My experiences are similar to what others are saying. Got a request today for something by The Highwaymen. Didn’t know any of their tunes well enough to try, but have heard much of their material, especially from the PBS special that’s been airing lately.

Here ya go. Good midi file of The Highwayman
https://app.box.com/s/ujsj3p7ffievaes7xahs8rwrlre2xguu

“modus operandi” was only the header. If you’ll notice, in the body, I asked for “tricks of the trade” that you’ve learned along the way. I'm not talking about how you present your show. I'm talking what tricks do you have up your sleeve to make your show work and keep it moving along!

Example: requests....if I think I'm working with a potentially difficult group, I'll strike first.....something like blitzkreig. I fill in the action every second and don’t give anyone a chance to “request.” I’ll play a medley of songs, and when I stop playing, I immediately start talking. Then back to playing. No dead space for anyone to be asking for some obscure song that no one else is even going to know.

“Wild cards/ace in the hole” songs: I have certain songs that I keep in reserve. I call them “wild cards”.......sure fire winners. If I feel the dynamics of the group slowing down, I go to my “wild card” songs to bring them back to life. The same if I, myself, am slowing down…..I fall back on my “wild card” songs to give myself a breather. Some of my “wild card” songs are the Beer Barrel Polka or the Pennsylvania Polka, That’s Amore, Que Sara Sara, the Blue Danube.

Stories about songs: I keep a mental portfolio in my head of the history of certain popular songs. Mostly stuff I get off the Internet. To break up the music and my general patter I’ll tell the story of how some songs came to be written. I even take liberties……make up lines as I go along to augment the tale . Two topics that I’ve been getting a lot of mileage from lately are the history of how “flapper” girls came about back in the 20‘s, and the song “After The Ball” and how it changed the music scene overnight when it was written back in the 1890’s.

Songs to impress and break up the pace: "Folks, when I was a kid I remember listening to this music on the radio every Friday night at 07:30 pm. The name of it is the William Tell Overture, but you know it as…The Lone Ranger." Then I proceed to play the piece. Or, Entry of the Gladiators....."folks, remember when you were a child and your parents walked you into your first circus. This is probably what you heard the band playing."

Point being.......this is material I keep in the corner of my brain that I fall back on to keep the party (and the patter) moving. I keep “emergency” scenarios in my head “in case of emergency.” Kind of like walking over to the wall and pulling down the red handle that says “pull in case of emergency” and all kinds of musical ideas come flowing out.

To quote your past remarks, whatever you have to do to entertain people is what you do!

So, now I, myself, say “with the utmost respect“.......”hogwash” with the giving 150% of yourself cliché every time you perform. That only works when you've developed good material to work with. 150% of nothing is “nothing!”

Many years ago, a wise man in New Jersey told me to only play music people know and can dance to - he was absolutely right. And, of course, be sure to schmooze with the audiences.

Good luck,

Gary

I think that same man also said (in para-phrase) that there is no 'one size fits all' solution for every situation. I can think of a number of situations where that approach would be absolutely disastrous. Just sayin'.

chas

Mark 79100 said:

"Stories about songs: I keep a mental portfolio in my head of the history of certain popular songs. Mostly stuff I get off the Internet. To break up the music and my general patter I’ll tell the story of how some songs came to be written. I even take liberties……make up lines as I go along to augment the tale ."

I did something similar and started having a trivia quiz with the answer being a song title and I then played the song. Later, I started a trivia session with questions related to music. This was very popular and killed some time.

Gary........hmmm........"many years ago"......was that YOU I told that to?

Might have been, Mark, but DNJ said the same thing to me one night when he had 350 on a dance floor and loving life while he played his Yamaha keyboard.

Chas, OK, I'll bite - name a couple scenarios where that would not work, at least in anything other than a jazz club situation. In jazz clubs, all bets are off! ;)Jazz clubs are the only venue I have not performed at in more than a half century.

Gary

1. Concerts - large and small, jazz, rock, or Country
2. VERY upscale restaurants
3. Malls
4. Casinos
5. Most (but not all) Hotel lounges
6. Any venue (and there are many) where dancing is not allowed
7. Art shows - high end
8. Singer/songwriter-type venues featuring mostly original material
9. Hard core Blues clubs (GA is riddled with them)

I'm sure there are many more but the point is, there is no fixed formula that guarantees success in ALL situations. In my opinion, the quality of the performer and the performance is way more important than the set list and tempo of the song. Pick a very familiar and dance-able song, do a lousy job of presenting it, and see what happens.

I'm not snobbish but I would NEVER, EVER go to a music venue where 'playing familiar tunes that you could dance to' was the primary criteria for the music being offered. But hey, that's just me.

As the saying goes, 'Every general truth is a specific lie' and with those words of wisdom, Peace out.



chas