Jamie Moyer
N/S Stickist & Bassist
San Diego, Ca.

The Journey

Part V- The Vegas Years

I had tired of Nashville and being broke. Keep in mind that if 100 people applied for a banking job – 99 eminently qualified Northerners and 1 completely unqualified Southern boy – that the Southerner would get the job.That’s just the way it is!I was looking for a way to get back west and I found it in the person of a comedian who had a country hick act.Milo Tremley (aka James Reeves) used a guitar in his act to parody songs.I always rented cars to James when he would perform at a comedy club in South Nashville, and always made sure that he ended up with a Cadillac Seville.We struck up a friendship and he invited me to move to his home outside of Las Vegas where we intended to put together a band for his comedy act so that we could get work on the fair circuit.Since James was near his home and performing in a production show at the fabled Dunes Hotel & Casino (RIP), he did not need his suite at the hotel.What a stroke of luck, I spent the month of September 1991 in my own free suite in the heart of the Vegas Strip.I would wake up at 3 AM and head to all the lounges to hear music (remember when Las Vegas had lounges with bands?).

When the show ended, I moved to his home in Mount Charleston.It was at an elevation of 7,800 feet so it was much colder than I had hoped.Way back in Nashville, I asked him repeatedly if his wife was OK with the idea – he said yes each time.Let’s just say that she was not happy at all and wanted me to leave.No problem - I spent October on the mountain 50 miles from Vegas and realized very quickly that I would either get stuck on the mountain all winter, or die in an accident driving my empty van up and down the curvy, mountain roads.Since neither death nor isolation sounded like a good idea, I packed up my truck again (am I beginning to sound like a broken record yet?) and moved into Las Vegas.At least the economy was (and still is) booming, so I found a place to live and a banking job immediately.

Once again I starting searching for musical opportunities intent on finding a lounge gig so that I could focus on music full time … My first disappointment in Vegas was when I realized that more than half of the lounge acts did not have bass players.In the name of cost cutting, the first instrument to be cut was the electric bass.I would hear all these incredible sequenced songs and think, “at least it takes a tremendous amount of talent to identify and program all those musical parts.Then I found out that these so called keyboardists would buy the pre-programmed sequences, much like karaoke … What a rip off!

Next I realized that Old Vegas was gone and many of the lounges were being replaced by gaming space.The New Vegas was corporate all the way, which meant utilization of all space for the highest profit.Bands were overhead and the casino management did not want people in the lounges anyway.Of course it is the same with concerts and production shows.They are designed to last no more than 90 minutes so the audience can get back to the gaming floor.However, gamblers who had just lost all of their money lounges traditionally populated the lounge.

As I set out to find that elusive lounge act that could provide me with my first full-time musical position - ever.In the meantime, I found a job in banking that I hoped to quit, but I soon found that would not happen.Lounge acts are a business - period.Each act was “owned” by an individual or by a couple, usually husband and wife.Some owners - like business owners in any field - thought of employees as interchangeable pieces that they paid low wages, as low as $200 per week.These acts had tremendous turnover and sometimes they sounded great and sometimes not so great.Conversely, other owners realized that their reputations rested on finding and maintaining great musicians.These band owners paid very well - up to a $1,000 per week.Add that to the disappearing bass player mentality and these positions were very hard to come by.

My luck was limited to a few “B” acts that had to pay dues by performing in such gaming outpost hotspots like Mesquite, Pahrump and Ely, or if you were really lucky maybe Laughlin and State Line.I actually did these gigs - mostly country - while working full time and it was killing me!When I left the East Coast, I wanted to be a full-time touring musician that performed anywhere from 45 minutes to two hours a few times per week.Now I was strapping a 27-lb. Musicman Stingray over my shoulder for six hours per night, six days per week - all this torture for the privilege of performing crappy covers of traditional country songs that I did not know, or even like.My accounting degree was looking a like a whole lot better way of making a living than sporadic musical engagements that could be canceled with no notice - banking it was!

Getting back to my first week at The Dunes, I was fortunate to meet the son of Jerry Vale, a Vegas legend entertainer at that production show.I also met another son of a comedic legend that I worked with musically (a story for another day!).Robert Vale was hanging out backstage and we struck up a friendship that led to most of my fondest memories of Las Vegas.Robert introduced me to Michael Paskevich, one of two entertainment journalists for the major newspaper in town, the Las Vegas Review Journal.Michael became, and still is, one of my closet friends.He and the many exceptional people that I have met throughout my travels have made my musical journey worthwhile.It was Michael’s job to review Vegas entertainment of all kinds and to write articles about the various shows.Since Michael had already taken his wife to every show in town by the time that I arrived, he graciously asked me to almost a show per week for nearly four years.

I was blessed to see nearly every major and fringe act that performed in Vegas over that period, including production shows.Michael especially loved comedy and we would go to The Comedy Stop @ The Trop, The Riviera and Bally’s frequently to see all the greats (and the not so greats).Several of the comedic geniuses that we would hang with were personal friends of Michael - one of the most interesting days was dining with Dom Irrera, Diane Ford, Ron Shock and John Padon at the Sands gourmet room.To observe four skilled comics trying to one-up each other was fascinating.Although I was playing very little music, I was having the time of my life, going backstage after shows and meeting dozens of Vegas legends (many stories for another day!).

Musically, I was trying to form a band with a gifted singer/songwriter named Tim Wood.Tim was from Boulder, Colorado and was friends with some of the guys in the 70's band, Firefall.While working on his originals, we also attempted to form a cover band to work some of the rooms off the strip.A revolving door of musicians ground that idea to dust, but the originals were very good.We found a guy with a strong high voice to sing.I wish that I could remember his name, but notice that I said guy with a strong voice.He was actually a male stripper, originally from the SF Bay area, not a musician or vocalist.Tim called Sandy Ficca, one of his Firefall buddies, to drum and we booked studio time and recorded five songs.These recordings would be my first real sessions in years, and one of the few gems from my Vegas years, The highlight of my days in Vegas was my appearance in the Martin Scorsese film, Casino, starring Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci and Sharon Stone.

I actually declined offers to appear as an extra in Casino several times.Michael Paskevich and a few of his Review Journal buddies were to be in scenes as journalists.It turns out that Scorsese prefers to use real people in his films to lend an air of authenticity.Finally, Robert Vale asked me to appear in the movie as bassist in the Jerry Vale Orchestra.He wanted to appear as the pianist, but did not want to do it by himself.So I grabbed Tim Wood, who acted as the drummer.Due to filming delays, it was the only time in my life that I was paid to sleep.I now am thrilled that I appeared in the definitive Vegas film of all time - how cool.It was a strange, but fantastic night (a story for another day!).

I had timed my arrival in Vegas to coincide with the beginning of fall.I was concerned with my ability to survive the desert heat.I got there in September and enjoyed the winter and spring.The first summer was not horrible, but each successive year became harder to bear, and I knew that I did not like Vegas and would eventually leave.I suffered from non-stop sinus problems in that extreme dusty arid climate and wanted desperately to return to Southern California.By 1996, the California economic recovery was starting and my employer, PriMerit Bank was purchased by Norwest Bank (soon to become Wells Fargo).I was offered a position in Phoenix - the only major city in the US that was actually hotter than Las Vegas.No Thanks!Five years in Vegas was more than enough.I received a severance package and returned to San Diego.