So Tony.... how is your collection of Chinese styles and sounds coming along?

Fortunately, I guess a pentatonic scale cuts down on how harmonically complex your chords need to be, which works well for the arranger idea..!

But thank God that outsourcing is one of the last things to happen to musicians! Mind you, outsource most of our audience's jobs, and gigging gets a bit harder.

As I said... GDP is probably the WORST indicator of quality of life. In fact, it often seems to be a reverse indicator.

And Nigel... increased gambling is not a sign of a healthy economy. It is a sign of desperation. While a FEW reap the benefits from that industry, the numbers pale compared to what is being lost elsewhere. Note that these newer casinos are not being built in the middle of the wealthiest areas of our country, but amongst the poorest. Shreveport? Really??!!

I've played a few of the casinos up the Mississippi, and until you get to Tunica, most of them aren't filled by high rollers, but by desperate pensioners and field workers gambling their rent money on the chance of a jackpot. They were some of the most depressing gigs I ever played!

Two new casinos just built in Atlantic city both packed!

The economy is pretty good here in North Louisiana. New homes going up everywhere, unemployment not nearly as high as most places.
A lot of it has to do with the oil shale boom of a few years ago I guess. I don't see many poor people in the casinos; most are rich, retired Texans.
Also, cost of living is very reasonable here. The weather is good pretty much year round. In our neighborhood, we don't even have to lock our doors at night. You could not pay me enough to live in a big, congested city.

Happy to be a medium-sized frog in a fairly small puddle.
DonM

DonM can you lend me a few thousand? I want to get a HOT DOG CART to catch up on the rent.

If I weren't so damned old I'd come down and lay some brick on all the houses going up. Probably Shreveport is doing all stucco now like the rest of the world eh?

If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all! Don does that sound like a Country tune.

Man with all the chords I know I should have written a tune. I probably might have made a hundred dollars.

Don's made hundreds of dollars playing music. I know cause he told me so.

Oh yeah I know that. I didn't indicate it was. It is the failing economy there that what would have prompted this job for sure. But I was out of work for 5 months last year so I take the work that is offered to me. There is no way I am turning down work to become unemployed again. I am happy to do it and be one of the FEW that benefit.

Not doing it would be like turning down work in bars or venues that serve alcohol because some of our patrons are alcoholics. That wouldn't make sense. People make their own choices. None of us would let that influence our choice of gigs we accept to play. Sad as it is that is life.

Yeah, Nigel... Sadly, our professional success is often at the cost of others. But what isn't, in a dog eat dog world?!

But having seen what an influx of casinos have done down here on the Gulf Coast, I tend to view them as a double edged sword. Initially, things seemed to be on the up and up. But what used to be a thriving club music scene tends to disappear, as smaller, older clubs can't compete with the casinos, and their free drinks and shiny lights and ringing bells, but the casinos pick up a lot of the slack.

The problem comes down the pike later... as the casinos, having destroyed most of the competition, go on a cost cutting rampage, and slash entertainment budgets to the bone. So what would initially seem like a good thing for a music scene turns into a nightmare, and the overall number of decently paid working musicians dwindles. I've seen it happen in Biloxi and Gulfport. I hope the same trend doesn't happen in Shreveport, for Don's sake.

I have some musician friends that regularly go to Vegas (not me, not my thing), and they report that over the last decade, it has become almost impossible to go out and find a decent band to listen to. Sure, there are the mega-big star name shows, but Vegas used to be a hotbed of great bands. Now apparently, mostly gone.

I did my share of Casino playing, over a year solid working in Tunica (second only to Vegas in size of casinos, I heard), but I never felt I could trust my future to them, and decided to return to the Gulf Coast.

But sure... you gotta go where the work is!

Interestingly, when the economy takes a downturn, it seems as if more people call me for private and corporate parties. Maryland is just getting into the casino thing, still only have a few in the entire state, but the state gets the lion's share of the profits here - not the casino owners.

Cheers,

Gary