I have no more problem considering race than I do considering gender. However, there are additional factors that come in handy when I choose which version to play at a gig:
• The age range of my audience—older folks like hearing the original, and if there's a large number of them at the venue, then I'll play the original. If the remake is a big hit and I'm playing to a younger crowd, then I'll play that version.
• The type of gig—because of the types of gigs I usually get, I can almost always play wildly divergent versions of one song back to back. People seem to love it and often they're surprised to hear that other versions exist. Once I played "Back on the Chain Gang" by the Pretenders, followed by "Fotos y Recuerdos" by Selena—different genres, different languages, same song. That went over really well.
• The general overall sound of my playlist—if older people aren't in the majority, and my sound thus far has been at a certain level, I might not want the drop in fidelity that sometimes happens when you play a really old number. So I might play a remake.
• The diversity of my audience—if there are East Indians, Hispanics, or Asians in the audience, I find it fun to acknowledge them by playing the "international" versions. Sometimes the bachata/Bollywood/forró versions are just as big a hit as the originals in their respective markets.
• The age range of my audience—older folks like hearing the original, and if there's a large number of them at the venue, then I'll play the original. If the remake is a big hit and I'm playing to a younger crowd, then I'll play that version.
• The type of gig—because of the types of gigs I usually get, I can almost always play wildly divergent versions of one song back to back. People seem to love it and often they're surprised to hear that other versions exist. Once I played "Back on the Chain Gang" by the Pretenders, followed by "Fotos y Recuerdos" by Selena—different genres, different languages, same song. That went over really well.
• The general overall sound of my playlist—if older people aren't in the majority, and my sound thus far has been at a certain level, I might not want the drop in fidelity that sometimes happens when you play a really old number. So I might play a remake.
• The diversity of my audience—if there are East Indians, Hispanics, or Asians in the audience, I find it fun to acknowledge them by playing the "international" versions. Sometimes the bachata/Bollywood/forró versions are just as big a hit as the originals in their respective markets.
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