Hugs are always good, Chas.

Gary

WOW! Gary is right. Let's forget this one. Excuse me for trying to bring a little bit of social consciousness to our part of the music business.

OF COURSE YOU CAN PLAY MEANINGFUL MUSIC THAT AFFECTS LIVES ON AN ARRANGER....harmonica....whatever!

Of all people here. I would have thought that Gary would be more aware of the social and strong media driven impact of entertainers and other celebrities. Roosevelt was the first president to recruit media people to influence/contribute to national P/R efforts enforcing the war effort. Now, the use of musicians and celebrities is at the core of many P/R efforts. Outside organizations and the celebrities themselves leverage
their appeal and recognition/believability factor to affect awareness and change. Celebrity endorsements are BIG.

What about the USO? What about people who work for/play in Philharmonic orchestras? What about the National Endowment for the Arts? Are these and similar efforts to educate the public about music just wasted efforts? I DON'T THINK SO! Even on a local level, recognition and popularity can be leveraged to do good. I donate the proceeds from one gig a week to my Nursing Home Reform group. I play and speak once a month at social clubs to promote nursing home reform. I have a guitar program for disadvantaged kids that introduces music to 40 kids a semester. Recently, I have been talking to the principles about involvement in the Les McCann School for the Arts. I am a feature in Philharmonic "tributes" designed to introduce/educate the public about certain aspects of music and or historic players who contributed to the art form and entertained the world. In EVERY CASE, I'm leveraging my "recognition factor".

Let's get back on track. "Man, I Killed EM at my nursing home gig last night."

NOT!


Russ

Excuse me for getting a little hot. This is a really important and very personal topic to me. I'll either use the bar for future rants or just not bother.

Russ, problem is most of us are not celebrities. We are paid to play dance or listening music. Our employers might appreciate our political statements, or they might be on the other side of the fence and NOT appreciate them.
A lot of us do perform at functions where "protest" songs are appropriate, such as certain charities, but don't publicize these things. When you go overseas to play for people who consider you so far beneath them that they don't speak to you, do you play "God Bless The USA"? Probably not, since you came back with all your body parts.
If someone holds a rally against Planned Parenthood and needs music, I'll be there! There are other causes that interest me, but they may not be the same causes of the people in a general audience, and those are the people that pay my bills!
If Donald Trump needs me I'm available, but he can afford to pay. I'll bet THAT goes over well with some of my Democrat friends!!
Chas, if you hired me for a house party, would you like me to play songs mocking our President? Point is, it's a very sticky situation, and I'll just play songs you already know the words to and that have a recognizable chord structure!
I don't think this topic is inappropriate. It's another facet related to what we do.
I love you all!

Ah, the well-reasoned mind of my good and wise friend Don.

Thanks for putting things in prospective, buddy.


Russ

Let's face it - this is SUPPOSED to be a General Arranger Keyboard forum, but it is really a 'chat room' used primarily - but certainly NOT EXCLUSIVELY - by arranger keyboard players ... we can discuss ANYTHING here as long as we do not take it to a personal level ...
Everybody has an opinion, and whether it is a good one or not depends on each person's point of view ...

If someone is being paid to perform 'danceable' music, then that is what they should do ... if someone is playing 'listening' or 'background' music, I have no problem with them performing "protest" songs ...

Also, I disagree with Gary saying that even in a restaurant setting ALL music should be danceable ... if I am playing for 'listening' I can be very flexible with what I play and how I play it - often changing tempo or styles, or using just a piano voice ... As long as the clientele and the owner/manager are happy, I'm happy ...

When we perform, the audience seems to enjoy Long Time Gone and For What It's Worth . Brings back a lot of protest memories, back in the days when protesting was in vogue.

Duane

Duane, I do certain songs that were protest songs "back in the day" but now are more like pleasant memories. I can get by doing these and certain others.
Where Have All The Flowers Gone...Blowin in the Wind. . .Fortunate Son. . .Changes Comin' On (Alabama). . .If I Had A Hammer. . .This Land is Your Land. . .
Funny thing, I don't do them because they are protest songs, I do them because they are good songs, and it does so happen I believe the messages they tell, or I wouldn't do them at all. I see people of all races and political beliefs singing along. They know the songs and they know the words, even though they may not be thinking about the meanings.
It's all good!
Thanks for introducing this Russ. But it's awfully early in the morning to be THINKING.

Guess I must have led a sheltered life - I never protested anything that I can recall. In fact, I was always pretty damned thankful for what I had. But, I'm pretty old and don't recall near as much as I used to, which is probably a good thing.

All the best,

Gary