I don't change the gender in my songs either. Perish the thought!

But actually, my comment was not meant to be about gender at all...what I was referring to is that I know too many performers of both genders who think that anything slow must therefore be dull -- and anything sentimental, doubly so.

My own band, at least in some of its past personnel permutations, would program a whole, unrelenting evening of fast, rousing sea songs if I didn't insist on changing the mood every so often. It would never occur to (some of) them that an occasional slow, thoughtful song might be appreciated by an exhausted audience as a change of pace.

C