Sorry about your friend. He should have put some away. There are no expenses on the ship, they feed you and house you, but it's easy to blow all your money in port - I've seen crew members drink their paycheck away, spend it on hookers, blow it on drugs, and worst of all get to the in-port gambling businesses and turn over their paychecks to the house. Not that your friend necessarily did any of this.

My house is paid for, I'm still gigging as much or more than many of the people much younger than myself. I don't intend to retire - this is too much fun.

Gigging is a business and must be treated like one. You have to dress appropriately, learn the right songs, have good presentation, work the audience, promote yourself, and go the extra mile to be better than your competition.

Knowing what I know about cruise ships, the people in the office do not know how good of an entertainer you are. They go by a few things, passenger comment cards and if you are playing in a lounge, the bar receipts in the lounge in which you are playing (the thinking is that the people will spend their money where they are enjoying themselves - full cash register means a full room).

We got on our first ship, surveyed the entertainment in the other lounges, decided what the ship didn't have that there was a demand for, worked the crowd so they discovered our lounge at the beginning of the cruise, and ended up doing so well that Carnival gave us a double sized cabin with a porthole (in cruise ship land, that's the ultimate raise in pay).

If you are doing a great job, and if you are following the rules on the ship, they aren't going to let you go.

And how old is too old? A friend of mine gigged from the time he was 14 until he dropped dead on stage in his upper 80s. Great pianist, good singer, and you could learn a lot about working the audience by sitting in his bar a few nights.

Being in a band or having a single act is like a small business. Many small businesses fail, many just keep going in a steady state, and a very few make it to the big time. One family pizza restaurant can't make a couple of years without going belly-up, but there is one in town that has been packed for well over 35 years now. Great product, good prices, excellent service.

Just because many musical businesses fail, doesn't mean others cannot do it.

I do admit, that it is more difficult to make a living gigging than it was when I was young. I blame it on TV. When I was in my prime, TV had 3 channels, went off at midnight (playing the national anthem), had a grainy picture, tinny sound, and it was free. You had go go somewhere to hear decent music.

Now we have hundreds of 24/7 channels, giant HD screens, 7.1 surround sound, and a cable subscription that could easily run over 300 bucks a month (there goes the entertainment budget).

People just don't go out as much as they used to. And when they do there are sports bars, DJs, and people who don't play instruments gigging by singing to karaoke tracks. There is more competition out there, which means you have to be a lot better than your competition to keep working.

I know a lot of people still making their living by gigging, so it can be done. But like any small business, you have to have the right product at the right price in the right location to do it.

I hate to see people telling everyone that you cannot make a living by doing music and nothing but music, but I do admit, owning your own musical performance business is not for everyone. It's not easy, but then neither is running any business, but it can be done.

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Bob "Notes" Norton smile Norton Music
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