Bob Schwepker brings nostalgia, entertainment and 'Senior Notes' to area nursing homes

Bob Schwepker sings for the residents at Jackson Manor on Tuesday, June 28, 2016.

Laura Simon

Some young people have been known to travel to follow their favorite musicians from place to place, but when his fans got too old, local musician Bob Schwepker turned the tables, taking the music to them.

For the past decade or so, Schwepker has performed in nursing homes and residential care facilities under the stage name "Senior Notes."

"I just started calling myself the Senior Notes, just on account of who I was playing for," he says. "I'm the senior and these are the notes."

He played with many bands over the course of his life in Jackson, where he lives, but eventually, his bandmates got too old.

"So we started settling down, and me and a steel guitar player started playing in a nursing home," he says. "And the residents just loved our music, but my buddy on the steel guitar got too old for it, too."

Bob Schwepker sings for the residents at Jackson Manor on Tuesday, June 28.

Laura Simon

So now, it's just Schwepker and his God-given talent, he says.

"Just a flat-top guitar, and I never use the microphone. I just get personal with them, but that's all they want. Usually I pull up a chair and talk to 'em a little bit," he says. "Sometimes I'll take them on a little trip, I tell 'em. To Kansas City or Hawaii, maybe sing 'Blue Hawaii.'"

At 75 years old, Schwepker is retired, but the Senior Notes gigs keep him pretty busy.

"I probably play 10 to 14 times a month, all the way from Jackson to Sikeston," he says, and usually twice a day in Sikeston to save on gas money.

"We're booked for the year," he says. "And we've never not gotten called back."

Bob Schwepker sings for the residents at Jackson Manor on Tuesday, June 28.

Laura Simon

Aside from here-and-there donations to cover gas money, Schwepker says it's a labor of love. "I just fell in love with those people, and they fell in love with me, so it became a great relationship," he says.

Sometimes, he says, he'll play a song from the '40s or '50s and the nostalgia will be enough to cut through even Alzheimer's disease to comfort residents.

"It brings them to an all new level of enjoyment. This has worked out so beautiful," he says. "Because all the shows we play are from 2 to 3 in the afternoon, which is between their lunch and their dinner, so that afterward they can have something good to think about as they go to sleep."

At the end of the day, he says, it's just about giving back and sharing his talents.

"I sing because God gave me a gift to sing," he says. "It might not be the best you ever heard, but I enjoy it. I feel like I'm giving back something to God with this. Its just a thrill to see those people light up when you do something for them, but that's all the pay I need."

And good news for his fans: Schwepker has absolutely no intention of stopping any time soon.

"I (turned) 75 years old on July the first. Yeah, I'm no spring chicken, but I can certainly do this," he says of singing. "So I guess I'll keep doing it until I can't croak no more."

Bob Schwepker sings for the residents at Jackson Manor on Tuesday, June 28, 2016.

Laura Simon