Tony, as Chas often says, we all have our own way of performing. With me, it's not only WHAT you say, it's also HOW you say it. It's delivery, timing, tone of voice, knowing just when to say what and saying something appropriate to the moment. That's why I'm an advocate of knowing your music inside your head....so you can watch, every second, how the audience is responding to your music (or your patter even).

I have a motto I never stopped using since I started playing. "Play WITH your audience.....not AT them."

Make yourself, and your audience, into one big family, no matter how many people you're playing to. Invite them into your living room. Become part of them. Talk to them like you've know them for years. Share your thoughts with them. Joke around with them. Tell them stories. Compliment them. Think about how you can bring happiness into their lives with your music and how you can take their minds off their problems for the length of your performance.


Things I would say are what fit MY personality.....
first words out of my mouth......."what a great audience I have here tonight....all V.I.P's, socialites, members of the aristocracy, and....I think I see the Royal Family sitting in the bleachers. The first thing I noticed about you is.....you all look healthy, wealthy, wise, and.....prosperous .....and......interestingly enough....you all have good posture!

Dance floor.....folks, if you look in front here you can see we have a dance floor....now, this used to be an indoor swimming pool, but they filled it in just for your dancing enjoyment tonight...and....they told me I get $1 per couple extra for everyone who uses it.....so....ladies, and gentlemen......help me fill my coffers. Come up and......shake a leg! And don't forget...the best dance couple on the floor tonight wins a free trip to Honolulu. The 2nd best couple wins the trip back!

Remember this, remember that. no, no. "Folks I'm going to play song ABC and I'll bet this brings back a different memory for every one of you. I might even ask you what you were thinking of, what it reminded you of. For me, every time I hear Elvis's Can't Help Falling In Love With You I think of my first girl friend. Let's see what happens with you. Best memory gets forwarded to Reader's Digest for publication!

Put your hands in the air, move that body, tap your feet, get the rhythm going, shake your tush about, do some Karate moves....let's all make believe we're doing aerobics, but mostly.....PUT THOSE HANDS IN THE AIR...and....CLAP THE NIGHT AWAYYYYYY!

All of this could get said between songs while you keep the music going playing riffs.

In between songs, if I feel it's the right time, to break up the stream of songs, I'll stop and say....OK now I'm going to teach you to sing in Viennese and Broadway-ese. Play Blue Danube and sing La-la-la-la-la to the melody notes. Then If I Were A Rich Man (diga diga die-ga, diga, diga, diga, die-ga do).

Point being there are so many ways of saying things and breaking up the music with filler material if you spend as much time thinking things up to say as you do practicing music.

But, I think the only music I don't mind hearing non-stop is the Rolling Stones. Now there's a band that doesn't need ANY kind of patter! But until you get to play like them, you'd better have some pretty creative things to say. Remember the Donny advice: "your audience wants to get hit from all sides now......it's not just about the music anymore"