Gary is right on the money here. Good organization is a necessity and the key to making it all work. The one hour of playing is the easy part. All the paperwork, instrument maintenance, and travel time that’s involved is where it gets tricky.

I got my equipment down to a quick 4 minute setup/tear-down and wheel it out on a R&R cart that you can push with one finger and will fold up to save space.

If there is not a piano in the place that I can play if my arranger breaks down, I DO bring a spare arranger (and amp and mike) that I leave in my vehicle.

Travel: A GPS is good. I prefer to use computer maps to draw out my route so I can make up alternate routes in case of unexpected traffic. Always carry maps of the county’s you are going through in case you get lost on the way to the job. Never go on a toll road if you can help it. If there is an accident, you'll be stuck between toll booths with no way to get off and you can kiss your paycheck goodbye.

And always carry the location phone # and the police dept # of the town and if you’re approaching start time and still 5 miles from where you’re playing, call them every 5 minutes to tell them your progress (I live in an extremely high traffic area).

For the paperwork, I found it useful to set up my own database of events (using Works). When someone books always enter the booking date, all pertinent names of peoples involved in the booking, and every iota of info about the job and whatever you might need later to refer back to. I even enter the personalities of the girls who run activities dept’s to remind me how to talk to them. Definitely keep notes of all the times you’re in contact with them, because the girls will think nothing about canceling you out because they “double-booked” or some other irresponsible reason. This way I can tell them “ you booked me on……” “I sent you confirmations on…..” etc.

Once I take a booking and have ALL my info, the procedure goes like this: I set up a “report” program on the database so I FAX a “confirmation” sheet within 24 hours advising them if the date and time are not correct, to advise me immediately. Next step: one week before the event, FAX another confirmation sheet to make sure your date hasn’t been given away. Then...play the event. When you get home, immediately FAX an invoice to them and mark the date. Also mark the “payment schedule” (how long it takes for them to pay so you know when to call them if you don’t get your check). All this is done from ONE database by pressing different tabs. The nursing home circuit now is disorganized relative to what it was a few years ago….massive amounts of paperwork!

For my flyers, I use CorelDraw, but any graphics program is good. Never, never telephone an Activities Director. You can grow a beard in the time it takes to get through to one (if you ever actually do). Unless you live in a LESS dense area where the girls have time to pick up the phone. I happen to live where there are more nursing homes than fast food restaurants even!

A tip here which I’ll eventually start doing. A friend, who does a OMB on the steel drums (of all instruments) did an informal demo of about a dozen songs. He burned it to CD, labeled it, duplicated it and mailed it out to 8 nursing homes. He got 8 bookings back @ $200 a pop.

My own pay ranges from $125 to $175 for the hour. But then again I think it’s more the area I live in. The problem now, and it is getting worse, is that you have an abundance of guys going out for $25 and some even going out for a tuna fish sandwich! They’ve been laid off from their jobs and picking up instruments and undercutting the pro’s. Many do it for nothing just to get out of the house. And then there are the “volunteers” (senior barbershop quartets, high school choir groups, church groups, etc) who also just want to get out of the house.

An overall summnation can be given thusly: It ain’t easy doing nursing homes these days. I said “playing the job” is a piece of cake. It’s everything in-between that drains you. Too much paperwork to keep track of if you’re doing a lot of events and lately the traffic is starting to really infringe on the whole experience.

Still nothing can beat the feeling of happiness you achieve both for yourself and your audience after you’ve finished performing.

Again, everything Gary said here is just the way it is. Not much else to add.

I’m still interested in trading (playing) ideas from some of you who are doing this type of work. I’ve got a ton of thoughts myself, but I’m always interested in hearing something new.

Lucky