These are great points. When I do cold calls (or warm calls) to Life Enrichment and Activities Directors, I always say I perform shows that are engaging, fun, and easy to sing along to. Since most of the time I perform at social hours where they are serving drinks, I ask them when I book if they just want background music or if they want a show or program where I say an interesting thing about the song or artist and invite them to sing along. Every time, the Directors say they want a show that is engaging and they are invited to sing with me. That's when sometimes they will say that some performers come in and just perform and never even look at the residents. That is so sad. I always try to ask questions and get them to be part of the show (I think I've heard Chris say this too) and sometimes they ask me questions like: why is your guitar different (I play a classical nylon string guitar) and what is Rachel sitting on and playing like a drum (a cajon), or what kind of flute is she playing. I always prefer putting on a show; they are so much more fun to have an interactive experience with the residents during the hour I'm with them.

I know this goes against what Chris has told us for a long time, but I've found that if I'm up front with the fee, there aren't any surprises later. I haven't done any programs for free since I started doing this last December. I've got 22 shows this year and another 22 booked for next year already. When I talk with the Activities Directors, they all say $150 is in that sweet spot. Some performers get more and some get less. I did have one Director tell me that she had to let someone go because they raised their rates next year to where she can't afford them anymore, so she gave me their 3 spots for the first half of next year - she said if her residents like me, she'll give me 3 more spots later in the year, all for $150 each. I've never had anyone tell me they can't pay $150, but I also assume if they can't pay it, they don't call me back or email me back. I've contacted at least 25 different places so far (about half of them cold calls) and I have performed at 8 of them so far, some of them multiple times. One place called my wife and me "top tier" performers, but I really don't think we are. I haven't played guitar long (only since COVID), so I try to play chords on a classical guitar (it's easier for me to play than a steel string) and I sing the best I can; my wife plays the cajon, flute, percussion, and sings backup harmony. I've found that more of our venues like us performing as a duo than just me as a soloist. Even though I have a sound system, we always perform "unplugged" since these rooms aren't too big and I'm a classically trained singer from the University. It's like singing at my church which isn't very big either. My memory stinks, so I always use an iPad with Forscore for the lyrics and chords. Anyway (sorry, I got off track there), when I call them, I basically follow Chris' script that I got from one of his videos of cold calls. Others, I send them an email or a web form on their webpage and I include links to our Youtube programs. My wife hates that we have full 1-hour programs on Youtube because she says I'm giving my work away for free - she knows how hard I work to find or create easy guitar chords for these songs. And, she says we need to redo our webpage as it is way too long and doesn't look professional enough, so I'm trying to get ideas. In terms of identifying what places to call, I asked Gemini (AI) to help me put together a list; and it did that for me, it also included whether the locations are large (100+ beds) and whether it could determine if they have music programming or not. It gave me about 50 places within 30 minutes from my house. We are focusing on the large senior communities first. We live in West Michigan and I think there are about 2-million people here. I think Chris may have said something about this in one of his videos, but I have found that in West Michigan (Grand Rapids Area), there is a lot of competition here as there are a lot of musicians in a big city. But, not all musicians are created equal, so some Directors have told me that some of the people they hire, turned out to be poor singers. Some of the residents have told me that some musicians just don't understand the kind of music they like (Chris gives excellent examples of songs they can connect with). So, I just do the best I can, I focus on songs from the 40s-70s, and I try to make a connection to the residents (yes, Chris says that all the time and I believe he is right). Oh, that is something another director told me, she like us because we talk to the residents during the show and many of them sing along with us - she told me that some performers just come in, set up, play, and never even look at the residents - that is so sad! So, in each of my programs, I try to give them some rock and roll, sock hop, ballads, country, patriotic, a hymn or spiritual, even a song from the 80s or a musical. BTW, I have a neighbor who sings in a quartet and plays the piano for their group; they sing hymns and spirituals. He said that he likes performing at senior communities and his group doesn't charge at all, but that is his mission in his retirement. My ultimate goal is for my wife and I to get us set up as a part time gig (duo) so when I retire, I have a nice side hustle to bring in some extra cash. Okay, I talk too much, so I hope this helps, John. Thanks for sharing your web page; Robyn, thanks for sharing yours too. As for Tuesday's meeting/presentation, I really wish my phone didn't cut out. My family decided to go for a 3-mile walk up to Wendy's to get chili and I couldn't connect to the livestream at times. I really love this group, so thanks for all the help, guidance, and ideas. And Chris, thank you for your leadership and ideas too. It was funny, on the walk, my wife said, "Hey, that's the guy you're always watching on Youtube". I said "Yup, he's helping a lot of us"! She said that was really cool - it's like you're famous! And she is right, Chris, to me, it feel like you're famous and it is great to communicate with you. You're a great leader and mentor to me, so thank you and to everyone who participates in this group. It's like you are my extended family. I mean that! - Brian

I'm looking forward to this. Thanks for doing these. I love getting to know the members and I learn so much from everyone.

Thanks Chris and Judy! I always appreciate this time together and I always learn something.

Thanks Chris. I also sip on an Emergen-C + Immune booster all day long and I take a men's over 50 vitamin everyday too and I have found that this has been a game changer for me. I rarely get sick anymore. I also drink a ton of water and eat a lot more protein - at least 20 grams of protein every meal. I have also found that eating a protein bar about 45 minutes before a show really helps too. I get the Pure Protein bars from Sam's Club (Costco has them too); they do a really good job keeping my brain going, I am more alert, and the shows generally go much better because my brain feels like it's working at 100%. I also keep a water bottle up on stage too and try to drink at least 70-80 ounces of water everyday.

Thanks Chris and everyone who participates. I loved last week's time together and I look forward to Thursday's session too. For me, I just started performing programs this year, I have a music degree in vocal performance, so singing is my strength. I started doing this because of Chris' encouraging and instructional videos. Anyway, to try to address Chris' question, I'm not sure why I don't have many shows for the rest of the year. So far this year, I've performed 18 times at a total of 8 different locations. Two locations signed me up for monthly shows next year too. But for now, I only have 5 more shows scheduled for the rest of the year - all of the shows I do are for $150 each. Is that a good rate? I thought Chris said in one of his videos that $150 is pretty good - I live in Grand Rapids MI and we have about 40-50 senior communities within 30-40 minutes from my house. I'm a full-time Dean at our college here, so performing 2-4 times a month is probably enough for me. Actually, I'd like to get into Michigan's Adventure (our version of Six Flags) where they have solo gigs every weekend. I'm not nearly as good at guitar as most of you as I'm just a rhythm/chord/strumming guy and have only played for a few years. I rely on my my voice with easy 4-6 chord songs in G and D (sometimes E and A); so I just do easy cover songs from the 50s, 60s, 70s and some 80s. I can't play/sing from memory due to my lower guitar skill level, so I use an iPad. I usually perform with my wife and people seem to like our duo (me on lead guitar and vocals, my wife on cajon, percussion, flute, and harmony vocals). Although I have a sound system (PA), we usually perform "unplugged" and the residents seem to like that. And, since I'm not great at guitar, I play a classical nylon string guitar (beginner's guitar) which makes my sound a little different than everybody else too. I mainly play a classical guitar because of the wider neck which I seem to play better than my steel string. I try to maintain about 4-5 hours of ready to perform songs so it seems like they get a fresh show every time. Way too much info here, but I thought I'd share in case anyone finds any of this helpful. I think all of you are probably way more advanced at guitar than me, but if I said anything useful here, thanks for reading. Here is a link to one of our shows if anyone wants to see what we've come up with: https://youtu.be/38y5J_ZVBS4. Here is another show (both shows are from the same month): https://youtu.be/RdPnnr8pASI