When I go to the bank to get a check cashed, I get crisp, clean money. The bills look like someone’s mother took time ironing them. The faces of Jackson, Lincoln, and Washington smile serenely at me from placid surfaces. They slide smoothly into my wallet, and they usually slip right out again soon thereafter when I have to make a stop at the store.

But tip money is different. Tip money, more often than not bearing the wrinkled and troubled face of George Washington, is crinkled in at least thirteen different directions. And tip money clumps together, puffing up to appear larger than the total monetary value would suggest. This is not an occasional occurrence. I remember giving my daughter money for school. She could always tell when it was tip money (which it usually was). The startled faces of those presidents would do a haunted house proud. Knowing how her father earned money, she rarely asked questions. Come to think of it, she rarely asked questions as long as she was getting some money.

I never expect tips, but I appreciate them tremendously. When someone comes to a restaurant where we are playing, they don’t owe us any money. They order their meal, and music is a part of the restaurant environment. The restaurant is paying us a fee that we have negotiated, and we are owed no more. When someone gives us a tip, they are suggesting that we have done something special to make their evening more enjoyable. At that point, they reach into their pockets or wallets for money they weren’t really expecting to spend. I suspect that each hand has an involuntary reflex that wrinkles tip money before it is dropped into the tip bucket.

Though tips are never expected, some patrons work hard to make sure we get their tip. I found one of my most interesting tips rolled up tightly and placed inside a bottle-neck slide that I sometimes use when I play guitar. A tightly curled Andrew Jackson peeked up at me as I was collecting my musical paraphernalia after that performance. On another occasion I found Thomas Jefferson squinting back at me from a two-dollar bill that had found its way into our tip bag. One night, a patron tipped us with silver dollars – not much you can do to wrinkle them! Recently in Port Canaveral, a fellow rushed up late, after we were packing up our equipment, and he gave us a distressed Lincoln – he was certain that we had played very well because his wife had heard us and called him on the phone!

If you have given us a tip, let me say Thank You! I feel certain that you have done many things that deserved a tip, but no one thought to give you some wrinkled presidents to show their gratitude. If you have come to one of our concerts and didn’t give a tip, let me say Thank You! What I most appreciate is someone listening to and enjoying our music. You will tip us or someone else when you reasonably can. Though I must say, I’ve gotten kind of accustomed to the wrinkled faces of presidents, and I would like to collect as many as possible! – Bob Tatum

Sound Traveler will be opening the Baskets and Blankets for Brevard Benefit tomorrow. We also got very nice feedback from the King Center, and we will be playing there again on March 16.

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4 Comments to “SongTravelin’: 02.04.11 – Wrinkled Presidents”

• February 4, 2011 at 9:34 am
  Cyberbeat says:

  I can feel kind of awkward about tips. I don’t know if it is expected and if I’ll look cheap if I don’t give one. Sometimes it has nothing to do with the service.
• February 4, 2011 at 9:47 am
  Ellie Hjemmet says:

  This is such a cool (and comprehensive!) description of the pleasure tips to performers bring. Thanks, Bob. I love your posts, all of them, but this one has me tickled… wrinkled presidents!!!
• February 4, 2011 at 10:13 am
  Bob says:

  We both have seen a few of those, haven’t we?
• February 7, 2011 at 5:41 pm
  Patty says:

  OK, Bob, although I enjoy all of your blog entries, this one made me laugh out loud! The personification of those little presidents peeking out of various items is hilarious!

  But, the point you’re making definitely has meaning. When people tip artists, I can say from personal experience that it really feels great. It’s concrete validation that someone appreciates what you’re doing on stage. Of course, it is never expected, but it’s always nice.

  Whenever I listen to a performer, I try to make it a point of dropping something into the tip jar in an obvious way so that other patrons notice. Modeling good behavior is the teacher in me coming out, I guess.

  And the condition of the money we receive? I have no idea why it looks like it does, but it is unusually wrinkled. No matter to me – it all contributes to the growth of our little piggy bank!