Thank you, Chris. You are very inspirational. I am always uplifted and encouraged by you. I love it when I see a new video you upload and I always watch them. For me, I doubt myself constantly as I'm still really new at this, and I always find peace and assurance in your words. Right before we begin, I introduce Rachel and myself and thank them for inviting us. Sometimes, I'll get stopped during the show and asked what we do for our living, and I tell them I'm a college Dean - they always ask what that means, so I tell them the departments I supervise. I have a flier that people can take that talks a little about Rachel and me too. At yesterday's show, I saw two people walk up and take one. My son's girlfriend who works at a senior community that we oftentimes play at, said that several of the people she helps have our flier on their refrigerators in their rooms, right next to their grandkids pictures. I Love that. Yesterday, a person walked up as we were moving on to the next song and asked if we knew "Country Roads"; I said sure, we can do that one; I said I need everyone to sing it with me because it's been months since I've done it. So, they all joined in and sang with us. I'm so glad I had it with me. I really love it when I look around the room during the show and everyone is singing along. Love you all!

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.