I repeat....playing music is a real challenge these days.....and....an open invitation to personal abuse.

This thread is sooooooo good!

M

Mark
Funny thing is few people here are from here. Its all NY, NJ, PA, and Ohio. Its just contagious when people always say Sir and generally take their time. Driving on the main roads not so much but in the stores and other places its a diiferent feel. If you sit next to someone in a bar or restaurant you Will have a conversation with them , everyones very friendly. And none of that Yankee BS. Everyones accepted and I can even wear my NY Giants shirts all over.

I repeat....playing music is a real challenge these days.....and....an open invitation to personal abuse.

This thread is sooooooo good!

M


Or "You know the one <( Humms some unintelligible melody ) by that guy who used to sing on television ""
So you say Ok and play whatever you were planning to anyway

You guys must really have some problems. Sure, I've had people come up to me and ask if I had such and such of a song in there, to which I tell them NO! I tell them "All the songs are in my head, and I only perform the songs the voices in my head tell me to do." Sometimes that results in a strange look as they sulk away from whence they came. Most of the time, it brings a big smile, especially when I just hit a button and begin playing and singing the song before they walk away.

I think the funniest thing that every happened was when I was doing a huge job for the Susquehanna Shriner's convention, probably about 300 ppl in the audience, most of which were even older than myself. A lady came up to me, on the stage, and while I was playing and singing a song, she began asking me questions, which was driving me nuts. I ended the song early, never muted the mic and said "Maam, I find it very difficult to sing, play and talk at the same time. She said "Oh my God, then that was you singing, and playing, too?" I nodded my head and went right into the next song. She walked off the stage, trotted over to her table, and shook her finger at her husband and said very loudly, "Damned Fred, he was really singing and playing - it's not a recording!" He smiled, got up and headed for the men's room.

For me, the only challenges have come from Dom Mason, who frequently hits me with a neat song I've never heard and has me learn and post it. Usually, it takes me a day or two to accomplish this, but I usually manage to get it done.

Unlike DNJ, who says we must all succumb to the younger audience demands, I just keep on doing what I have been doing for more than three decades - entertaining my audiences. I'm not a Boo or Chas kinda musician, can't read a note, at least not well enough to play from the dots, and I don't utilize dozens of passing chords in ever song. Just a meat and potatoes kinda entertainer. I look at the audience in front of me, figure out what they want to hear, and go to work. I usually get lots of compliments at the end of the job, a fair dollar amount in tips and get invited back on a regular basis.

I guess I could do a DJ job or KJ job if I had to, but in reality, I really never had anyone ask me to do them. While I was in the Florida Keys I played for lots of younger audiences, they seemed to really enjoy what I did, but I can tell you that Spring Breakers do not tip worth a damned. And for the most part, the younger audiences didn't tip well either. The older audiences loved to dance, sang along with me, and they were the ones that tipped the best. I also discovered that locals rarely tip, but the older, out of town visitors were dropping 10s and 20s in the tip jug ever night.

I've never had anyone personally abuse me on stage, no one has thrown rotten tomatoes at me, some panties and bras, maybe (I wish), and by and large, every audience I've ever entertained has been wonderful. Maybe it's because I'm south of the Mason/Dixon Line and life is a little slower down here - Don't know for sure, though.

All the best,

Gary

Gary
I told you before, you gotta write a book. Love musicians war stories.

BTW i think you'd make a gread K DJ. Anything is better than this guy I saw the other night. Lousy sound, no lights, no lyrics for the audience ( had a TV on right behind him with CHEERS on ), absoultly no rapore with the audience, and his tracks were terrible. All he did was say the next singers name and then walk around the room.

Thanks Bill, I appreciate the nice comments.

Gary

Bill, 65 is the new 40 !!!
I hear you loud and clear ... I will turn 75 on April 16, and people are constantly telling me they can't believe my age - even WITH my bald head - ... and I don't know what 75 is supposed to feel like, but I know I don't feel it - unless I'm SUPPOSED to feel like I'm 50 - of course I can't do everything the way I did when I was 50 or even 60, but I get along pretty well ...
There are a couple of upscale restaurants in town that I KNOW I am a perfect fit for ... I've given them a demo CD and received high compliments, but it is always "We will let you know", and I realize that I may not look 75 but I don't look 40 either, and perception is a big part of the game ...
MANY years ago, while still playing with the band in NY, the sax player and I were talking to a guy who told us he 'used to be a musician, but didn't play anymore, not even for his own enjoyment' ... we walked away from that conversation asking each other "how does that happen. how does a musician not play anymore?" ...
At some point I know I won't be playing gigs anymore, but for now I will continue to pursue them and take whatever I can get, but I KNOW that - barring illness or injury - I will ALWAYS be playing, if only for myself ...

Tony
Hopefully my health stays good and I can be any age I want !!
Good points. Preception is a big part of it. People think because your a certain age you just play a certain type of music. Its hard enough getting new gigs without the stigma of age thrown on top.
Still I can look back and say I've had a good run at a good time so I should be satisfied. Thing is I still have the desire to schelp the equipment and do gigs. Not so much the money although it is nice but just the satisfaction of a job well done. I hate the booking part and thought by this time I'd be established enough to just have the phone ring or be the regular in some nice place. Moving twice in five years ruined that.
Best quote form a guy who called himself "Crazy Hughie" down the Jersey Shore.
"You don't leave the business it leaves you"

Tony, I know a lot of great musicians that no longer play, but in the scheme of things, they were never entertainers, and that's where the big difference lies. You can be the greatest musician in the world, but if you're not an entertainer, you will not last very long in this business unless you are with a band that has at least one great entertainer. Outside the band, the individual musician(s) usually can't land a OMB job. The only reason there are so many have guitar will travel guys throughout the country is that those same individuals can usually sing (though not all sing very well) and provide an entertaining show for the audiences.

Tony, you can sing - I've heard you, and you're one Hell of a good player to boot, so there's no reason that you cannot book those high-end restaurant jobs, other than you're an old fart with a shiny head. Until six months ago, I dyed my hair to medium brown. It made me look 10 years younger, or at least that's what Carol said. My loving sister said she likes it better now that I've allowed it to go back to snow white. She says it makes me look distinguished - I tell her it makes me look extinguished!

Appearance and perception are two very integral components of getting those cushy restaurant jobs - this I know for a fact. I tried to get a job at a local country club back when my hair was white and I was just 55 years old. The club manager said my CD sounded great, and he thought I was much younger judging by my vocals. He said he would be in touch - it never happened, and he never returned any of my followup telephone calls. Three years later, on the way home from a job, I stopped in to see him. By that time, I was dying my hair medium brown and did my mustache the same color. I handed him my card, gave him a CD, he listened to one song, and asked if I could start Friday night. I later found out that he didn't recognize me from three years earlier. I played that job for a couple years afterward, then the club changed managers, they got a DJ, and in a matter of six months, the attendance at the bar had dropped to just a few individuals at best on Friday nights, instead of the 100 or so I had when I played there. I was asked to come back a few years ago, but declined because they only paid $150 for four hours and I was making nearly that much per hour in the NH circuit.

Tony, if you appeared young, slim and had a full head of hair, you would be working there this weekend. Unfortunately, neither of us have those attributes at age 75.

Good luck old friend,

Gary

Near as I can tell, folks don't pack it in anymore unless they are physically unable...or the business doesn't justify it.

For example: sugar beets are a big crop in this area. Every fall for 3 weeks or so, anybody physically able(who wants to make some $$$) helps out. The harvest goes round the clock...24 hours till its done....12 hour shifts. I worked with two guys, one 78 and the other 80....both of whom took time out from their part time jobs to work the harvest. At 67, I'm one of the 'kids' of the group.