I just try to adapt to the event the best I can. If it's a senior residence, I'll do Great American Song Standards, old time C&W, maybe some rock n'roll and R&B. If there's baby bommers, some 60's-70's classic rock, and 70 's disco and other popular selections.

If I'm doing an event in the Latino community, it's a whole different ball game. If it's a private party, I find out the host's and guests county of origin. Your not going to play Mexican music and a Puerto Rican party! Also even if the guest are mostly Mexicans I need to know what region. People in Northern Mexico and Boarder towns have very different tastes from the people from Mexico City, for example.

I don't mind adapting, and reading the crowd, but if I could play just what I liked, it would be a blend of Bossa Nova, Latin Jazz-Salsa, bebop, and funk. Not much of demand for that kind of thing, so I'll save that for my bedroom studio projects!

Life is so much simpler playing US music, Montunoman! Regional US music is pretty rare, radio and the Internet have homogenized music to the point that it’s the same almost everywhere..! I do a little Cajun and zydeco because I’m down in the Panhandle of Florida, and as a beach musician I can get away with more reggae than most, but I’m pretty sure I could take my song list anywhere in the US and get by!

I kind of miss how music used to be more regional, but that’s the price we pay for the corporatiztion of music radio... Check out Tom Petty’s ‘The Last DJ’ for a great song about that! 🎹😎

https://youtu.be/6Knw_GxXPHg

Diki, great Tom Petty tune! Yes, it is sad how homogenous everything is becoming in the US, and beyond. It's happening too with Latin music to some degree with the global polarity of the "urban" Latin sound known as reggaetón. You hear this style in all the Spanish speaking countries now. Look how big the hit, "Despacito" was all over the globe!

Here an article from Rolling Stone Magazine on the reggaetón trend in Latin music.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-latin/latin-pop-urban-reggaeton-trap-755772/

Yeah, I’ve heard that one, but it’s tough to tell apart from a myriad of other songs with the reggaetón beat. Plus, I’m more of an old school kind of guy, I’m not much of a fan of AutoTuned vocals and that mechanical Latin sound. Give me some old Rubén Blades kind of stuff, real musicians, no machines!

But it’s cheaper to market globally than locally, so regional stuff isn’t prioritized so much any more. I’m glad that this is being resisted in Latin America better than we have in the US...

Hard to understand how reggaetón got the name, ‘cos there no reggae in it! Bob Marley is spinning in his grave, LOL 🇯🇲🎹😂

After retirement I moved to SW AZ from the NW. Once settled played a couple of gigs with my NW playlist, but it didn't take long to learn that most of the residents in the senior communities are of Latin heritage and used to hear and requested Latin Rhythms. After finding out the type of tunes they liked I changed my playlist, even took Spanish language lessons so I can sing some of the slow "musica romantica" songs, quite a challenge for a transplanted guy who speaks English with a Dutch accent. Lots of fun, though.

Gerry

Up here in Canada you could get into all sorts of regional musics. East Coast jigs, reels, Québecois, straight up country music, etc. Here in Alberta it's pretty much country with liberal sprinklings of 50's, 60's, 70's mainstream pop on the NH circuit.

We'll do our 'Canadian content' with songs by Gordie Lightfoot, Ron Hynes, Chilliwack, etc., but with us being products of sixties Britain, we'll do a British Invasion show. That always goes down very well.

I hear ya on both of those comments Deane. I was never a full time gig musician, but I did play at a few Senior Homes. No way would I do it indoors today though, just too risky. Good luck on your decision. If you don't miss it, why risk it.

I, also agree, but will never quit unless I have to. I won't play any inside jobs yet, but have accepted a Veteran's Day party held outside on a 150 ft porch. This is a place I have played three times a week for the past 15 years. Aside from that, I am just biding my time and working on better days.

We're not doing any indoor gigs, either. Luckily, we've managed 15 outdoor settings this past summer.

An interesting twist now is that we've been contacted by a couple of places asking if we do Zoom gigs. If this is the way it's going to be for the foreseeable future, then I'd better dig in and find out how all this Zoom thing works. Not an ideal situation, but whatever works.

Diki, I have the public fooled. They think the really smart people have to like jazz and have to hire me.

I never looked for a job my whole life. The problem now is, I make lots more doing my research, writing, films, etc.

Thankfully, music is part of many of those projects.

It's just hard giving up something I've been doing since I was 13.

MUSIC MATTERS!
R.