From: klb52@gmail.com   
      
   On 2015-04-18 21:37:07 -0500, Jim D  said:   
      
   > a less typo-ed version of my last post ...   
   >   
   >   
   > ---   
   > It is too many.  Thought about this a lot today.   It was a nice day.    
   > We mowed for the first time of the season.  That meant fix two flats,   
   > and a corroded battery cable on the tractor.  That caused a job that   
   > normally takes an hour or so to stretch out a lot longer.  Lots of time   
   > to think about stuff.     
   >   
   > One of those random ideas that popped in my head was just as you   
   > suggest, there is a big bunch of tunes we know that our younger   
   > audiences don't.  I saw that in myself with the Dwight concert we   
   > watched. Several of his newer songs were strange to me.  Just albums I   
   > never listened to. And I didn't care about those songs. I actually fast   
   > forwarded past a few songs.  What's that say ?  That I don't care about   
   > those tunes. I've never heard them, and I don't care to.  Interesting.     
   >   
   > We know songs that, no matter how important to me way back then, may   
   > not mean a thing to our current audiences.  Some songs are current, and   
   > so known. Some are classics, so still heard and known.  Yes, this   
   > depends on how intense a particular listener is.  But I'm talking   
   > average here, not fanatics.  Most people only know the popular stuff,   
   > things that got played on the radio.    
   >   
   > There is also an attitude among some musicians that they have far   
   > better musical tastes than their audiences, and so should do what they   
   > themselves like. Their audience will somehow appreciate this better   
   > music they are hearing and understand how better their lives are now   
   > that someone with better tastes than they possess are guiding them.    
   > Seriously, I've heard that from musicians !   
   >   
   > That's really a whole 'nuther discussion.     
   >   
   > The answer requires two things. One, understand what you, as a   
   > musician, are doing. What your job really is. Are you playing music for   
   > them or for yourself ?       
   >   
   > The other thing is to understand who your audience is.  And with that   
   > come an understanding of what songs they know and will connect with.    
   > Sure, you might throw a few oddball tunes out there, but do it too   
   > much, and you'll lose the crowd.    
   >   
   >   
   > Grasp those two ideas, and like Sun Tzu, you stand a chance.  Ignore   
   > either one, and you're toast.     
   >   
   >   
   > Jim   
      
   Same problem...  When you play a variety of styles for decades, songs   
   pile up.  For me, the problem is that I love some of those tunes that   
   may not sell as well as others so over the past year or so I have tried   
   to force myself to honestly prioitize the songs into three basic gig   
   types: country variety dance, pop/rock variety dance and variety   
   perfomance/listening.  I used a set of criteria:  Basically   
   danceablity, requested, audience response, style type (swing, waltz,   
   etc) and overall popularity.  It has been hard when some of my   
   favorites didn't stack up very well to the criteria, so I let myself   
   keep about one super fav for every ten or so. I know this sounds   
   terrible because I guess a person should only play favs but if I do, I   
   won't be performing professionally - I'll be a garage act.   
   On that note, I read today that neither Mic nor Keith particularly   
   liked "Satisfaction" but closed nearly every show with it up to the   
   80s. Even at their level, they are no doubt playing some tunes that   
   they would prefer to leave at home...   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)