Oh Lord, how true that is! I speak from recent experience!
DonM

OK Don... what happened? ...

Many of us have been there and done that! Some, like DonM, got the Tee Shirt, too.

Cheers,

Gary

Well it's a long story but has to do with force-feeding jazz and blues to a room full of Texas cowboys.
Yes, Gary, I spent a number of years at a piano bar (organ bar in my case). I think it may be an idea past its prime, particularly if you try to limit the music to the traditional piano bar fare.
There used to be a half-dozen or more in this area. Now there is one, and it is mostly background stuff with an occasional singer-a-longer.
Karaoke has replaced many piano bars and many bands.
DonM

their loss, no doubt... When you got a good thing going hold on to it...

Over the years I performed in a dozen or more similar locations, the owners all eventually went belly up, new owners came in, brought in new performers, mainly DJ/KJ guys, and the cycle continues. I still do an occasional restaurant/nite-club job, but only as a fill in for friends that find themselves a private party that pays three to five times as much as their nite-club job. I found the NH circuit a lot more rewarding, at least in my area, the payscale is considerably better, and the job security tends to be a lot more stable.

Gary

I had the best music job in the area for many years, and I miss it, but not as much as I thought I would. I really don't HAVE to have it at this point, and I'm sort of enjoying the "civilian" life.
I'm doing some nice private parties and may do a few nursing homes because I enjoy doing them. Returning to the supper club is an option, but not one I care to take at this time, given the current circumstances. Plus my wife doesn't WANT me to go back! I'm told their business has declined dramatically, and in fact it had even before I left. I hope they make a good comeback as the owner is a long-time friend.
I'm even thinking about opening a business with my youngest son, but that's far from certain. I may have enough energy left to get it off to a good start for him, but there is a lot of groundwork to be done before it could happen. However, if it SHOULD work out, I will have another sit-down music job, and to make this relevant to the thread, we may have an Arranger Keyboard Bar in it!
My late friend HankB had one for a while and it was pretty successful. I played there quite a lot to help him get it started. In fact Tom C. came down and sat in there. It was a lot of fun. We took the insides out of an old grand piano and built a shelf for the keyboard where the keys used to be. Mixer and cables all were hidden under the top and a PSR2000 stayed on the shelf. I would just take Hank's disk out and put mine in when I played. That keyboard went through hell because Hank enjoyed an occasional adult beverage and shared several of them with the Yamaha. We would just dry it out and fire it back up. It had to be the most abused keyboard in history, but it is still working today. In fact, I think Bill P. has it in the closet somewhere.
Sorry for the rambling; too much time on my hands!
DonM

Great post Don. I am sure Hank is looking down and chuckling with the rest of us after reading that.

I miss my buddy Hank RIP,...
We ALWAYS had GREAT TIMES GOOD FRIEND..

When my phone doesn't ring every morning at exactly 10:00, I know it's Hank.
DonM