I agree with everything my learned colleague, DonM posted above. Additionally, as entertainers, we need to provide the entire package, keyboard and vocals, to every, very diverse audience. Without that package, you have nothing to offer both the audiences and staff. Keep in mind that in many locations they have resident's councils that make the decisions of who stays and who goes. They convey this information to the staff. Not only do we perform for the residents, but we also perform for the staff as well. We need to keep everyone entertained in order to garner the higher salaries. And, just like any impromptu performance, you need to be able to read the audience - the entire audience. You need to provide them with a song selection that makes them WANT to get off their ass and onto the dance floor, even if they're physically incapable of doing so. You must have the ability to communicate with individual members of the audience with your vocals, eye contact, body movements and other physical inflections during each song. This is the full package.

Now, you can be the best, Peabody trained musician on the planet, but if you cannot provide the diversity of music, great vocals, plus interact with the audiences, you would be hard pressed to even find a job in any market in the US senior circuit. No AD that I know would pay more than a token amount for a have guitar will travel guy that only provided instrumentals or only sang songs from a single entertainer. I've seen my share of them in the mid-Atlantic region and most are happy to get $50 an hour.

Boo, I'm quite confident that you would loose that bet, and as I stated, if I were a bit younger and a lot healthier, I would make the trip to your neighborhood in a heartbeat, if for nothing else, to meet Penny.

All the best,

Gary