Having started my "musical career" (no such thing...) by playing 20's and 30's oldies for my extended family to sing around the piano, I'm very comfortable with the kinds of situations you describe, Jerry. It's second nature for me to be aware of the musical tastes of my audience.

For me the first question is always, "What song(s) do I know that these people can relate to?" For my son's second grade class it was mostly folk songs like "The Fox," but I also played them "Mockingbird Hill" on my zither because I thought they'd like the pretty sound. They did. At an Irish-pub-style bed & breakfast in West Virginia I started with "The Man That Waters the Workers' Beer." Also very successful with that group of people! ... And since it was pretty informal I invited members of the audience to lead a song or two, which they did, and very well too. Not quite folk but nobody minded.

For groups of elderly people I choose differently, almost never would sing an unaccompanied ballad but they will love Stephen Foster etc. For a program of "International Music," also for a group of older people, I sang American trad songs set to old world tunes (example: "The mule he is a funny sight, he's made of ears and dynamite...." to the tune of O Tannenbaum) as well as songs in various languages. For a group of Mormon workers at the Mormon Temple here, I sang old songs of the American West.

But ... I don't have a set list, don't make CD's, don't usually perform for money. So I just share my repertoire according to the situation. There are plenty of places I can (and do) go where I can perform an unaccompanied ballad if I want to.

Well this is a thread that I really relate to, good question, Jerry.

Rita F