It started with Nursing Homes...

In High school I was active in choir, and even did some class plays.  Eventually, I did have a nervous break down and had to be home schooled, but at that point, I became more serious about doing musical performance. I didn't really perform out much as a teenager, but I did get my start doing the nursing home circuit. When I was in my mid to late teens, I performed at various  nursing and retirement homes all over the Virginia, Maryland, and West Virginia area. I did a variety of songs, but very few of my originals. I did mostly covers from the past. A lot of the old folks seemed to enjoy it. They would ask me how I knew all these "old songs". I just told them from my grandfather's record collection.  In those days, most of the people were still alive from the World War II generation. The legacy of Patsy Cline was strong, because she sang at many of the bars and restaurants in the Tri State area.  This area was her stomping ground. Some people in the area still resented Patsy Cline, who was considered a morally lose woman for her day. It was this age that I was getting more into "Classic Country Music". I read all I could about Country Music History, and grew to love and appreciate the genre even more. Before then, I was  only into Modern Country Music, and had little regard for the past. I even thought at one time old Country music was boring, and New Country was where it was at. I certainly changed musical directions in a hurry.  At one Senior Center in Charles Town ,West, Virginia, a man told me he  had "danced with Patsy Cline". I got a lot of stories about her like that one.

Back then I would just sit down at the piano, and I only had a karaoke machine for an "amp". I didn't have much stage experience.  I usually played for free, but some times I would get paid. Internet was not mainstream back then, so I had to get most of my bookings by word of mouth, or through the yellow pages. The first nursing home I played was at "Rose Hill" in Berryville, Virginia in 1995.  Berryville was a quaint little town in the Northern Shenandoah Valley, just about 10 miles east of Winchester. From there, I got invited to sing at Winchester area retirement homes- such as Hilltop, Hillcrest, and Shawnee Springs.   The latter was the most frequent of the three. I played there many times, and one day I got a nice card from someone in the audience that said "love and prayers, Mildred and Tommy".On the back of the card was a "Gospel Gram". I signed up for those in the mail, and for the last 23 years have been receiving them. They are little anecdotes tied to Biblical passages. They are printed in Winchester by Dave and Cheryl Alter. They really inspire me, and every time I get one, it is a reminder of the those early days when I was playing for folks in that area.

I never had many complaints. Only one time- this lady who had performed at Carnegie Hall criticized my playing: "You can't dance to this" , she said. "He's playing one thing, and singing another". I don't know what she meant by that,  since I was never really off key,  perhaps she didn't like my arrangements. It really blew my confidence level, but I kept on with my music anyway. My piano playing (and singing) have improved tremendously since I was a teenager , and that is one of things that makes me feel all this practice at the retirement home circuit , was well worth while. All those years playing at the retirement homes for people who were half in and half out of consciousness paid off !