Jerry Tiffe has been a showroom regular since 1978

When falling asleep as a child, Jerry Tiffe would rock himself to sleep by singing.

There was something about the music that would calm him.

"It was magical," he said.

As a showroom performer, Tiffe said that feeling is mirrored whenever he walks onto the stage.

"When I walk out there, I know who I am," Tiffe said. "It feels just like I did when I rocked myself back and forth as a kid. I just know everything is OK."

Tiffe performs at 7 p.m. Saturdays at the Skyline Casino, 1741 N. Boulder Highway, and at 4 p.m. Fridays at Arizona Charlie's Decatur, 740 S. Decatur Blvd.

His love for music started in high school in Cleveland, where Tiffe joined various music groups.

The opportunity allowed him to start touring around the East Coast.

"I was opening shows in Rochester and Buffalo (New York)," he said. "People always told me I should move to Vegas."

In 1978, when he was 28, Tiffe packed up his band and moved to Las Vegas.

He and his band started out with a smaller gig at the Sahara. They continued to audition to see if they could land a bigger opportunity.

When things seemed to be stagnant, Tiffe considered moving back to Ohio when he received a call from the Sands' entertainment director - he had auditioned there before, but the hotel didn't have an opening.

"They had an opening at the Frontier," he said. "They wanted us to sign a five- year contract. It was perfect timing."

Even though Tiffe had experience performing in larger venues, he still had to adjust to other Las Vegas big names coming through the showroom.

"Stars would come in and hang out," he said. "It was pretty cool."

Most of the crowd was older, so Tiffe got into a habit of playing older music from their era.

From the Frontier, Tiffe made his way through several other properties, including the Desert Inn and the Tropicana.

"Each time we would get a contract, we would stay awhile," he said. "We were lucky. Most people would come in for only a month, and we would be there for years."

In the late 1990s, Tiffe said he wanted to start focusing less on the tourist scene the Strip hotels offered and gear his music toward local establishments such as Station Casinos.

"An unbelievable local following began," Tiffe said.

He added that there was a difference between playing for tourists, who he most likely would never see again, and a locals crowd that would return.

He start playing songs he grew up with and throwing in current tunes.

"We play that Duffy song 'Mercy,' " he said. "We do a lot of hipper stuff."

One difference, Tiffe added, was the energy level.

"These people love to dance," he said. "They love to listen to things they can jitterbug to."

Tiffe said the last few years as an entertainer have been hard.

"Last year was horrible," he said. "You have weeks where you go down the list of everyone you know try to see if they have anything."

Already, he has seen a turnaround this year.

"We have gotten five or six calls last month," Tiffe said.

He said he is working out a deal to start performing at Palace Station.

In the meantime, he still loves being a performer and couldn't imagine life differently.

"My perfect life would be going into work at 9 p.m., then working four hours," he said. "I'd come home, sleep until 2 p.m., have some coffee and start again. I would sing seven nights a week. It would be beautiful."

For more information, visit jerrytiffe.com.

Contact Henderson/Anthem View reporter Michael Lyle at mlyle@viewnews.com or 702-387-5201.