Just when you think you are out they pull you back in.

[CEB]

A Tom Petty tribute offer feels tempting.  Could probably do the thing with the PC4-88 and the SKX into my rack. 

[Brad Kaenel]

On 4/21/2023 at 3:32 PM, JohnnyFoster said:

After 40 years of playing professionally in just about every genre imaginable, with the money being amazing as well as horrible, I finally realized what a waste of time the whole gigging thing has been. In retrospect, I should have chosen a much more stable and sensible profession. I had a great time over the many years and became a very proficient player and what many people even called "very talented". Yet, I regret this occupation choice very much, as it has not provided any sort of financial security or lasting satisfaction for me as I approach 60 years old.

 

I had a considerable amount of professional and artistic success as a keyboardist and musical director, but damned if shouldn't have become a dentist instead. It's too late now, most regrettably.

 

I have no spark or desire to play my instrument anymore in any context, going on three and a half years since my last gig. The music "business" today is a joke compared to what it was in the 80's, 90's, and even the early 2000's. How anyone would enjoy playing the crap music that is popular today is beyond me. Jazz has been done to death, literally, and it always sounds like a circle jerk to me, even though I played "jazz" for many years. Again - a totally over-hyped waste of time. A schmooze-fest of cliques and name-dropping.

 

Bitter much? Not me! (LOL!)

 

Anyway - just my input on this thread...

 

JT.

 

There's a proverbial expression that says "Do what you enjoy, and you'll never work a day in your life."   Well, maybe -- but then you may never eat, either.

 

As Dave has recounted with his dentist friend, it's very hard to assess the realities of being a professional musician if your only reference points are public performances.  I view gigging as almost a pseudo-reality; kind of exactly the way an actor would view his own performances.  These are the (mostly) enjoyable fruit of the very hard and intense labor that lies behind them, mostly invisible to the undiscerning listener or viewer.

 

We look at the entertainment world, see the superstars, and imagine that if we just get on that bus we will eventually get our turn to drive.  But the only clear-eyed evaluation of that career selection is that the number of folks who "make it" is infinitesimally small, no matter how hard you work, nor how passionately you devote yourself.  I don't want to roll those dice.

 

Now certainly there are plenty of career musicians who have been able to successfully support themselves, and perhaps even a family, by doing "what they love".  But they have very likely also taken great care to "size" their lifestyle expectations appropriately.  And perhaps that's the bit of crucial wisdom that is, sadly, missing from our proverb.

 

Fortunately, my parents had the good sense to not allow me to pursue music as a career, even though many would have said that I was talented or "gifted".  Instead, they insisted I become trained in a profession (software development, in my case) where work was available, predictable, and accountable (not to mention insure-able and invest-able).  Do that, they said, and you can play music for your whole life and enjoy it, without it becoming burdensome and a drudgery -- and they were absolutely right.

 

There's another proverbial expression: "There's a reason it's called 'work'."  

[drand48a]

On 4/21/2023 at 6:32 PM, JohnnyFoster said:

After 40 years of playing professionally in just about every genre imaginable, with the money being amazing as well as horrible, I finally realized what a waste of time the whole gigging thing has been. In retrospect, I should have chosen a much more stable and sensible profession. I had a great time over the many years and became a very proficient player and what many people even called "very talented". Yet, I regret this occupation choice very much, as it has not provided any sort of financial security or lasting satisfaction for me as I approach 60 years old.

 

My folks were typical depression conservatives, and so had a lot of advice that was good for them but didn't apply to me.  But they did have one great bit of great advice (among many others of course):

Quote

Don't make a living as an artist if you can imagine doing anything else.

 

It's really good advice.  If you're made to be an artist, then go for it, but keep in mind the many sacrifices you'll make.  But as mentioned above, do what you love and you'll never work a day.  (Which of course isn't quite true because ANY job involves stuff you gotta do but would rather not.  But the point stands.)

 

In school, even though I liked math & physics, after banging my head on a problem for an hour, I needed to be tied to the chair.  But for computer problems, we'd all start around 10PM at the computer center (when jobs ran fast).  Around 4AM my program would be working and I was unaware of the passing time.  So, pretty clear what I should do for a living!  (That, plus, a mediocre engineer can do just fine.  A mediocre pro musician -- which is about what I'd have been, at best -- has a pretty rough row to hoe.)

 

In any case, thank goodness for modern technology that lets me carry a 100-lb total rig that has more & better sounds than back when I hauled around over 400 lbs and needed help.  2 keyboards, two small powered speakers, stand, and gear bag, which I can manage alone in two trips.  And I'm a gear-head.  I could trim it to one keyboard, one monitor, stand and gig bag and probably nobody would notice a difference but me.  (That is what I use for short gigs & rehearsals.)

[El Lobo]

I've turned down gigs just by saying I'm not available for those dates. In truth, I wasn't available for the gig because 1. it was too far away (2 hour drive), or 2. pay was not enough, or 3. music wasn't what I wanted to play, or 4. I wasn't up for playing with those players, or 5. I'm too old and tired. I'm playing in 2 bands, each one gigs (and rehearses) once or twice a month, one is covers the other is originals, I sit in sometimes with a friend's band when they're close to home, I don't do jams anymore (there are many in my area but I'm not anxious to play any more), some friends who are good players may start jamming at my house, and I don't do gigs more than an hour away. I'm playing as much music as I want to. I don't need to make my living from it. I'm grateful that I get to play live music with other good players at what I call my advanced age. Life is good.

[jazzpiano88]

I think I’ve been blessed.  As a kid growing up I was interested in two things.  Electronics and music.  I’ve been able to satisfy both by initially studying enough to get into ham radio as a teen and getting into bands in high school and progressing through every type of band and gig imaginable through grad school.   As a career, I found my passion in math and never worked a day in my life in the process of getting a phd in ee and then working through the heyday of tech in Silicon Valley coding algorithms for the semiconductor industry.  Even towards the end I had to pinch myself walking the streets of Leuven Belgium as a 55 year old learning new ways to process images at a summer school my company sent me to.    Realizing life was too short, I moved back to the heartland at 50 and managed to WFH 10 years before it became a thing, which also allowed me to get back into music and do things like acquire an exquisite (to me) grand piano.    Gigging has been very selective, but the advancement in my enjoyment of playing and improvement of my musical abilities have been huge.   The phone rings but I usually beg off, not wanting the pain and suffering of the logistics of requiring a stereo rig and heavy keyboards to satisfy my activation energy. 
 

Right now, I’m trying to find the right personnel and form a trio or quartet playing the best tunes you forgot you love as well as some original pieces and do some gigs and see what happens.    
 

I look back and sometimes regret that I didn’t pursue music full time professionally and achieve some higher level of ability as a pianist/keyboardist.   But realistically I think my passion for math worked out better for my career and I still managed to put in the time to satisfy my passion for music in being able to play the songs that I love and compose the stuff that I hear in my mind.