I thought I'd like to share this if you don't mind. It's a major change for me that I was in no way expecting. I've evolved again……I’ve just finished my transition from a musician to an entertainer.

It started six months ago. Been playing this one place for 15-20 years. I play grand piano and the residents sit all around me on couches and soft chairs listening for an hour. This one time, they were remodeling and they put the piano on the stage in the auditorium. I wasn't told about that....giving a performance on a stage with everyone in folding chairs sitting there waiting for the show to begin. In short, I walked into a very unusual, first-time situation!

Well, I amazed myself. I came through with flying colors...did an inpromtu show completely out of my head...no music sheets, no notes, no preparation at all. I didn't realize I had such a knowledge of music in the old cranium waiting to be tapped into…….vocals, jokes, trivia, stories, one-liners, comedy, and a good sense of humor in my traveling bag.

Coincidentally, the very next job turned out to be the same thing. Huge auditorium and now twice as many people. And me there at this beautiful Yamaha Grand feeling like a star. I came through again with the same kind of a show……talking, playing, singing, etc

Afterwards, I thought I would test myself and I just walked into any Senior place I was driving by, introduced myself, and asked (If they had a piano) if they wanted a free show. Of course, the answer was an immediate "yes!" I still can't believe, the entertaining just flowed out of me naturally. I did a half dozen like that. One of the places, the director was there and he told the AD to book me immediately. She gave me five 2018 gigs.

I also discovered what people really want by asking after each performance “how did you like it?” One person summed it all up. He said to me they really enjoyed it....that it was a perfect balance of music, singing, talking, and humor and because I took the time in between songs to tell them the title of the next song, the story behind the song (how it came to be written, etc), hit them with humor (the title of the song used to be “Let Me Call You Street smart, I’m in love with you,” but clever me changed it to what you hear now……”Let Me Call You Sweetheart.” Enough of those corny one-liners easily fills up 60-90 minutes.

I'm thinking I really like this. Being on stage or mixing with the people offstage and suddenly feeling like a star again. Also thinking it doesn't get better than this......not having to lug the equipment around if they have a piano, and if they don't, just bring the accordion and most times I do both...play the piano and then give them a remembrance of what they grew up with...the accordion. And best of all, I don’t have to decide whether I want to buy a Genos or not.

So this just might be the answer to the burn-out I've had these last four years. A new path for me that seems to be kick-starting me out of my lethargy and the industrial strength antidote to the AD problem I’m having lately. Now I feel complete and unique.....I can play, sing, AND entertain. That gives me the edge on many of the other acts, especially with the accordion playing. That kind of plays right into Donny’s “become so good they can’t ignore you!”

So, I started out as an accordionist, then a pianist, then a one-man-band, then a vocalist, then a disc jockey, then a Karaoke artist, back to being a musician, and now.....a Victor Borge type entertainer (though no one could match the Victor!).

My only regret is that this didn’t happen sooner…me knowing this other side of me even existed. But I’m glad I see it now. Just have to figure out what I should do with it. I’m seriously thinking about taking the ball and running with it. Maybe this AD garbage was a blessing in disguise. Like Zuki said…..focus on where you’re appreciated. And with this new talent of mine, I can find more places where “I’m appreciated” and get back into playing regularly again.

Mark

Mark

I think it is great that you have found a way to regain your impetus. Of coarse, you have had the experience and talent waiting for an outlet. Your trial by fire forced it out.

Bernie

Mark, you're a fortunate one that can play an acoustic too! Just stick with that - heck with lugging around $$ that will depreciate and even break down. Good news!

Mark, I am so happy you found your niche. I've been on this forum for many, many years and I have always said that in order to make a living in the music business, you MUST be an entertainer. I absolutely loved being on stage and had my health not gone to Hell, I would still be there at age 77 and singing to the ladies.

Good luck,

Gary

Thanks so much for the compliments and support from you guys. I could live a week on remarks like that.

Unfortunately....I think it's too late for me to enjoy my new profession. I'm still burned out (four years now) and still can't figure out why?

I caught Donnie's sudden retreat from the music scene a few months back and I remember thinking something like "I'll bet he's experiencing what I am"..........50 years of doing the same thing over and over again no matter how much you like it!

But I think the real reason I burned out is what I'm always complaining about....the rude people and the red tape you have to deal with nowadays. And there's no way around it. Thank goodness those 50 years were a joy ride!

Burnout is in everything repetitive. It's a struggle to play quite a lot and work on new music after hours. I have to force myself to unload my keyboard, set it up and find 'selfish' time to bury myself under the headphones (now I love my Adam 5s better than phones) and ignore the family once again. But once I get going, I find inspiration in new material and a great challenge trying to pull off live, by memory...when it comes together, it's always worth the effort and the music continues..........

Besides, what better gig is there than playing live music for folks? - we are in the minority and I am blessed to be.

I sincerely believe the reason I never experienced burnout was that I was constant introducing new songs into my performances, which provided me with a new challenge on a weekly basis. I had a goal of learning at least one new song every week during the past 30 years, and even though I am now retired, I still do this. My friend, Don Mason, added to this by providing me with more songs to learn, which I managed to do. Don introduced me to many, many new songs over the years, and for that I am very grateful. Just last week, a friend, fellow sailor, and musician in Germany, Udo, asked for a style suggestion for a song called "Galway Girl." I listened to the song on You Tube and couldn't get it out of my heard. I quickly found a style file, posted it for my friend Udo, then went about downloading the chords and lyrics and recorded the song for my own enjoyment. That was last week. This week, I'm working on a ZZ Top song. It's hard to burn out when you are constantly faced with a challenge.

Click here to hear my rendiion of Galway Girl

Good Luck,

Gary

Well, you members came through again. Someone said the same thing to me many years ago. Are you learning new songs?

So I took your advice here but modified it a bit. The last 2-3 days, instead of new songs, I'm back to practicing Jerry Lee Lewis left hand piano patterns. And.....taking any song and instead of just playing the chords....."voice" the chord in as many different ways as I can. Both projects are challenging enough to renew my interest somewhat.

But, again, I think that's it for me. The difference between Donnie and me is I've been playing full time for 50 years now. That's maybe 5-7 gigs a week, a lot of doubles, and a few triples even. I mean, I loved every minute of it, but I think it finally caught up with me. My life is now "off-balance" from playing so many gigs over the years.

But, again, it was a good run and if I had to do it all over again, I would take the same route. Zuki is correct when he says: "what better gig is there than playing live music for folks? - we are in the minority and I am blessed to be"

Bills still have to be paid though so I'll keep playing whatever nursing homes I'm able to pick up and hope I can still keep my membership in the Synthzone and maybe even be in the Synthzone Hall of Fame for most gigs worked!

LOL - There are a number of us that will give you a run for your money on THAT category. I've got 50 years on stage, as well, and too many jobs to count.

And the congregation said, "AMEN".

Dave, I'd be happy to have a "who did the most gigs" competition in their lifetime. I quit my full time job at age 22 and have been playing almost every day ever since, full time, often 7 days a week. 10 years in Europe busking in the streets 5-8 hours daily, night-time jobs playing the pubs and clubs, a lot of midnight after-hour jobs in the after-hours joints. If you'd like I'll pull up my income tax records of reported wages. I have so many returns I had to buy a tractor trailer to store them all in.

The post wasn't about who did the most gigs in their lifetime (or the previous lives even), it was about me wondering if that's why I'm burned out of playing these days. Once YOU get a resume like that, I suppose you'll just keep on forging ahead until you've broken my own record of 160,074 gigs

Mark, I have a nice sailing yacht you can buy, sail around the world performing at the various ports of call, and enjoying the tropics during the dead of winter, and heading north for summer. Such a deal I have for you, Mark. Think about it! You could be a world traveler, perform less and enjoy it more. What could go wrong? Well, maybe a hurricane or two, but I've been caught in one and managed to survive, even with all my gear, and had a ball performing for a 5 day hurricane party in Myrtle Beach, NC.

Good luck,

Gary

WOW ... if my math is correct, working 160,074 gigs over a 50 year career comes out to about 8 and 3/4 gigs a day ... I'm with you, Mark, I don't think ANYONE here could match that ...

Must have been a heck of a hurricane to move Myrtle Beach from South Carolina to North Carolina .

chas

That's what took 5 days !

Brain Fart, Chas. But I still had a blast doing that party at the Myrtle Beach Yacht Club. This time of night, after a couple bad doctors visits, my mind, sometimes, forgets little details, such as the correct state for Myrtle Beach. That's why I have a smart phone with a GPS, so I can find my way home.

All the best,

Gary

ROFL.....Chas....stop it. You are killing me.

The hurricane left Myrtle Beach after just two days, but the weather remained nasty for another three days, so the party continued till the weather improved. I really had a ball there, but the night after I left, the temperature dropped to just 17 degrees - damned that is cold, especially when you are living aboard a sailboat. I made it all the way to Paris Island the following day, which was a bit warmer, about 50 degrees, got the Hell scared out of me when a monster hovercraft roared out of the swamp with about 50 US Marines in camo gear aboard and blasted past me at 50 MPH. Those things are really fast, but really noisy as well. It got my undivided attention.

Gary

Well.........maybe I exaggerated a little bit. I guess it would probably work out to more like maybe 160,072 or 160,073 gigs

I know one thing, I've been in this business long enough to have accumulated several hundred dollars in savings!

This train is not going to a good place. Here is where the answer lies.

John C.

Well, I guess my record of gigs played is not as impressive as I thought.

62 years, with 9 weeks off. At least 4 nights a week, with several thousand recording sessions. That's only 15,000 total.

Russ (I'll keep playing til I get it Right) Lay

geeeze talk about chest pounding? lol....
what's next how many white castle hamburgers did someone eat in one sitting?

Gotta love the White Castles!

Russ (Burp) Lay

oh yeah Russ I have one 5 min away for when I get the craving
...YummmmY

Age 86 – playing jobs since I was 28--- average 3 jobs per week.
86 less 28 = 58 years of playing jobs. Averaged 3 jobs per week X 52 weeks = 156 X 58 years = 9,048 jobs in my lifetime of playing. And I hate accepting that I must the fact that it’s time to stop.

Did I get bored doing the same over and over? Did I try to be more of a performer? Did I ever get burned out? No, I did my best and never gave a thought to anything but me doing a good job.

90% of my jobs were catering jobs with 100 to 800 people. Most were 4 hour gigs; 40 minutes on the hour; continuous 55 minutes on the hour.
My point: I allowed myself to be what I am without questioning what I was doing. There was my band and there were people who came to have a good time.

All my jobs came through recommendations; no ads or booking agents. I just tried to be the best I could be. My only thought: How can I make this better?

None of the above was written to exalt John. In fact I never added how many jobs I played until this thread. My desire is to share the joy of music entertain; other than a new born baby music has to be the greatest. (smile)

John C.

I never counted them, and my only regret is that I had to retire - I really didn't want to ever stop being an entertainer.

All the best,

Gary

John's a class act. We're all better for knowing him!

All the best, friend!

Russ

let's face it years ago and today playing gigs is a whole new ballgame in so many ways, .....what was done in the past was pretty much due to the way it was in society pre Comuter age,.....if you had to start out now the so called bragging gig numbers would be a totally new total for sure,........we had our time all good things come to an end and you have to move on,.....aside from nursing home and such people don't wanna see some old guy playing a keyboard at weddings, or what have you anymore times have changed, people change, MUSIC changes,.......doesn't mean you cant enjoy playing at home that will never change..
carry on...........

And so I progressed into another phase of entertainment on today‘s two jobs......creative vocalizing. Part of the latest progression was brought on by this.

I was watching Rihanna being presented with some kind of award last week for being “best vocalist” of the year. She even beat out Count Dracula. I’m dumbfounded. She sounds like a vacuum cleaner in heat. Then I saw this girl sing Amazing Grace on “The Voice.“ She was so off the simple melody line with her screeching and screaming, I couldn’t even recognize the song. And then it came to me. You’re not selling your voice or the song even. You’re selling the "screeching." You completely improvise the song you're singing. You sing the way you play when you improvise on the keyboard. Make the song your own…..your own version that speaks to who you are.

I’m doing a medley from My Fair Lady to my audience…..Getting Married in the Morning, Street Where You Live, I Could Have Danced All Night, etc. and instead of singing them straight through like I usually do, I did them creatively. Stop here, lengthen this note, come in on the offbeat, basically “play” with the song. And then I did “My Way” with every emotion I could reek out of my vocal cords. They really went for that.

I enjoyed it expressing myself in a new way, not only on the piano and accordion, but…..vocally. Another means of expressing myself. And what happens is......you’re really working your brain doing all that, and that, in turn, is stimulating the rest of the talents and it‘s all coming together at one time. And a few impersonations (Elvis, Al Jolson, James Cagney, etc), some dancing here and there. Remember I can’t dance at all. But I CAN do 4-5 seconds at a time…..demonstrate the Blue Danube Waltz, Ballin’ the Jack, Charleston, some John Travolta disco moves. Enough to add more variety to the performance. And the more I’m doing, it seems the more I CAN do. I couldn’t even say my own name when I was a kid……now I’m rattling off patter, in-between songs, like a politician and saying funny things like a poor man’s version of David Letterman.

I could kick myself up and down the street for not discovering my capabilities sooner when I had energy and enthusiasm. But, for my age, I’m still pretty physically fit and can still move pretty well. But not like just a few years ago. Heck, I can’t even stand up with my 30 lb accordion for an hour anymore.

So I moved up to 50/50 point. 50% of me wants to play with my new toys and see how far I can go with this whole new performance routine and the other 50% wants to just pack it all up and enjoy my remaining years with just a gig here and there.

I don’t think any of this means a “hill of beans” to anyone but myself. But I’m so thrilled with what I accomplished today I wanted to get it out of me. So thanks for letting me “get it out.”

I forgot to mention the starting point for all of this. It was two weeks ago when I happened to see a performer in another part of the building from where I was playing. You talk about amateurism? This man sounded like he just entered show business that morning. A singer…..a simple bland, dull singer making the people into an even duller audience. I walked into the room. He’s finishing his song, says the standard “thank you” to everyone and then spends a whole minute fumbling around with his Karaoke machine looking for the next song to sing while the audience just sat there counting the ceiling tiles. Then he sang the next song, but that was it…..he just “sang the next song.” And said “thank you again.” And then, mercifully, the show was over. Point being, I said to myself right there and then……if he could get away with a performance like that, and actually get paid for it, I’m going to try the same thing with my own Karaoke machine, but put some pizz-azz into the singing, and body movements instead of just standing there with a mike in my hand. Stop playing the keyboards and just sing to the background music. And that’s what led up to what I did today.

I’m wondering how many of us can push ourselves to do more than we’re presently doing? Are unaware of their own hidden talents? I really wish I had explored my capabilities way back when. Maybe I wouldn’t be so burned out and unemployable today?

Did anyone notice I did what Bachus said.......bring the topic back to what it was originally all about. He deserved that Harley he won from me!

Mark
It just sounds like to me that your having fun again so keep doing what your doing. As Donny said our opportunities as older musician/ entertainers are limited so if you have these opportunities take them while they last. Some day, and I hope it never comes for you, that Kareoke guy may be grabbing all the gigs because he's $25 cheaper.
You have performing experience that few have so use those skills, and keep having fun !