I rarely gig for free, but nursing homes are the exception. In my little corner of the world there would be no live entertainment in such homes if it had to be paid, so I do what I feel is the right thing to do. I currently team up with a fiddler and play our usual old-time, celtic, swing and other tunes and supplement the lot with various tunes from fake books. We always have an appreciative and attentive audience, which is payment enough. (Sometimes I even feel a little selfish because I really WANT to play for these folks.)

I hope if someday I have to live in a nursing home that someone will play for me.

Peace, Mooh.