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Do you have suggestions to add to Henry’s list
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This has been my retirement life these days.. Myself, on keys, and a retired guitarist play 3-4 gigs a month on a rotating 12 nursing home circuit. These seniors love live music. Don't really seem to matter if it's soft rock, country, Beatles, 60's, or 70's. We do a show specifically for each of those types of music plus a Christmas show. Been thinking about cooking up a Great American Songbook show, but that's a work in progress as I know very little about that kind of music.
For our gigs I make midi backing tracks that I convert to MP3 and use a Focusrite interface, mics and 2 EV Evolve 30M speakers. Sounds great and have plenty of power for the venues we do.
While we have almost exclusively concentrated on nursing homes, Henry's idea of senior communities as well as senior out reach programs offers a new direction that I think we might try.
Jeff
Win11, Intel i7 7700K 4.2Ghz, 32Gb RAM, 2x1Tb HD, 500Gb NVMe, BIAB/RB 2026, MOTU 828MK3 audio, MOTU Midi Express, Yamaha Montage 7, DX7II, TX802, Motif XS Rack, Roland Fantom XR Rack, Oberheim Matrix 1000, VoiceLive3 Extreme, Kontakt 6, SampleTank 4.3
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Journeyman
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Joined: Dec 2018
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Thanks for posting this!
I'm sub'd to his other YT channel, but not this one. I'm 74, so this one's for me! Things are a bit different here in France, but one thing's the same. Lots of seniors! I live in Arcachon, a little resort town on the southwest coast that is the oldest town in France, based on the average age of permanent (year-round) residents. Hitting up the senior living résidences (like NYC co-ops) is a great idea. One idea that's not in Henry's video is checking with the hometown mayor's office. Arcachon is fantastic for town-scheduled entertainment. In the heart of the center where I live. On the promenades along the 7 miles of beaches (the main beach entertainment area is 3 blocks from my apartment). In the Place des Marquises, our town square (2 blocks from my apartment). There is always something going on.
Last edited by TheMaartian; 09/06/25 06:08 AM.
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I live in Florida, and have been gigging for seniors since the 1990s. When DJs started invading the live music scene, and the clubs around here didn't want to pay bands anymore, me, and one of the members of a 5-piece band decided to form a duo and play music for seniors. The retirement market is very big here in South Florida. I play sax, flute, wind synth, bass, guitar, drums, keyboards and vocals in various levels of competence/incompetence, so I made and still make my own backing tracks, originally on a 4 track reel-to-reel, and when it arrived, MIDI. She plays synth, guitar, and is an excellent vocalist. (BTW, I eventually married her.) When we started playing for the seniors, it was music by Sinatra, Miller, Ellington, and all that wonderful swing era music. But as time went on, they went to the great gig in the sky and Elvis and Buddy Holly entered. Then Beatles, Disco, and we're still learning new wonderful songs that wouldn't go over a few years ago. We play condominiums, yacht clubs, country clubs, private clubs, retirement developments, and a few restaurants/lounges that cater to the retirement audience. This year we added Assisted Living Facilities, and the Veteran's Administration nursing home. Nice gigs, with appreciative audiences. The ALFs and VA are one-hour shows, and they don't pay as much, but it's mostly weekday work. We chose this because we lost a lot of gigs because our government IMO botched things and got the Canadian winter visitors angry with us, and many of them aren't coming down to Florida this year. I'll miss them (sorry Canadians, I don't agree with what they are doing). In fact, tourism is down 30% according to our newspaper. We started this duo in 1985, gigged on cruise ships for a few years to build up our repertoire, and in 1990 got off the ships and targeted the senior market. Since then, the only time we've been out of work was during the COVID lock-down. Times change, and like any business, to survive, we adapt to the changes. So we don't play Glenn Miller anymore, rarely play Elvis Presley, play a lot of 60s-80s, and just added some Ramones and Adele. Some 2000s songs that the Seniors adopted, some Country, some Caribbean, and whatever works for the audience we find in front of us today. We learn requests, watch how things go over, and make our decisions accordingly. We don't do set lists, but watch the reactions of the audience and choose what we think will be best for them next, out of our 600+ song-list I'm old enough to retire now, but have no plans to do so. Why? A musician is what I am, gigging is what I do, and gigging is the must fun I can have with my clothes on.
Bob "Notes" Norton  Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com
100% MIDI Super-Styles recorded by live, pro, studio musicians for a live groove
& Fake Disks for MIDI and/or RealTracks
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Notes, you and I have a lot in common when it comes to gigging. The bottom line is know your audience and play to them. It may not be what you really want to play but it will keep you gigging. I ran a wedding band for years and we had more work than we could handle. We also did not have play lists as each audience is different. In the winter when the wedding business was slow we played at various American Legions, Vet's clubs, private clubs, etc.
Back in my day the only time we started panic buying was when the bartender shouted "last call"!
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Yep, Mario, we are on the same page.
We do Elk's clubs in the slow season, sometimes Moose, we call them the Animal Clubs. We did Veteran's clubs in the past, but haven't done any for a few years. We do play almost once a month at the VA nursing home. I like that gig.
I've never played in a wedding band, but I have done a number of weddings in my career, and I know it pays well, and you have to be on top of your MC and music craft. I've done a few divorce parties, too.
A lot of musicians don't realize this:
We are hired entertainers, the audience is our customer. Although we should have a good time, we are not there to simply please ourselves.
Read the audience, and play the audience. Playing the audience means pacing the audience. What do they need right now? Another fast one? A slow song? Some talk on the mic? A special request? What else?
They want Brown Eyed Girl or Mustang Sally, give it your best performance. Songs that get requested often should be learned if you can cover them.
Watch and react. It's break time and they are having a blast. What do we do? Play through the break. Food is being served? Back off the volume and play gentle music.
Regular customer comes in, wait until he/she's comfortable, and play that song they always request and send it out to him/her.
Your job is to make the audience have a great time. Be nice and be cheerful to everyone, play what they need, keep that smile on your face, and you will get repeat work.
One more thing, be flexible. Everything changes, be adaptable. Survival doesn't go to the fittest, it goes to those who can adapt to the changes.
IMO, it's so much better than working a wage-slave day job and gigging once every great while as an artist for short money.
Bob "Notes" Norton Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com
100% MIDI Super-Styles recorded by live, pro, studio musicians for a live groove
& Fake Disks for MIDI and/or RealTracks
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Yep, Mario, we are on the same page.
We do Elk's clubs in the slow season, sometimes Moose, we call them the Animal Clubs LOL. I have played many gigs in both the Elk's Clubs and Moose halls but never them called Animal Clubs! . ..............................
We are hired entertainers, the audience is our customer. Although we should have a good time, we are not there to simply please ourselves.
Read the audience, and play the audience........................................... That is the golden rule for any gigging musician.
Back in my day the only time we started panic buying was when the bartender shouted "last call"!
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
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