I picked up a serendipitous gig on Wednesday, playing at a private dining room at the large retirement home in Nazareth. There was an open house so I think they liked having some music at dinner to show off the place.
I prepped by working up some standards in the Irish, old time country, early rock and roll, stuff to go with my usual ‘entertaining’ material. Folks drifted in about 4:30 and were served fancy grilled cheese sandwiches, and hung out with friends for a while. I was really background music, which is exactly what was called for. Just acoustic guitar and mandolin and some fun songs.
For the most part, I was wallpaper but notices toes taping, some singing along at the table and many smiles. I played for about an hour and a half, shuffled off into the humid evening. A nice gig and fun to play some old standards, some of which, I found, are quite depressing. You Are My Sunshine and Red River Valley are pretty bleak when they get to the third verse….
The check’s in the mail.