Originally posted by Bill in Dayton:
I think some of you guys are being a little unfair to Larry. He's already said he DOES play Amazing Grace and other Christian based hymns when they're requested. I have no earthly clue where the perception that he's afraid to play Amazing Grace comes from.
Larry has a full schedule performing in his very competitive market. Apparently he is satisfying both the activity directors and the residents.
John-I respect your views on servicing the aged. I agree with much of what you said. I've visited with so many wonderful older folks through the years that I've been playing for them, I can't come close to recalling them all. One thing does seem to be a constant with them. They do not want to be treated like a nursing home patient who is in the last stage of their life. There's enough staff / family around to do that, lol...
Rather, they want to have fun and reminisce about their happier times-whatever/whenever they might be. We as musicians take them on a trip down memory lane. If we're good at what we do, we should be able to divert their attention for an hour back to those better days.
Yes, our audiences should be respected and honored at all times. No question about it. I personally think that if all the staff people we see when we're at these facilities did their jobs as well as we do ours, the residents would fare far better. Fact is, some of the aids, nurses and yes---Activity Directors---are lousy and disinterested in their jobs and the patients pay the freight for that. Stupid stuff happens all the time. What Larry described with the priest is off the wall. In 14 years and 380+ shows per year (about 5400 jobs in all) I've never seen what he described. If Gary or Donny or Zuki or Larry or I told that tale to most of our activity directors they'd just shake their heads.
Gord-How many performances do you do in a month? Do you simply refuse to take on any accounts that won't/can't pay you on the day of the event? We'd all like to be paid the day we play, but when you get to the point that you're doing this 30+ times a month, IMO you're bound to come across a handful of clients who's accounting system isn't set up to pay entertainers on the day of the performance. I'd estimate that at least 60% of my accounts pay within 15-30 days after the job, which in the business world is fairly quick.
You also mentioned you don't use invoices, which is also surprising. In this area, (Dayton, OH), most of my clients do require invoices.
Bill...I really had to comment on this one last post of yours. You've really got your finger on the pulse with most everything you said here.
Again, I live in a highly congested area where musicians don't share ANYTHING with each other. Truth is I don't think most of them even think....OR.....think about anything but their paycheck!
Reading what you wrote here is pretty much everything I go through. Nice to hear someone else does too, though I just wish it weren't that way and we were free to concentrate on the playing.
Lucky
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