I have lots of audiences that tell me I sound exactly like Roger Whittaker, especially when I sing "The Last Farewell." Keep in mind that I use an onboard style for that song, but I play the French horn intro as close to the original as possible. I sincerely believe it makes a big difference of whether or not the audience accepts and enjoys the song.

Some forum members say I sound a lot like Dean Martin, something that I often hear from my audiences as well. I perform a fair number of Dean Martin songs, especially those that are done in both English and Italian. Now, I don't speak a word of Italian, but I can sing those songs phonetically. It took quite a while to be able to do this, but I've been pretty lucky, I guess, because no one throws eggs and rotted fruit at me when I sing those songs in Baltimore's Little Italy and for the Sons Of Italy groups in the area.

When I perform for some Spanish speaking crowds, I always get a request for La-Bamba, which again, I sing phonetically. At one time I could speak Spanish fairly well, but because I have not had to do so for decades, I've lost that ability. With La-Bamba I play the intro using layered guitars and the onboard Cha Cha style. As soon as they hear that intro they're singing the song along with me and on the dance-floor.

I believe that this a very important aspect of being at least somewhat successful in this business. But, I could be completely wrong.

Cheers,

Gary