This gig is one I used to do annually at Godfrey’s, but haven’t in a while. It turned out quite nice, but different than what I expected. There were quite a few older folks and fewer kids, and the kids were somewhat intimidated by the open space in front of me and sat with their folks on the edges. This was going to take some work.
We started out with Shovelin’ (it was in the 60’s on Sunday) and Jingle Bells, Mary Had a Baby, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Up on the Rooftop, and we loosened up. There was one precocious girl who did sit up front and we worked the room with banter. She also took over the distribution of the instruments to the kids and adults. The other smaller kids started to get up and play and dance, and it was smooth sailing from there. The adults naturally enjoyed the kids’ being kids, and we sang Silent Night, Deck the Halls, along with Zat You, Santa Claus, Cool Yule, Children, Go Where I Sent Thee, and wound up with Rudolph.
The age span was pretty remarkable and it felt good to appeal to that expanse.
It’s always a challenge to figure out these gigs on the fly, but it’s what I like to do. And it seems to work. There’s some magic involved, I believe.