing or Bill would have to move to the city.
Talk about competition for music jobs . . . remember the banjo player from Deliverance?
This is where his dentist lives.
Lord, forgive me, it's the first night I've had off in weeks. My wife went to sleep at 6:30. I'm staying in the office so I don't wake her. I've heard every song on Youtube, and I'm starting to go through the first thousand or so of Gary Diamond's gig disks. I've bought so many Woot deals they are paying me to LET them ship.
I think I'll listen to "that" version of Oh Holy Night one more time.
DonM

Hahahaha, I am really warped as I am yakking to a beautiful blonde while writing to you guys on this forum. Now, that is sick. But she is making me many promises come tomorrow.

Lucky2behere, that is a great name but you don't want to live here. There are too many good lookin' no-teeth wimmens. There's a name for that but I forget what it is. Anyway, you don't wanna move here because you will get no rest. DonM cannot handle it, I can.

Semi, tell your sister to get off the phone and leave you alone!
DonM

Bernie......good suggestion. I've thought often about moving to Florida because of the "work" there. And probably a whole lot more satisfying than what I'm doing now. With the house prices down there right now, I could buy a couple of them and still have enough left over for an Audya. But....the heat!...I don't think I could take that heat and the strong sun and everything that goes with it (including being in constant air conditioning). It's still on my list of possibilities though.

Did you say you live in Charlotte? I've been researching it for 2 years now. Spent a week exploring Atlanta and another week in Raleigh. Didn't like either for living there, but I have my hopes up for Charlotte with all I've been reading about it. And the people I've met, so far, from North Carolina are super-friendly. My plans are to spend a week there in January to see what the housing market looks like and what type of (music) work is available.

Lucky

Semi....sorry...I should have said something about that. I didn't because I can adapt to most music situations.

Target audience I don't have other than to play good music for people who can appreciate it. I do a multitude of things so I can usually fit in anywhere. I sing, play piano, organ, synth, arranger, accordion. I also become a disc jockey and karaoke jockey about 15 years ago, so I can fall back on that to. I also do one-man-shows/presentations. I'm not looking to make a lot of money any more...just enough to cover the bills. Hence, I'm looking for an area that has some social life and social people. NYC area doesn't even qualify for that.

Lucky

Gary....thanks for your input also. I know what you mean about "upfront money" until "the checks start rolling in." I'm figuring on that already. Luckily my bank account is healthy enough so far for me to roll with the punches that I'm expecting with a move.

I too, have found solace in the nursing home circuit. Not a lot of pay, but if you do enough of them it all adds up. But the biggest payoff is the job satisfaction.

I've done nothing but play music for a living all my life, so I consider myself not only Lucky2Bhere but also lucky to have done that.

Yes, I could easily find enough work here to keep things going but the living is really tough. I've lost a lot of my sensitivity playing music to insensitive people. In the end it's all about interaction with people both musically and socially.

Lucky

Don.....I'm a little confused here. Is this where you live full-time, or is this just your country home? Your garage? The outhouse?

If this is where you live, didn't you say you play an Audya? I'm wondering where you fit it in your house 'cause I think the Audya is about 5 feet wide and your house appears to be no wider than 3 feet.

It's a very pretty house though, but why don't you spruce it up a bit by maybe planting flowers all around it, and maybe some Andersen windows, possibly a Coke machine on a neatly manicured front lawn.

Definitely the ladder has to go though. It depreciates the value of the rest of the houses on that lot.

Lucky,
I apologize for stealing your thread. On a serious note, the music job market here is pretty bad. There are LOTS of great musicians and not many jobs.
As a result you can hire them pretty cheap. Jam nights are very popular here where the pickers don't even get paid.
There are five Casinos, but they book mostly bigger name acts and road acts. Not too much for locals, and the competition is stiff. The casino audiences are a high percentage of old retired people from Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana. They like Country, and vintage rock & roll. The entertainment directors for the most part are ignorant as to what music to bring in. The EDs are fairly young and usually come here from out West or back East. They tend to hire the type of music THEY like and that might be more popular in other parts of the Country. And, they don't seem to be able to hang onto their jobs. About the time you get your foot in the door, there is a new young face to try to please. The casinos do pay well though.
Even the nursing homes here rarely pay for entertainment, mainly because so many well-meaning musicians go do them for nothing. And unlike in some places, some of the guys who do it are decent entertainers.
I have been truly fortunate to scratch out a living here and it's mostly because I take care of business by pleasing the customers, not drinking on the job and going the extra mile. Believe it or not MOST musicians won't do that.
I hope you find a place where you can be happy and make people happy with your music.
If you want to come look around, you have a place to stay!
DonM

Hey Steve…..always glad to get your input on things. I keep thinking I’ll run into you again at Frank’s place, but that’s going to be pretty hard to do as I haven’t been up there since the Ketron demo.

I just looked at Ocala on the map, after I read your message. I wouldn’t mind relocating there as a few of my friends have already done so and I haven‘t seen them in years. None of them are interested in returning. They love it.

Then there are the seniors to play to…..an endless audience of grateful music lovers.

I know what you mean about housing prices in both Florida AND NC….Florida being the best value right now. My buddy said a gorgeous house across the street from him has been on the market for a year now and has been reduced to $30k. At that price you can buy one to live in and one to store your musical instruments.

But I never was a “sun-type” person. I’d live in the South Pole if I knew they sold Ketrons there. That’s one of the reasons I ruled out California and the rest of the Southern states. The heat and humidity is not good for me OR the equipment.

It looks like you’ve done your own research and you’re planning a move also. You mentioned: “gated 55 plus communities with swimming pools, golf courses, tennis and state of the art work out centers.” I could easily buy into that. Maybe if I think about it long enough, having to put sun tan lotion on every day is not so bad.

Sorry you can’t make any moves now, but the plus side of that is (having watched the real estate market for a while now) house prices look like they will continue to fall for another 1-2 years, particularly in Florida (but not so much in the Carolina‘s). They’ve nowhere hit rock bottom yet in the Sunshine state.

Lucky

Don…..you’ve always been OK in my book, even though you DO “steal my threads” once in a while (you stole one on me back in 1997 I think it was!!). You have the distinction now of being the only person on the SynthZone to hijack a thread and apologize for it the next day. I nominate you for the Congressional Medal of Honor and the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval.

Thanks for this taste of reality. Until I read what you wrote here, I assumed (from all your posts) that you lived in a rose garden where people went out every night to wherever there was good music. And there were more of those people than there were musicians. Around here it’s the opposite...more musicians than listeners.

Interesting that conditions are the same there. I’ve only recently realized why getting new accounts, and even communicating with AD’s is getting harder. One of the girls I know real well told me she’s getting scores of phone calls every day now from entertainers looking for work. To the point she’s told the front desk to stop putting calls through to her. Many are willing to play for nothing since they lost they’re jobs and need something to do during the day. And those who want payment are settling for a ham sandwich or a bag of potato chips. Hard to compete with that.

You wrote: “The EDs are fairly young and usually come here from out West or back East. They tend to hire the type of music THEY like and that might be more popular in other parts of the Country. And, they don't seem to be able to hang onto their jobs. About the time you get your foot in the door, there is a new young face to try to please.”

That is really frustrating for me too. That’s exactly what’s going on with the AD’s in this area. I’ve never seen so many flakes being employed in the industry lately with what’s out there right now drifting around. I lost an 11 year account a few weeks ago because one of the roving airheads moved into the AD position. This is getting to be like the General Motors Proving Grounds.

I did think about your area a while back, because I assumed the music business was thriving there, and in New Orleans. And that they listened to a lot of Country and a lot of blues. I like C&W a lot (and I like the way you play it on your Ketron), but, again, I think I’d evaporate working in that kind of heat.

You said you: “take care of business by pleasing the customers, not drinking on the job and going the extra mile.” Somehow I guessed that about you already from your past postings. I do that myself here…..go the extra mile. It’s not enough being good at what you do……you have to give “personal service” above and beyond the call of duty. That’s what’s kept me working too.

I’ve been branching out into doing shows at the libraries. Between that and the nursing homes, and piano jobs, I’m paying the bills. I figure wherever I move to, I could always count on those venues to some degree. Of course, I’ve been known to be wrong in the past.

Thanks for the invite to check out where you live and stay at your place. I know you mean that. But...I hope I don’t hurt your feelings. You have a beautiful house, but I don’t think I’d be able to sleep with my feet sticking out the window. And if Donny comes down at the same time, I'd have to sleep in your attached garage.

Keep on truckin’

Lucky

From the comments so far, I'm getting a good handle somewhat on what it's like for some of you other members...working conditions...areas you live in....intentions of moving also.

I'm in kind of a cocoon here. Everyone around me (including friends) is very static and complacent and not really well-traveled like most musicians are.

I've been thinking about where to move to for quite a while now and, I have to admit, I'm all out of ideas. Any further comments would be greatly appreciated. Maybe something one of you says will resonate with me.

I'm very much interested in hearing from some of you members overseas also. I would easily consider moving to another country, particularly Great Britain or any of the Western Europe nations where I know for a fact that music is much more appreciated and respected.

If any of you are in the Charlotte area, that's my goal for right now. I'm going the first week in January. With a bit of luck it will end there. If not, it will be back to the drawing board.

Lucky

If you don't like heat, don't move to the deep south. It is much hotter in places away from the coast, such as were I live in North Louisiana, as opposed to being on the coast. Florida is much more tolerable than here. I have been saying for years that I must leave here in the summer and it continues to worsen... getting hotter each year. Global warming sure seems real here! High humidity and temps over 100 degrees is not fun. I hate it and I've been here all my life.

You might consider areas in the mountains of Tennessee or North Carolina. That is an area that appeals to me. Cooler and plenty of people in reasonable driving distance.

I've been playing a long time, in a lot of places. I've been from Alaska to California...Maine to New Orleans and lots of places between...even worked in England, Turkey, Dubai and lots of other places overseas (Air Force Brat).

Thing is, every place had it's good and bad points. Different weather, kinds of gigs...different music. And all those things change over time.

My long-time mentor, Tommy Johnston told me, "look, play for $5,000.00 a night every night you're alive. If you can't do that, play for $1,000.00....$500.00....the point is PLAY!"

I've enjoyed every place I've ever worked (some, obviously better than others) and intend to "gig" wherever I can, until I physically can't or I'm not able to meet my pretty rigid playing standards.

ENJOY WHATEVER and WHEREVER you PLAY, everyone!

Best personal regards to all this holiday season,


Russ

One of the things I try to do every few years is to take a month off from work (I play music full time.), and drive around the nation to meet up with fellow musician/OMB entertainers. In doing this I've learned a lot, and I've met some wonderful people. If you can swing it, I would suggest doing the same. Visiting your fellow zoners, watching them wow their audiences, taking notes on how they sound, their gear setups, and taking a serious look at musical employment opportunities in each location you visit. There has always been hotspots for music jobs. Among them, at least in my findings, are the mid-Atlantic region (MD, DE, VA, NJ), the mid west (KY, OH, IN, IL) and the New England area (CT, RI, MA, ME).

Most of the places I checked out in the south, FL, TX, LA, MS, GA, SC, NC, paid little or nothing for the nursing home performers. The retirement communities were not much higher in pay scale, both averaging $50 to $75 for a 1-hour performance, or about half what you can get in the better locations. There were a fair number of retirement communities, some of them very upscale, gated communities where they had full-time ADs working. Most had weekly happy hours, some had their own pub/nite-club, while others had large banquet halls for their larger, monthly parties. It would take a bit of legwork to get established in these areas, but in the end I sincerely believe you could make a decent living.

Nite-clubs, upscale restaurants, American Legions, VFWs, animal clubs--they all paid about the same, regardless of the area. Average was $150 to $250 for a four-hour performance. And, if you had a bad night because of nasty weather, the management would pretty much blame the entertainer. Yep, it's your fault if a blizzard hits and no one shows up to get plastered at the local bar. Go figure!

Good Luck in your quest,

Gary