i definitely am only moving out there if i get a job there, i too am a strong advocate of "move where the work is". also, i love a challenge, and i already knew LA was a challenging market to break into, and one of better ones too, imho, so i feel like if i can
break in there first, i'll be able to
break in anywhere i want to be later on.
There is the catch22 right there. I run into this every time I am on a job hunt. Most shops don't want to hire someone for a labor job, even a skilled labor job, unless they are local. Unfortunately, 90% of jobs straight out of college are more labor then anything else.
In the music world degrees don't matter, the time you have put in and the people you know do. If you want to get into concert touring, you really do just have to bite the bullet, move, and hope you can get a shop gig. Its a gamble. Now, if you know someone who is working for a production
house in LA that can get you in, your going to be a lot better off.
Keep in mind also that pay in California for our
line of work is not much higher then in the rest of the country and your living expenses are double or sometimes triple what they are in other parts of the country. On one of my job searches I had an offer from a
theatre in California and an offer from a
Theatre in Atlanta. Pay was the exact same at both. However, my living expenses in Atlanta was HALF of what it would have been in California. In order to make ends meet in California I would have had to live in a hole in the
ground and hope that I could secure a refrigerator box for a roof. Either way, I ended up in Atlanta.
The cruise ship industry might be the thing for you if you enjoy living in small quarters, like hot weather, and want to do music gigs. Pays not great, but living expenses are $0.