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#1
05-09-2018, 04:39 PM
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I got my first guitar gig in 20 years!
I had mentioned in another thread about getting my first guitar in eons, and that I play keyboard professionally (I do oldies for the senior circuit), and I haven't touched a guitar at all in 10 years, and little in the 10 years before that. But I had played for 23 years when I was younger.
Yesterday, I got my Yamaha LL-TA. I went to show it to my quite demented mother in the lobby of her assisted living community. I played a few oldies for her and some residents started gathering around, and we started having a little sing-along. A lady who had hired me to play keyboard at another nursing home walked in and said, "Larry, what are you doing here?" I said, my mom lives here." She said, "Write down your number. I want to hire you." I started telling her that I had just bought this guitar, and that I hadn't played in 10 years. She said, "I want you to come with your guitar." It turns out she's the memory care coordinator for the locked down unit. If it's anything like the other memory care gigs I get, it will probably be $125 for an hour one morning a month playing for 8-16 seniors with advanced Alzheimer's in a living room setting. I prefer the active seniors who appreciate a solo and laugh at my one-liners, but memory care gigs are still rewarding. So maybe this new Yamaha will pay for itself! Thanks to my fellow guitarists for the best wishes!
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Eastman E1SS-CLA-LTD Eastman E1OOSS-LTD Cordoba Fusion Orchestra CE Cordoba SM-CE Mini Classical Acoustic Ibanez Blazer 21 MIJ Stratocaster 2 Yamaha PSR-SX900 keyboards I play professionally Roland FP-90 digital piano I play for pleasure with piano VSTs. 
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#2
05-09-2018, 05:04 PM
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Fantastic! Sound like a great gig! Congrats!
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#3
05-09-2018, 05:11 PM
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Congratulations. A lesson for the rest of us, you never know when a paying gig is coming your way. Just smile and say thanks and yes I'll play that gig.
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Happy Sunsets Taylor 514ce (1999) Taylor K22ce - all Koa (2001) Taylor 612ce (2001) Taylor T5-C2 Koa (2007) Ovation CS28P KOAB - Koa Burst (2017) Paul Reed Smith 305 - Sunburst (2012) Paul Reed Smith Custom 22 - Autumn Sky (2013) Fender Classic Player 60s Strat - Sonic Blue (2012) Roland Juno DS76 (2020)
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#4
05-09-2018, 05:15 PM
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Nice! And you'll be helping the people there.
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When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down, “happy.” They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life. —John Lennon
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#5
05-09-2018, 05:24 PM
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Wow thanks!
In Chicago region, there are hundreds of active retirement, assisted living, memory care, and skilled nursing. I have almost 500 communities in my database. There is a lot of competition among musicians to play for the monthly birthday parties, ice-cream socials, and all the other events that these places have. Some of the luxury retirement communities pay pretty decently and have entertainment 3 times a week and the public aid facilities pay less and hire less.
There are some monstrously good guitarists with lovely voices who I compete with as a keyboardist/singer/comedian. I was just in the right place at the right time, but to tell the truth, someone with advanced dementia would rather sing Take Me Out to The Ball Game than Cole Porter, so you don't have to be talented. I'll leave you with one of my one-liners that I know you'll like (stolen from who knows who?): "My band's name is 999 megabytes. We almost got a gig." Oh, BTW, my wife wasn't mad that I bought the guitar even though we're struggling this month. She thought it was sexy!
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Eastman E1SS-CLA-LTD Eastman E1OOSS-LTD Cordoba Fusion Orchestra CE Cordoba SM-CE Mini Classical Acoustic Ibanez Blazer 21 MIJ Stratocaster 2 Yamaha PSR-SX900 keyboards I play professionally Roland FP-90 digital piano I play for pleasure with piano VSTs.
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