Moderators daddymack Posted March 30, 2018 Moderators Share Posted March 30, 2018 senor, I don't believe there is an actual percentage...because over the last 45+ years things have changed. It used to be common for someone to come over and slip you a couple of bucks and say 'play 'xyz' for me'.But, in this age of self-entitlement, people think you are a freaking iPod and they can just select the song title and you will play it.Millennials don't tip worth crap either. I can count on one hand the number of times someone under thirtyfive dropped even a dollar in a tip jar at one of my shows.I used to jokingly end our show intros with 'and we will attempt to honor song requests, and we will base that mainly on the denomination of the bill the request is written on...'; now I don't bother. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members senorblues Posted March 30, 2018 Members Share Posted March 30, 2018 "Things have changed in the last 45 years . . " That's funny! From my admittedly limited perspective, yes, I agree that the tips I get come from people my age almost exclusively. Further, they're offered because they like what I'm doing, not because they requested a specific song. The song under discussion, "The Way You Look Tonight" probably wasn't requested by a millennial, which is why I asked the question. I do agree with your observation about treating us like "ipods" . . . of course, I would have said "jukeboxes" . . . and I would go further to suggest that that applies to keyboard players more often than guitar players. I had a request a while ago to play "Long Black Veil" which I didn't know. I learned it; recorded it, and put it on Soundcloud, sent it to the venue. So it's more about learning what the regulars like so you can get return gigs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Notes_Norton Posted April 3, 2018 Members Share Posted April 3, 2018 What I find most distressful about requests, is with the proliferation of Karaoke Jocks masquerading as musicians, if someone (usually younger) requests a song that you don't know, and you thank them for the request and apologize that you don't know how to play it, they will ask, "Can't you just pull it up?" or something like that. People used to understand that a band can't learn every song ever written but people used to KJ acts expect non KJ people to be able to play anything, anytime. It doesn't happen often for our age group, but it does rear it's ugly head from time to time. Notes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pogo97 Posted April 3, 2018 Author Members Share Posted April 3, 2018 I spend a lot of time polishing a limited number of songs so that I can present them as they deserve to be presented. If someone asks for one of those, great. But if they want something I don't play and haven't practiced, then I will always decline out of deference to the rest of the audience and myself. That said, I went to see my friend Roger last weekend (he's a complete request whore) and someone asked for "some Donovan." We had lots of fun naming forgotten Donovan songs and then he played "Hurdy Gurdy Man," "Colours," and "Mellow Yellow" in their entirety even though he hadn't played them in at least thirty years. It was fun and I was *very* impressed. Then someone asked for f*ing "Barrett's Privateers," which I loath and I had to go for a short walk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pogo97 Posted April 4, 2018 Author Members Share Posted April 4, 2018 If they like "Long Black Veil" they will probably like "Saginaw Michigan" and assorted other Lefty Frizzell songs. Most country songs from the sixties work just fine on piano. [video=youtube;gFarJc8aGSE] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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