BillFitzmaurice.info

Since it's a slow day here on the forum......

Went to a local assisted living facility today to play some songs for the monthly birthday party. This was where my mother lived up until her death this last Christmas. Decided to really do it up this time (my third) by bringing my bass player from my band.

The selection is old country, old WWI songs, and gospel.

Got there....got setup....PA dies.

It was my trusty old Peavey XR600 that I bought used at least 20 years ago. It's my everyday garage PA for listening while I'm out there working....never a hiccup...until today....30 minutes before downbeat.

Fortunately, my buddy who has a studio full of gear that he doesn't use has another old Peavey head. Ran over, picked it up, hooked it up ..... had just enough time to change shirts and put a smile on the old folks faces.

They hire people to come in and play, but I do it for free......after all, it's where my mama lived.

So, if you have the skills - give a little time.....go find a nursing home or assisted living. Play old songs that they can relate to. They are a great audience and they love breaking up their day. And you'll feel all the better for it.

Very true Bruce. I used to volunteer a lot at facilities where my grand dad's were and I still play at least a few times a year at a couple of local facilities. They do absolutely love it and are the most appreciative audience anyone could ask for. I love gospel songs, but I make it a point to play secular tunes, like oldies and old country. I've always figured other groups that came in probably did gospel, so I wanted to play something different. I hope to start going more as my girls get older. They're five and eight now and both are able to sing pretty good plus they're insanely cute. Even though its volunteer, I still get "paid" as most times I play I end up getting a call for a paying gig somewhere. Neat how that works out.

Donny

Last time I was there I drug out some old tunes and tried to get 'em to sing along...and it worked. My contact there said it was the first time that they'd ever participated in a sing along.

The key was the songs.....I picked old songs from the teens and 20s that they heard as kids growing up....like ....

Over There
Long Way to Tipperary
Give My Regards to Broadway
K-K-K-Katie

I do 'em as a medley....I sing the tune then they sing it with me....lots of participation.

I added two more this year in the regular set - and they really brought the house down:

King of the Road
Sixteen Tons

Kinda' fun playing these old tunes......sure ain't gonna' do 'em anywhere else.

Good stuff. Did you use any BFM speakers?

Guitbusy wrote:Good stuff. Did you use any BFM speakers?

Ha....no. The only thing coming out of the trailer for this deal was a mic stand and a speaker stand. I put one Yamaha SM12V on the stand and that carried vocal and guitars. It was in the dining room with probably 35-40 people......that was more than enough for people with hearing aids.

Truth is.....that Peavey and that little speaker sounded great on vocals....and that's what it was all about on that kind of show. Just put it a little to the side and back - they heard it, I heard it, all was fine.

The update on the old, dead Peavey.......well hold on there buckaroo.....it ain't dead anymore. Took it apart, filled the pots with deoxit. Took apart the connectors between the preamp and amp and shot them too. Plugged it in and it worked. I knew the problem was somewhere in the preamp section because I was getting hiss from the speaker, just no sound. Still not sure just what fixed it....never will know for sure. There was one connection that was a little looser than the others - who knows?

You just can't kill those old Peaveys.

I have my garage stereo back......well, mono anyway.

If this were Facebook I would have hit the "like'" button.

Tom Smit wrote:If this were Facebook I would have hit the "like'" button.

I was thinking the same thing.

LOVE the old Peavey stuff!

I carry an old Bandit 112 (Sheffield) and an older Basic 60 on the trailer in case someone has an oops with their own gear.

Such a great tale on many accounts Bruce

Good Karma to you for giving old folk some joy in their lives.
I can tell you from many years of working in hospitals, that at least here, there simply isn't enough of it. Companion animals, no probs, activities, no probs.
Lets face it, the era of these folks was one where lots of people sang (and a lot of them sang quite nicely) and danced.
They might find it hard to dance now, but they can still sing.

And glad to hear the old Peavey just had a hiccup...

Hey Bruce,

If that Peavey head has a Pre-Amp out jack and Power-Amp In jack, I'd clean those as well. When you plug into the preamp out jack, it disconnects the preamp from the power amp. Sometimes the switch on the jack gets a little dirty and is enough to break the signal going to the power amp.

JohnP. wrote:Hey Bruce,

If that Peavey head has a Pre-Amp out jack and Power-Amp In jack, I'd clean those as well. When you plug into the preamp out jack, it disconnects the preamp from the power amp. Sometimes the switch on the jack gets a little dirty and is enough to break the signal going to the power amp.

That's a great point. I don't ever use the main out or power amp in jacks, but I could see where it could create an "open". I did shoot every jack full of DeOxit5.

Now for the DeOxit5 commercial.......if you don't have a can of this stuff - get one. It might just save a gig someday.

I've used it for years... just the other day a friend of mine called - the 17 yr old female guitarist that he plays with had a wah-wah pedal go out. Her dad brought it over. We popped the bottom and doused the pot and the jack real good. It's worked perfectly ever since.

And yes, she's a damned good rock and blues player. Been playing gigs since she was about 11. She just recently was part of a Heart tribute performance that brought the house down. Look her up ... Kori Free and the Groovehounds