Yeah, Mike, I've sung for groups like that, too. Even at some assisted living facilities, where folks tend to function at a pretty high level, I've more than once had the following experience:

I play and sing my heart out, with some folks singing along, a few folks clapping, some song requests, and some folks smiling and laughing. But there's one woman in the front row just glaring at me through the whole program, never clapping or singing. I'm sure she's gonna blackball me with the activity director at the next resident council. Then, when I finish the program, that same woman comes up to me spontaneously to tell me how wonderful my program was and how much it meant to her! (Heck, I've even had that kind of experience in bars!)

Then there was the semi-comatose woman in a nursing home who seemed to be within weeks of her hour of departure from this world. As her soulful, imploring eyes gazed into mine, I sang her a tender, reassuring hymn standing by her bed. When I finished, the intensity of her gaze seemed to intensify, and I felt she was bidding me come closer. I inched ever so slightly closer to her face and...