Beatles songs, and everybody sings
Your Bird Can Sing
A named act. A multi-instrumental duo, with sing booklets for the guests.
Two musicians play the Beatles catalogue and hand out booklets with the words in them, for a crowd that runs from small children to great-grandparents. Nobody has to be a singer to join in, and by the second chorus of Hey Jude the whole venue is singing.
Book it for the afternoon that has to work for everybody in the space at once. Think the common area of a senior living community on a standing weekday afternoon, a library or community center program, a family party where four generations are in the garden, a school assembly, or a summer courtyard event where you want people to stay rather than drift off once the food is gone.
Trusted and booked by
Your Bird Can Sing is a two-person Beatles sing-along. The duo plays the songs and hands out booklets with the words in them, so nobody has to remember the second verse and nobody has to be able to sing to join in. The Beatles catalogue is the one body of songs where a five-year-old and a ninety-year-old already know the same choruses, and the whole act is built on that overlap rather than on a light show or a costume.
It isn’t a tribute act and it isn’t an impersonation. Nobody wears a wig and nobody puts on an accent. What the duo does is play Hey Jude, Let It Be, Yesterday, Blackbird, Come Together and the rest of the songbook, and hand out the words so that everyone who wants to join in has them.
The booklets are what make it work with a crowd of mixed ages. A grandparent who can’t quite hear the verse still has the words in front of them, a child who has never heard the song can follow the line, and the parents in between stop worrying about whether they’re singing it right. The duo can take the volume anywhere from a common area at conversation level up to a courtyard with a hundred people in it.
It books as one duo and it plays wherever a duo fits: the common area of a senior living community, a library meeting space, a school gym, a community center, a back garden, a courtyard, or a function space after lunch. Two musicians set up small, play on the floor rather than a stage, and need one outlet.
This is a named act, booked under its own name rather than the names of the two musicians in it, and if either of them changes we tell you in advance.
A sample of the set
The songs below are the Beatles titles already published on the song list, and the booklets go wider than this. The first request a client sends is learned for the date.
- Hey Jude
- Let It Be
- Yesterday
- Blackbird
- Come Together
- Eleanor Rigby
- A Hard Day's Night
- Something
- While My Guitar Gently Weeps
- Rocky Raccoon
- Mother Nature's Son
The booking
How a sing-along runs.
Two musicians, a stack of booklets, and an hour of songs a mixed crowd already knows.
- The booklets
- The duo brings the sing booklets and hands them out, so the words are in front of everyone who wants them. They’re the reason the act works for a crowd that has never rehearsed anything together, and they’re yours to keep for as long as the program runs.
- The set
- One set of 45 to 60 minutes, or two shorter sets with a break in between, drawn from the Beatles catalogue and built around the songs a crowd sings back. Requests are taken as they come, and the first one a client sends ahead is learned for the date.
- The space
- A duo sets up in 8 by 6 feet on the floor and needs one standard outlet. Load-in takes about an hour before the program starts and packing up takes about three quarters of an hour. A common area, a dining space after lunch, a lobby, a library meeting space, a school gym, a garden or a courtyard all work.
- The volume
- 65 to 72 dBA at the nearest seat indoors, which is a level people can talk across and a resident at the back of a common area can still hear. In a small lounge the duo plays without amplification at all, and outdoors it lifts to carry a courtyard.
- A standing date
- The same afternoon each month, or every other week, on one contract with one personal contact for the whole run. The set changes from visit to visit, so a community hears new songs alongside the ones it asks for again.
Footprints, power and the outdoor cover for every size are on the technical page.
Occasions
Where a Beatles sing-along lands.
- Senior living and memory care
- The songs residents already know, with the words in their hands so they can sing them. An activity director can book it for one afternoon or put it on the calendar as a standing date, and in a memory care neighborhood the same duo plays a shorter set to a smaller group at the low end of the volume.
- Libraries and community programs
- A program that has to hold a space full of strangers of every age for an hour. Handing out booklets gives everyone something to do with that hour, and people who came expecting to sit and watch end up singing.
- Anniversary parties
- A fortieth or fiftieth anniversary where the couple, their children and their grandchildren are all in the garden. These are the records the couple owned, and the booklets are what get the grandchildren singing them too.
- Retirement parties
- A send-off for someone who has had these songs playing somewhere in the background their whole working life. It suits the part of the evening once the speeches are finished and everyone has stopped talking at the guest of honour.
- Family parties in a garden
- There are four generations on the lawn and no stage anywhere. A duo plays on the grass off one outlet, and the volume sits where a neighbor won’t mind and a table of teenagers will still join in.
What live music costs in this market, with the source for each figure, is on the pricing page.
The artwork
Drawn for this act, in the colors of the records.
The sleeve was made for Your Bird Can Sing rather than borrowed from a record shelf, and so was the booklet picture further up this page.
Booking it
The paperwork, the budget line and the calendar.
A senior living community, a library or a school usually needs three things before a musician is paid: a certificate of insurance naming them as additional insured, a W-9, and an invoice they can match to a purchase order. All three come in the same email as the contract, so the vendor setup is finished before the first visit.
Tell us the date, the space and roughly how many people will be in it, along with the budget line you have for live music, and we’ll come back with a recommendation and a price for that date or for a run of them. A family party at a house and a standing monthly afternoon at a community both book the same way, on one contract with one personal contact.
Send the date, the venue and the headcount. What live music costs in this market is set out with the source beside each number.
Your Bird Can Sing questions
The operational questions, from substitutions to decibel caps, are on the full question list.
- What is Your Bird Can Sing?
- Your Bird Can Sing is a two-person Beatles sing-along. The duo plays the songs and hands out booklets with the words in them, so the crowd can join in without knowing the verses by heart. It books as one duo.
- Is this a Beatles tribute band?
- No. Nobody wears a wig, nobody puts on an accent, and there's no stage show built around impersonating four people. The duo plays the catalogue and gets the crowd singing it.
- Do the guests need to be able to sing?
- No. The booklets carry the words and the duo carries the tune, so anyone who wants to join in can, and anyone who would rather sit and listen can do that instead.
- Does it work for a crowd of mixed ages?
- Yes, that's what it's built for. The Beatles catalogue is the songbook small children and great-grandparents already share, which is why the same booking works for a family party and for a senior living afternoon.
- How much space and power does a duo need?
- A duo sets up in about 8 by 6 feet on the floor and runs from one standard outlet. In a small lounge it plays without amplification, and in a common area it sits at 65 to 72 dBA, which is conversation level.
- Can it play outdoors?
- Yes, in a courtyard, a garden or a park, with shade over the musicians and one outlet within reach. Footprints, power and the weather cover are set out on the technical page.
Tell us the afternoon and the space, and we'll put the booklets in your guests' hands.
Live music for your event, from a solo musician to a full band, with sound support that’s the right size for the venue and a personal contact for the day.
Send us the date and the venue, and we’ll come back with a recommendation and a price for your day. What live music costs in this market is on the pricing page.
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