Quote:

... but how do you go looking for a great girl singer and somehow think you may actually marry her?



Just dumb luck. After my divorce I played in a couple of different bands. The first one had severe personalty problems, so I moved on. The next one had a long term gig up here in Fort Pierce (I was from the Fort Lauderdale area). Leilani was in a going nowhere band and we started seeing each other. One day I showed up for work and another band was setting up. We had gotten fired (the lead singer thought he was too big of a star) and the band broke up. So Leilani and I started looking for other musicians while I took a temporary 'day job' until the new band started working. That was 34 years ago.

We were in this 5 piece band together, and lost the bass player (read: out of work while we break in a new musician). Then we lost the drummer (read: out of work again). After breaking the new drummer in, we went to our first gig and she then told us her religion wouldn't let her play in a bar. The next day I bought my first keyboard with a sequencer in it, then the Atari, then the Mac, and then the PC. We never looked back.

Leilani is a fantastic singer (I'm an OK singer), and she is a decent synth and rhythm guitar player. Plus she is intelligent, has good stage presence, great work ethics, and like myself, thinks that playing music should be fun. I play a very good sax, flute, and wind synthesizer and am adequate at lead guitar and keyboards (I also do bass and drums, that helps with the backing tracks that I create.

She is my best friend, my lover, my band-mate, and is fun to make music with. 24/7 together isn't enough.

Like I said, I got lucky.

Quote:

... Working with your wife is the key. Double the money means you both have a chance at a good career and the fact that you two have managed to work it out all these years is a testament to both of you. I'm sure there have been problems but you're both still together and that is just great.

Bob



The only problem is that when work is slack, we are both out of work. But fortunately that doesn't happen too often and like everybody else in the seasonal business in Florida, we adapt to that.

Quote:

Two things come into play here. First of all, define "living". You can "live" in your van on nothing, no utilities in your name, pay as you go cell phone, online access at the library only, sponging off a girlfriend or living with your parents forever, looking for people who will invite you to dinner once a week so you can have something other than cold food you make in your van.... or you can "live" in a home you own, drive a nice car, keep your gas and electric turned on.... just be responsible in general.

Second, does your area have enough places to play to keep you busy 22 dates per month?



We live in a house 300' from the actual coastline of Florida (there is a lagoon and a barrier island to the east of that). It's small but there are only two of us, and we don't have a lot of luxury items. But we do have everything we need. The bills get paid. I could make a lot more money if I had followed the Electronics Engineering career I was trained for, but I had an Engineering job for a couple of years (while playing on the weekend) and I guarantee it wasn't worth the money for me. So we live modestly but not in poverty nor in luxury. Other than the mortgage, I'm not in debt.

When doing one-nighters in Florida, we don't need 22 dates per month. Two one-nighters a week pays about what 6 nights in a Holiday Inn pays (but the Holiday Inn no longer has a band). And since we are both doing it, the money goes to the same family.

What do we call a living? To me it's a small home on a half acre lot with the Indian River and huge mansions on one side of me and a nature preserve on the other. ... It's enjoying what I do, waking up with a smile and going to bed with one. ... One doesn't need a Porsche, a Dodge will do nicely. ... One doesn't need an iPhone, an Android will do just fine. ... One doesn't need jewelry, saxophones, synthesizers, and guitars are more fun. ... One doesn't need a membership in a yacht club, I had a sailboat once, music is a lot more fun. ... One doesn't need a huge HDTV, I pulled the plug in the 1980s because TV was boring - bigger screen doesn't mean better content - instead I learned guitar, wind synth, HTML for both my websites, and how to run a mail-order business that turned into an on-line business - much better than watching TV to me.

So what am I missing? I can't think of a thing that's worth giving up my bliss and taking a 9 to 5 for. I'm happy, I spend the day happy, and on gig days instead of saying "I have to go to work today" I say, "I get to go to work today.

What could be better?

Notes

Bob "Notes" Norton smile Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com

100% MIDI Super-Styles recorded by live, pro, studio musicians for a live groove
& Fake Disks for MIDI and/or RealTracks