Playin' at the nursing home

Larry Henson · Post by **Larry Henson** » 11 Oct 2014 11:26 am

Bless you for your endeavor.... I assure you are a blessing more than you know to those folks. Besides that you have a very pretty guitar....it takes a very special person to do what you are doing...Bless you!
Larry

Ray Montee · Post by **Ray Montee** » 11 Oct 2014 7:32 pm

When I was a member of the Arkie & His Jolly Cowboys band, he used to play quite a few nursing homes and youth and adult prison facilities.

The Oregon State Pen was especially good as one of you said above, it was a great captive audience. Not a single person got up and walked out on us.

About nursing homes, shortly after my first divorce, I was in mental health for a couple of years. I finally was released tho'.

Wayne Ledbetter · Post by **Wayne Ledbetter** » 16 Oct 2014 10:42 pm

Good job. Great work. God bless.

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 17 Oct 2014 9:45 am

A friend of mine and his wife used to organise an Old Time Music Hall that he toured old folks' homes with. They concentrated on old songs with which the folks of that era would be familiar and they lapped it up. In those days the audience would have been youngsters about the time of WW1, so he sang a lot of songs from that era and earlier, dressed in khaki, and it used to bring them to tears. They also had comedy. One of our friends, a farmer, would do a chicken hypnotising act, and they had a banana eating contest, where the wife had to sit on her husband's lap shoving bananas into his mouth as fast as he could eat them.

Stan Paxton · Post by **Stan Paxton** » 17 Oct 2014 12:24 pm

Alan, sounds like fun; the residents in nursing homes have so little of anything to call fun, it is wonderful to see them enjoying things. ...We even try, and sometimes succeed, in getting some of them to participate in singing a song, doing a solo, etc. ...

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 17 Oct 2014 3:45 pm

We should all encourage the entertainment of folks in nursing homes. We shall probably be there ourselves sooner than we realise.

Steven Welborn · Post by **Steven Welborn** » 21 Oct 2014 8:27 am

I thought about doing nursing homes a few years back. You've inspired me to get it together and carry thru with the idea.

thanks Scott

Stan Paxton · Post by **Stan Paxton** » 21 Oct 2014 9:29 am

We can give them something to hang on to, as they now feel somebody cares. We find quite a few who nobody comes to visit, even relatives living in the same community who NEVER come to visit them. Breaks their heart.

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 21 Oct 2014 9:54 am

I'm reminded of something George Burns said when asked what it was like to grow old, and his reply was that growing old wasn't so bad, except that there was no-one around of his age to talk to. As people get older they miss the culture of their youth, and that is what entertaining them should consist of.
You should also remember that their memories of their youth were of young people singing and dancing the music of their times, not of old people trying to recreate their youth, so young people should be encouraged to entertain old folks with old songs and old dances.
To get some impression of this, our baby boomer generation was brought up in a world of big band singers and early rock and roll. When we see people like Chuck Berry and Jerry Lee Lewis performing nowadays what we see is old stars who can still perform, but the fact that they're old reminds us of our own advancing years. It's refreshing to see youngsters playing 50s rockabilly in 50s style.

J.C. Norris · Post by **J.C. Norris** » 29 Oct 2014 9:05 pm

Scott: Very glad to see that you're also a Ham. God bless you, my brother. 73rds, J.C. Norris KJ4ZWC Gen.

Mike Bowles · Post by **Mike Bowles** » 30 Oct 2014 1:40 pm

i read this scott it brought tears to my eyes my dad is in a nursing home i wanted to play there but couldnt find any players god bless you i am going to get my dad tommorrow and bring him back to live with me.i have really become attached to some of these people there i will continue to visit them when i can thanks scott for having a good heart.

bruce fischer · Post by **bruce fischer** » 30 Oct 2014 1:42 pm

thank you all who do this act of love!
you will be blessed......................
bruce & lynn

John Peay · Post by **John Peay** » 1 Dec 2014 2:04 pm

As promised, here's a follow-up to say that our little ragtag band "Simpler Times" did a nursing home gig on Saturday, Nov. 19 at the Benton House in Alpharetta, GA. My wife, who was going to be the photographer, was sick and could not attend, so I could only dig up one picture:

And yes, there actually is a steel player there (me), completely hidden by the lead singer (whose wife took this picture!). I thought that it might have been made before we started, but then I noticed a small sliver of my right trouser leg in the view. Fortunately I was much higher in the mix than I was in this photo! But as you can tell, we had our female singers up front for a reason!

But the point is, it was a huge blessing to our band, and hopefully to the residents. Quite a few residents sang along with most if not all verses to such songs as: Amazing Grace, You are My Sunshine, What a Friend we have in Jesus, Silver-Haired Daddy of Mine, I'll Fly Away, The Old Rugged Cross, etc...

The highlight though was visiting with the residents for 30 minutes or so afterwards. I spent some time with Vic, an 88-yr old Korean War veteran who has been blind for 7 years (glaucoma), and moved into the facility about 2 years ago when his wife of 60 years passed away! Vic used to sing in a gospel quartet, so I told him to be ready next time and he could sing a verse with us.

Bottom line, it is a huge blessing to do this sort of gig, and I, like Scott, want to encourage us all to do more of it!

Ron Bigers · Post by **Ron Bigers** » 1 Dec 2014 7:54 pm

I play in a group that plays at nursing homes four times a month. One of them is the Veterans Center.I'm not good enough on the steel guitar yet to play in public so I play six string. The people there really enjoy it.

Kevin Lichtsinn · Post by **Kevin Lichtsinn** » 2 Dec 2014 6:35 am

Scott, thanks for serving others. I think what you do is admirable. I checked out your website and thanks for that too! Keep up the good work.

Wesley Medlen · Post by **Wesley Medlen** » 2 Dec 2014 5:48 pm

Awesome Scott I belong to a Cowboy Church Band I think it's a great way to spread the gospel and this band is great no one cares who gets aride. And it's such fun spreading the gospel in this manner. I've also played in nursing homes and senior centers still do God Bless you Wes

Roual Ranes · Post by **Roual Ranes** » 4 Dec 2014 6:05 am

Not one patient in a nursing home wants to be there and anything we can do to help their world be better is a plus for them. I have seen those that appear to be lifeless shake their feet to the music. I get more out of it than they do.

Dan Robinson · Post by **Dan Robinson** » 9 Dec 2014 9:27 pm

Scott,
Simply put, that is OUTSTANDING!

Jim Williams · Post by **Jim Williams** » 10 Dec 2014 8:04 am

I play from time to time with a small group of folks at a local nursing home. This is a very fulfilling place to play as these people really appreciate someone taking the time to come out and visit / entertain them. They also appreciate the older music that we normally play. I normally play the mandolin or banjo on these trips but have been practicing a few tunes to possibly play on my lap steel on a future visit. Harbor Lights, Steel Guitar Rag, Deep Water...should hit their era pretty well. I'm sure most of these folks haven't seen or heard a lap steel for decades so it should bring back some memories for them.

Scott Duckworth · Post by **Scott Duckworth** » 23 Jun 2015 6:12 pm

Well, here's a few pics of my new equipment setup. Used this tonight at the nursing home. I had a lot of fun tonight. I feel better since having the stints, and my playing showed it!

Sorry for the fuzziness, just can seem to hold a camera still anymore...

This is my Harbinger V2112 powered speaker.

This is view to the right of the "cockpit"...

I like the Zoom hanging on the side of the mixer. I can see it and operating it good. Comes in handy for switching between fast and slow rotor when in the Organ patch.

With the new setup, I can run a vocal mic, CD track, etc when I need to. I built the mixer case and stand.

Daniel Policarpo · Post by **Daniel Policarpo** » 26 Jun 2015 3:11 am

That's a great little set up , Scott. I particularly like the stand/case you built for the mixer. Glad your feeling better.

All the best,
Dan

Scott Duckworth · Post by **Scott Duckworth** » 26 Jun 2015 8:40 am

Thanks Daniel. The mixer case is 1 8 ft 1x4 and some old wood flooring I had. The stand is made from an old bed frame and my 1939 Marquette stick welder...

Yup... I'm CHEAP!

Ernie Pollock · Post by **Ernie Pollock** » 26 Jun 2015 1:53 pm

I have been playing in a lot of the local nursing homes for the past 8 years, My wife plays Conga Drums & sings, Our Friend from church sings harmony, & I sing most of the stuff & back myself up with my steel guitar. I do make my own rhythm tracks for all of our songs, We probably have a couple hundred that we can do. These folks enjoy this so much and I love playing for them. I did all the bars years ago for 30 or so years. This is by far the most important thing I have ever done, also like to say that we NEVER Charge any home for our FREE service out of Christian Love for all the residents. We play every Friday, for about a 1 1/2 hr show.
I am just about nursing home fodder myself, I am 71 one years old & my wife is 73, & our friend 72. So we ain't spring chickens, thats for sure.

Ernie Pollock, my wife
Deanna, & our Frined Cherie

Still picking my old Black MSA with low bass E9th tuning w/5 pedals & 5 Levers, 10 string '
almost universal setup 2 per E9th, 3 for the B6 side + all den knee levers!

Scott Duckworth · Post by **Scott Duckworth** » 26 Jun 2015 2:14 pm

Good deal Ernie!

Scott Duckworth · Post by **Scott Duckworth** » 27 Aug 2015 4:02 am

Played Monday night (Aug 25) and had a great time. Did a lot of Dobro effect and picking on the old gospel songs. Also, I did a solo rendition of "Beyond the Sunset" with a backing track I did in ChordPulse. Got lots of good comments about it.

I also started having a vocal mic at the steel tonight, so I could sing some of the bass parts. I bought a clamp on mini boom stand that clamps to the right front leg of my steel. Works great!

Keep on pickin'!

The Steel Guitar Forum

Playin' at the nursing home

As a mere youth, I used to play the charity circuit.

Thx

nursing homes

But Where's the Steel Player??

nursing homes

My new setup

Playing there also!!