Just spent a week in Hilton Head SC ... went into Harbor Town about 4 nights, - we were a 5 minute walk away - the places that had live music all had guitar playing singers ... most were pretty good, but one guy in particular was playing a song (I can't remember the name right now) and played the wrong chords in a certain part of the song ... now maybe the audience didn't hear it, but any musician would ...

The coolest/strangest gig I saw was a guy playing guitar and singing in the waiting area in Savannah/Hilton Head Airport ... it's not a big airport by any means, and most of the shops and eating places are in this area before security ... there is a baby grand piano there, so I guess they have piano players there also ... this guy played and sang quite well ... guitar, vocals, and some light backing tracks going through a small mixer into a BOSE compact ... neat gig ... and no tip jar ?!? ...

Tony.......I was going to start a new topic, but I thought I'd just tag on to this one.

My most lucrative (and my most novel) job was playing the accordion with a tin cup in front up and down the line at the Tower of London while people were waiting to get in. They were pouring so much money into my tin cup I had to use a funnel. And all I had to do was play The Blue Danube and Che Sara over and over again.

If you're a good musician in Europe, the sky is the limit. The are many creative ways to make money with music if you think long and hard about it. Back home here I was even going to go to the airport to play for passengers hanging in the lounge. And then there was the singing telegrams. That shows my age, doesn't it!

M

Mark, if you are a good musician/singer/entertainer in this part of the world, you can find all the work you can handle.

Tony, I'm not at all surprised that you didn't see any keyboard players. We are a rare breed in the entertainment world, which is why there seems to be a high demand for arranger keyboard players who can sing well, especially in the south.

Gary

Overhere in spain...

No keyboards at all...

Its deejays
Or singer/guitar/karaoke

A few years ago, there where still half a dozen one man bands (keyboards) playing in the old town
But i guess times are changing.. Its much lighter to travel with a guitar a mic and a MidJpro

Which seems to be a very popular tool here in spain.. The MidJpro

Yes, the guitar/singer format seems to be by far the most popular. I think people have seen/heard enough karaoke and probably assume a keyboardist is just working some sort of karaoke machine.

I got to visit some very luxurious hotels on the SO CA coast recently, and all of them had very good guitars/singers (no tracks) No Great American Song Book material. 60's to today's hits performed in an all acoustic format went over very well.

Here in the U.S (from my observations) for solo live music acts guitar/singer is by far the most popular, after that it's solo piano (sometimes with vocals but usually instrumental) Occasionally a solo singer singing to tracks on their lap top.
I almost never see anyone performing with an arranger keyboard, expect in Mexico, where it's pretty common.

Yes, the guitar/singer format seems to be by far the most popular. I think people have seen/heard enough karaoke and probably assume a keyboardist is just working some sort of karaoke machine.

I got to visit some very luxurious hotels on the SO CA coast recently, and all of them had very good guitars/singers (no tracks) No Great American Song Book material. 60's to today's hits performed in an all acoustic format went over very well.

Here in the U.S (from my observations) for solo live music acts guitar/singer is by far the most popular, after that it's solo piano (sometimes with vocals but usually instrumental) Occasionally a solo singer singing to tracks on their lap top.
I almost never see anyone performing with an arranger keyboard, expect in Mexico, where it's pretty common.

Solo stage piano, with an arranger module for minimalistic backings and voice effects... Sounds like a very sellable format...

The always piano sound gets boring to my ears all night long.... Variety is the spice of life even in music!

And yet, people will dress up in a tux and spend huge sums of money to attend a classical piano (or even a Keith Jarret) concert featuring only solo piano. Ever see that for an Arranger concert (has there ever even been one?)? Just sayin'.

chas

Tru Dat

I don't like a tux or ties of any kind do.... And they never got my money for just piano anything , .... But many enjoy it,...
Just ain't my bag....

Looking at today's 'casual everything' generation(s), I doubt that many of them ever wore formal wear other than to a prom or a wedding ... Man, I used to LOVE putting on a tux to play a wedding, or even to go out to a formal occasion ... In fact, I am disappointed that cruise lines no longer - or very seldom- have a 'formal night' on board ... To me there is something special about wearing a tux ... but - to each his/her own ...

let's face it there is a Hugh generation gap in today's world, old ways always butting heads with the new ways, ...times changed so fast within our life times like no other,...
when were gone all past traditions will dispensary for ever,...
we are the last generation to have 1/2 the no computer & 1/2 new computer age in our lives.....old values die hard in life, music, and everything else in between...enjoy the ride.

Tell that to Beethoven, Bach, Chopin; even Gershwin, et al of that era. NO Donny, CRAP disappears, good stuff lasts forever. JMO, of course.

chas

Hmmmmmmmmmm how many kids today listen to Classical music?..just sayin'

Every time I saw Sinatra on stage, he was wearing a tux. The same was true with Sammy Davis Jr., Deane Martin, Mel Torme, Liberace, and a host of other greats. Now, they probably didn't have to wear a tux, but they, like many top entertainers, took pride in their appearance. The only time I did not wear a tie and vest was when I performed during the summer months, when I switched to fancy Guayabera shirts. As soon as the weather cooled down a bit, I was back to the ties and fancy vests. And, when I performed in Baltimore's Little Italy, I wore a tux every night, summer and winter.

Donny, I really don't believe that just because people are young they should throw away their pride of appearance and look like they just crawled out of a wine bottle and went on stage. Keep in mind that nearly all the doo-wap groups of the 50s and 60s wore tuxedos and they mostly consisted of young people. I remember seeing Chuck Berry perform in Baltimore and he wore a tux. Same was true for a group called the Five Satins, who wore very fancy silver/gray tuxedos instead of the traditional black tuxedos.

I don't pass this kind of thing off as progress - I consider it regressive instead.

All the best,

Gary

Quite a number of them as it is taught in music appreciation classes ... the symphony orchestra in my grandchildren's high school - which is not a large school - had over 100 kids in it ... most of them had been in the school system's music program since grade school and these kids PLAY !!!

We need to stop trying to dumb everything down and accepting mediocrity as the 'new norm'. In my world, music is still, at it's heart, an ART FORM. JMO.

chas

Gary.. Too late for that... We all let it happen....

ABSOLUTELY, Chas.


R.

No Donny, I held up my part of the tradition.

Gary

Gary we can't live in the past times change.... Sometimes good sometimes not so good it would seem... You love sailing, some hate it etc, at least we live in a country where we are free to choose..

Yes, we’re free to choose and the times do change. However, for me and my house, we choose to play the American Song Book, by and large, with a few sprinkles of 70’s and 80’s tunes. In my locale, they’re still enough of us oldies, who appreciate tunes from by-gone days. And, why not, if that’s what the traffic will bear? Played for a group of seniors today. How long has it been since you played (or heard), Old Buttermilk Sky, Lady Be Good, Chattanooga Choo Choo, You Belong To Me, and many others?

Those last two are on my playlist, J. Larry.

The biggest song requested now is "Cake By The Ocean"



or maybe in Spanish...

One of the new styles that Korg gave us is dedicated to this song. It's called Cake Ocean Pop.

KORG on top of the game......would love to hear it done on the PA4X using this new style...

Here are songs for some of the other new styles. I am working up Pride and Joy and Little Wing.

Years Ballad => 7 years (Lukas Graham)
Addicted Pop
Goodbye Pop
Atmosphere Bld
Cake Ocean Pop => Cake By The Ocean (DNCE)
Sofia Dance => Sofia (Alvaro Soler)
Dangerous Bld = Dangerous Woman (Ariana Grande)
Can't Stop Pop = Can't stop the feeling (Justin Timberlake)

Pride Blues = Pride and Joy (Stevie Ray Vaughan)
Sweet Rock
Ring Slow Boogie
Wing Slow Rock = Little Wing (Jimi Hendrix)
One Rock Bld = One (U2)
Best Fake Rock

Absolutely correct....a "hot to trot" song that somehow caught on. But I don't understand wny? Because they use the F word. I was expecting to hear something like Uptown Funk. Now that's a song to get excited over!

They have 3 versions of Cake By The Ocean I use them all...
& a perfect segway into Uptown Funk & Blurred lines..

dirty
clean
spanish

I won't play Blurred lines unless I do it live, with my own edited lyrics. It's a really terrible story that can traumatize women who have been victims of domestic violence, or sexual abuse. I had a girl run at me, screaming to turn it off at a picnic, a few years ago, because it was a trigger to a past she was trying to forget. It's a great dance beat,(Thanks to Marvin), but the lyrics are horrid.

there's always one in a crowd never had a problem they absolutely love that song....