Saturday, May 7, 2005
New York Times
Late Edition - Final, Section B, Page 9, Column 2
Singing to a Crowd That's Humming Along
Late Edition - Final, Section B, Page 9, Column 2
Singing to a Crowd That's Humming Along
 |
John Loomis for The New York Times
Ken Lelen at Westminster Towers in Rock Hill, S.C., one of the many retirement centers around the country where he performs for the elderly. |
By JOHN LELAND
A little before show time in Rock Hill, S.C., Ken Lelen took a break from his guitar to promote the gig.
“You going to come for the show?” he asked a man standing nearby. “Or you going to take a nap?” The man, Miller Tucker, thought about it. “I’m going to take a nap,” he said. “I wish I could stay, but I got to get my rest.” Mr. Tucker, 89, pushed his walker toward the exit, vowing to catch Mr. Lelen next time.
The music industry is desperately chasing Internet-wired teenagers, but Mr. Lelen, a former journalist, believes he has found a niche at the other end of the market in retirement communities. For the last four years, he has traveled from his home near Trenton, N.J., up and down the East Coast, playing up to 140 one-night stands a year and developing a contact list of 2,000 communities for the aged. His bookings run till November 2006.
This particular road, he has learned, can be a trying mistress. “It’s common to look out and see people nodding off,” Mr. Lelen said. “I don’t take it personally.”
Music industry trade magazines do not track the retirement community circuit, where gigs rarely pay more than a few hundred dollars and the chances of being discovered are slim. Some of the performers are part-timers; some play free. Most don’t have agents, roadies, recording contracts or groupies. But in recent years, as the nation’s population has aged, the number of performers who specialize in homes for the elderly has grown to a few hundred, according to the activities directors at three communities.
“There’s most definitely a circuit,” said Jennifer Tillett, who hires about 60 performers a year at Charlestown, a continuing care community of 2,500 residents in Catonsville, Md. “My residents have quite discerning tastes,” Ms. Tillett said. Most of the performers who solicit her understand this audience, she said. “The others, you can tell they see a captive audience and are looking to cash in.”
Mr. Lelen, who has been playing the guitar since he was 16, stumbled across this market in 2001. He left a job as a real estate reporter at the Washington Post in 1999 and was singing folk songs on open mike nights at New Jersey bars. “I was looking for a career niche,” he said. His mother, who was then in an independent living center, suggested he perform at her community. Mr. Lelen came up with an act, singing hits from the 1920’s to 1940’s and playing his guitars from the same period. He made $200.
“They never booked me again,” he said. “I found out later they only booked me because of my mother. But I found I liked playing for that audience, and they were fabulous for these songs. I realized I could create a business marketing myself to these communities.”
He learned that the concert circuit has some unique wrinkles. Most of his gigs are at continuing care retirement communities, which offer different levels of care, from independent living sections to skilled nursing or dementia units. For performers, he said, the money is in working at independent living communities, because they have the biggest budgets.
“I have musician friends who, when they hear what I’m up to, say, ‘I gotta get a piece of that,’ ” Mr. Lelen said.
Audiences can be tough. “My residents are very vocal,” said Kelli M. Carson, activities director of Rolling Green Village, a sprawling community in Greenville, S.C.
“They tell you what they like and don’t like. They like Ken — he tells stories about all of the guitars. If he just played for an hour, it wouldn’t go over as well.”
Mr. Lelen is a genial performer, with a pleasant tenor and touches of a Southern accent that he did not acquire growing up on Long Island. At Rolling Green Village, a widow named Marion Eskew, 77, sat with friends at a table up front. On Mr. Lelen’s previous visit she gave him a 1955 guitar that had belonged to her husband because she thought Mr. Lelen would appreciate it.
“The songs he plays will never go out of date,” Ms. Eskew said after his performance. “They tell of a time when life was gentle. They don’t speak of anger. And they were so kind to women. Can you imagine Eminem singing songs like this?”
For Mr. Lelen, performing for retirees serves as a connection with his mother, who now lives in a skilled nursing facility. He talks about her during performances. Watching his audience, Mr. Lelen said, he could see the life his mother had led before her strokes.
“You going to come for the show?” he asked a man standing nearby. “Or you going to take a nap?” The man, Miller Tucker, thought about it. “I’m going to take a nap,” he said. “I wish I could stay, but I got to get my rest.” Mr. Tucker, 89, pushed his walker toward the exit, vowing to catch Mr. Lelen next time.
The music industry is desperately chasing Internet-wired teenagers, but Mr. Lelen, a former journalist, believes he has found a niche at the other end of the market in retirement communities. For the last four years, he has traveled from his home near Trenton, N.J., up and down the East Coast, playing up to 140 one-night stands a year and developing a contact list of 2,000 communities for the aged. His bookings run till November 2006.
This particular road, he has learned, can be a trying mistress. “It’s common to look out and see people nodding off,” Mr. Lelen said. “I don’t take it personally.”
Music industry trade magazines do not track the retirement community circuit, where gigs rarely pay more than a few hundred dollars and the chances of being discovered are slim. Some of the performers are part-timers; some play free. Most don’t have agents, roadies, recording contracts or groupies. But in recent years, as the nation’s population has aged, the number of performers who specialize in homes for the elderly has grown to a few hundred, according to the activities directors at three communities.
“There’s most definitely a circuit,” said Jennifer Tillett, who hires about 60 performers a year at Charlestown, a continuing care community of 2,500 residents in Catonsville, Md. “My residents have quite discerning tastes,” Ms. Tillett said. Most of the performers who solicit her understand this audience, she said. “The others, you can tell they see a captive audience and are looking to cash in.”
Mr. Lelen, who has been playing the guitar since he was 16, stumbled across this market in 2001. He left a job as a real estate reporter at the Washington Post in 1999 and was singing folk songs on open mike nights at New Jersey bars. “I was looking for a career niche,” he said. His mother, who was then in an independent living center, suggested he perform at her community. Mr. Lelen came up with an act, singing hits from the 1920’s to 1940’s and playing his guitars from the same period. He made $200.
“They never booked me again,” he said. “I found out later they only booked me because of my mother. But I found I liked playing for that audience, and they were fabulous for these songs. I realized I could create a business marketing myself to these communities.”
He learned that the concert circuit has some unique wrinkles. Most of his gigs are at continuing care retirement communities, which offer different levels of care, from independent living sections to skilled nursing or dementia units. For performers, he said, the money is in working at independent living communities, because they have the biggest budgets.
“I have musician friends who, when they hear what I’m up to, say, ‘I gotta get a piece of that,’ ” Mr. Lelen said.
Audiences can be tough. “My residents are very vocal,” said Kelli M. Carson, activities director of Rolling Green Village, a sprawling community in Greenville, S.C.
“They tell you what they like and don’t like. They like Ken — he tells stories about all of the guitars. If he just played for an hour, it wouldn’t go over as well.”
Mr. Lelen is a genial performer, with a pleasant tenor and touches of a Southern accent that he did not acquire growing up on Long Island. At Rolling Green Village, a widow named Marion Eskew, 77, sat with friends at a table up front. On Mr. Lelen’s previous visit she gave him a 1955 guitar that had belonged to her husband because she thought Mr. Lelen would appreciate it.
“The songs he plays will never go out of date,” Ms. Eskew said after his performance. “They tell of a time when life was gentle. They don’t speak of anger. And they were so kind to women. Can you imagine Eminem singing songs like this?”
For Mr. Lelen, performing for retirees serves as a connection with his mother, who now lives in a skilled nursing facility. He talks about her during performances. Watching his audience, Mr. Lelen said, he could see the life his mother had led before her strokes.
“I don’t feel uncomfortable; in fact, I feel very comfortable with this audience,” Mr. Lelen said. “I can relate to their circumstances because of my experiences with my mother. Seeing them reminds me of her passage from widowhood to a retirement center, and from independent life to skilled nursing.”
He has ambitions to expand his vintage music business: perform with a trio, play at larger events and for special groups, and sell CDs.
“Sometimes people will say, ‘Do you remember this song from 1936?’ ” he said. “I’ll say, ‘I wasn’t there then.’ The first time this happened was awkward. The second time wasn’t so awkward.”
© 2005 The New York Times
______________________________________
No comments:
Post a Comment