Bill, through the years I have always tried to maintain a goal of learning at least one new song every week. In doing this, you are constantly introducing new songs to your act, but additionally, you are constantly adding to the list of song you perform. After a while, you will have so many songs swimming around in your head that you will be hard pressed to be stumped by any request.

I was deeply moved and honored when my son and daughter in law asked if I would provide the music for their wedding. My son was 49 and his new wife was 48, and the vast majority of the guests at the wedding were a bit younger. At the onset, I always tell the audiences that if anyone has a special song they want me to play, to write the name of the song on the back of a $20 bill and I'll be more than happy to do it. This usually draws a chuckle, and once in a while someone comes up with a $20 bill and a song written on it, which was the case at the wedding. One of the relatively younger guys wrote "Anything by ZZ Top" I fired up and performed Sharp Dressed Man, which put a dozen young ladies on the dance floor shaking their booties. While I was doing the song, my nephew said to my son "Jesus, your dad is doing a ZZ Top song!" After that song, I went right into New York, New York, and some of the older ladies were on the dancefloor doing the Rocketts High Step.

I guess my point is, with experience, and learning a new song weekly, you will rapidly get to the point where you can easily fulfill those requests.

All the best,

Gary