Your musical plans and history?

[Odyssian]

Just curious where everyone's at (musically), and what plans you have set for your future. Also, how would you rate your current musical endeavors (pro, amateur, hobbyist, etc.)?

 

I'll start... I consider myself a serious hobbyist. I've done a few commercial jingles in the past, and have played in various bands throughout the years. Now, with getting older and having more domestic responsibilties I plan to continue recording at home simply for my own pleasure, and continue to work on building my modular synth. I won't rule out getting more serious again in the future, if time and life permit.

[mound]

I guess in reality I am a serious, albeit obsessed, hobbyist. Played bass in bands on and off for 10 years, recorded a few CD's, toured around.. Stopped doing that, started studying classical piano with a teacher.. which takes up 2 or 3 hours of my day. working on studying jazz theory on my own. Playing keys right now in a rock/pop band.. but increasingly finding that it really isn't all that fun, ya know, sitting in a basement full of chain smokers for hours at a time "practicing" but getting nothing done just for the occasional gig where nobody shows up but friends of the band. I have a humble DAW based home studio setup for recording and practicing, and I go out and run FOH and do live recordings for other bands at times..

 

software engineering pays my bills though, but music is my true passion.

 

In the future, I hope to go back to school and get a degree in music education so I can give up writing software and teach music to kids at the elementary or middle school level while I continue to study classical piano and eventually get into composition, both jazz and classical (this is a few years off though!) I guess that sounds lame but I got sick of trying to be a rock star.

 

-Paul

[coyote]

Played drums professionally for a decade, also played lead guitar in some bands and bass in a few others. Was on a few recordings, commercial jingles and whatnot (even on an Xmas record that sold about two thousand lol). It all sorta stopped when I got married

 

So about six years ago we bought a house. I determined I'd learn to play keys so I could do the prog & fusion I'd always loved. My current band does exactly that - mostly for our own pleasure but we do play the occasional party. No big plans except to enjoy music (truth is that my professional musical endeavors stopped when I got married at least as much because I was no longer enjoying it as because my wife didn't like me getting home at 4am every other night).

[Phait]

Past

Originally influenced by the soundtrack to the Sega Genesis game "Road RasH" - which got me interested in guitars, but about the age of 8 or 9 I was enrolled in keyboard lessons. Lost interest with it - reading notation was way too complicated for me. Kept the Yamaha cheapie (PSR-100 I think) for some years and gave it away. Sometime in late 90's was influenced by Stone Temple Pilots to start guitar, bought a Fender Strat in '97, been playing ever since. Throughout my life though I'd always wanted a role in music whether in a band or release my own album. In 2003 I was influenced to get into keyboards, bought a Fantom-S, started "the carbon flaw" - my one-man project, that's almost a year old now.

 

Present

In conceptual stages for "the carbon flaw" album - generally a melodic, ambient/electronic type album. Been taking time off to just clear my head and stuff. Will begin work this Autumn on through on to next year.

 

Future

Would like to release an acoustic guitar oriented TCF album, and also a film-type soundtrack album (unless I decide to do that with this one...) - either under TCF or a different project name. Eventually would like to release a more rock-oriented album, by then I should have the resources to record guitar decently and be happy with my guitar tone and work on the type of album I originally wanted to several years ago.

[MIDIdiot]

Sorry, this is very long but staring at 4-oh, I've been reflecting a lot lately and then I saw this topic. It might help some younger readers find their path and stick with it.

 

I was born in January of 1965. I don't remember our basement without the layton bros upright piano in it. I guess sometime between ages 6 - 10, I fooled around on it, I was able to play simple melodies by ear. I took a few lessons but nothing exciting came from it. The piano continued to be used recreationally by me and my brother, as much as a back stop for a dart board and hockey pucks as it was for playing. In grade 6 or 7, I took more lessons, with a very dry teacher, after a few months, I preferred to indulge in my new high school social life than keep with the lessons. By now, I was playing more by ear, primarily rock tunes, doubling up on the melodies usually. Later in high school, as my passion for music grew, I wanted to learn to be a real player. I took lessons with a very amiable teacher, for about 3 - 4 years. I wasn't serious, I did the bare minimum, maybe 30 minutes a few times a week. But she was usually satisfied with my progress. Her approach was 50% technique/classical and 50% pop (I guess this way both parties were satisfied). So by the time I graduated I was decently proficient with simple chords and easily played the songs I liked (rock, pop) by ear. Bought my 1st synth in '83, started jamming with friends. By this time, I really wished to pursue a career in music. Lacking the training and experience, entering a college music wasn't considered. Also, I grew up in a very conventional world, pursuing more common academic fields. By the time I was 20, I was composing and still jamming, I definitely wanted a musical career. I turned down my admission into university to pursue music on my own. I joined my first 'real band' with real gigs. I got my hands on a yamaha CP-70 and and old MS-20 to add to poly-61. Since that day, I have always looked at this brief period (a few months) as the best time of my life. I continued to study classical and took some theroy & ear training courses in university. I manged to get my hands on a DX-7 briefly. Perhaps partially owing to lack of parental guidance and support, I undermined myself and began to drift away from music in order to pursue studies at university, with the hopes of having a 'life'. I guess I didn't believe enough in myself. I could honestly say, I have never truly been happy since then.

Several years later I met my wife. During a 'break', I ran down to buy a new synth in 1991, an M1. Boy, did I ever realize now that this passion called music, would never burn out. I had fun recording the old songs I wrote into the sequencer but how I longed for those band days and for the time when the real deal was still a possibility. Fast forward five years, I now had a modest bread-winning job. I still had the layton bros piano stored. I sold it and bought a weighted 88 (FP1). I put a band together and we had a few gigs but it petered out. In 1998 our twin boys were born followed by our daughter in 2000. In 2002, the drummer from my last band called me to join his band and for the past two years, that's what I've been doing. It's actually been the most rewarding thing since that 1st band. Last year I added an E-MU B3 (at cost) to my setup. I am also waiting to receive vintage pro, to replace the B3 (from the same supplier). However, the band too has petered out. Not enough gigs. Throughout all these years, I always wanted to get into jazz. I took few lessons while in university but never spent much time on this. That yearning definitely still exists. I still don't have much time but things seem right to spend my musical time on this now. I'm finding what seems like exciting things in the learnjazzpaino site some poeple hear have recommended. Also at this time, I have just begun to take one of my boys to a group piano course on saturdays. He's almost 6 and has always shown musical ability. Two classes so far. So these are my future goals.

Thanks for reading!

[Bartolomeo]

I took lessons when young and studied music briefly in college before choosing another career path.

 

For a while I played acoustic guitar as my main instrument using a mixture of classical and "folk" technique, this during a nomadic post-college phase and some years before the availability of electronic pianos that were any good. I played some "open mic" nights and the like during this time, playing and also singing.

 

I have taken piano seriously for two seperate winters spaced some years apart in my adult life, and then "reconnected" with the instrument hopefully permanently starting two years ago. I'm now studying pipe organ with some seriousness.

 

I play piano and organ at area churches sporadically, which sometimes pays but often does not, and sing in two choirs. On one occasion I was paid to sing a solo at a funeral.

 

I consider myself a serious amateur. The money I get from gigs doesn't cover the cost of sheet music and lessons, much less the money I fork over for gear.

 

Winter is always a better time for music, for me, since the Minnesota winters are cold and dark so not much fun to be outside. This winter I'm hoping to get frequent pipe organ gigs (though I don't want to do it every week, probably subbing at area churches. I've also been asked to play keys for a 9 piece contemporary Christian band, which means I'll have to get a B3 clone and learn to play it.

 

I'd also like to play some chamber music, like piano trios, but doubt I'll have time.

 

Bartolomeo

[mound]

your mention (bartolomeo) of open mics brought back some other memories of mine..

 

I too took piano lessons as a kid, for 4 or 5 years. but for some reason I have little to no recollection of that. just some vague memories of an old lady who was alergic to her gold jewelry but wore it anyway, and insisted my mom provide her with a space heater during the lessons at our home. and a big black upright piano that I used to hide things inside.

 

then when I started playing bass, I remember the open mics.. my first open mic, which was also my last for some time after, I was confused because for some reason the drummer threw his cymbol at me while I was playing, everybody started laughing and I was promptly dismissed! of course in the days that followed I found out what that meant (LOL) but I was baffled by it at the time.. I sucked! haha. I have since improved my skills considerably

 

-Paul

[Bartolomeo]

Originally posted by mound:

the drummer threw his cymbol at me while I was playing, everybody started laughing and I was promptly dismissed! of course in the days that followed I found out what that meant

That's a tradition we could do without.

 

Everyone was new at this at one time or another. I try very hard to still the voice of critical commentary of others in my head, but it's still there. I try even harder to avoid sharing these sorts of criticisms, particularly in any sort of hurtful way.

 

Most people are smart enough to know where they stack up against other performers, and for those few who don't, the kindest thing to do is encourage them to get out more so they can draw their own conclusions.

 

Over at rec.music.makers.piano there is a regular poster who suggests that there is a "law of sucking" that says that you will suck whenever you change styles and that this is the major barrier to improv-oriented people learning to read sheet music and vice versa. He's right, and the fear of public humiliation during/after a gig gone wrong is a considerable part of this.

 

Bartolomeo

[progfusion74]

I turned 30 this year and really seriously got into recording only 2 years ago and like mound classify myself as a serious hobbyist. I taught myself keyboards in college, although I did know how to play harmonium since I was about 6. Graduate school pretty much killed any musical aspirations although I always dabbled in as a sound engineer for concerts and stage productions. Once I was out of grad school, and had some money, I could get started and I think in 2 years or so I have done well. Wish I had more time though, but I know have a collection of instruments that I am very happy and satisfied with. I would love to score movies, etc, but have no ambitions to make music my living. I love my day job and it helps pay the bills, and I plan to keep it that way.

[linwood]

In a nut shell: I started gigs @12. Alto sax. This was in the mid 60s. All the guys in the band were much older than I, so I grew up kind of fast. Our song list read like a stax/volt lp cover. I switched my instrument to keys @ 16 and havent looked back. At 28, I settled in Vegas after being on the road since high school. I liked it here because I could earn enough money to support my wife and kids and didnt have to travel any longer. In 92 I quit my house gig @ Caesars and bought enough recording gear to get started with a small home studio. I did odd production gigs for different singers/musicians around town. It took me a year or so to figure out that this was going no where. I got into writing/producing jingles about 7 years ago. I still do some CD projects, but most of the time Im doing retail/radio jingles. I dig it. Work by myself. Make my own hours. Tons of work. If interested, you can visit my site and see what I do. Its not makin records, but its a livin

[Michelle ggurl]

"If you can't serve as a good example, at least be a horrible warning."

 

[edit]wow, what the #$@* was I thinking? All these words to say so little, really. THat's the insomnia droning on ... let me shorten ...[/edit]

 

I started playing music officially, I guess, when I was 10, when I had flute lessons for like 6 months. Before that, we had this cheesy toy organ where you could play chords in the left hand by pressing buttons. Through those two instruments I learned how to read treble and bass clefs.

 

When I was 14 we got a real piano, so I could ditch that wheezing excuse for an organ. I took lessons sporadically and played a lot by ear. I also picked up bass and guitar in my teens. A few garage bands ensued. Then I went to university to study music but changed my major, ending up with a minor in music.

 

Through connections at school, I sang and danced in Gilbert and Sullivan productions for a community musical theater, with a director who's in the Who's Who for theatre or something, for his remake of "Mikado," either a visionary remake or a bastardazation, depending on your take of it.

 

Shortly after that I became a member of an internationally acclaimed Gamelan orchestra (It's a form of traditional Indonesian music). Recorded a couple of CDs and play national broadcasts with them, as well as played some cool gigs like the one we did inside a telescope. The guy who headed that was the late, great Lou Harrison, known for his role in merging that musical form with Western music.

 

Then I played keyboards in a blues-rock band, in which I was a main writer. The guitarist once had some arena-level success, but by the time he was with my band he was a sad "once-was" tale of drug addiction. Unfortunate, since he and I had some bizarre psychic jamming ability that I have not experienced with another player since. That band collapsed in an unhappy heap of drugs, jail (not me!), and a bizarre love triangle involving the female singer and the bassist and guitarist.

 

Then I got involved in a cover band, where I stayed for a year and a half. Was fun, but confirmed my real joy was not to play for playing's sake; it was to create original music.

 

By the time I realized this I was crippled by a debilitating upper-extremity disorder brought on by excessive computer use ... music is my "avocation" but technology journalism was, at the time, my "vocation" ... and both were in serious jeopardy. I forged through the pain and briefly played and co-led a local Latin Rock band (original music). Shortly into that I was out of playing entirely because of my physical issues. I spent almost 4 years not playing keyboards ... but I was able to play modest bass for a couple of projects (and recordings) in the meantime, helping out some local singer/songwriters.

 

Well, happy to say, now I am back playing keyboards in earnest. I rejoined the reformed above-mentioned Latin-Rock band, where I was for only a few months ... that led me to playing with one of the original members of Santana, which led me to meeting the guitarist I am collaborating with now ... he's been dormant for a while as well ... anyway, our style in this collaboration is more global/jazzy, nothing to do with the LR sound.

 

So now my goal is to just trying to get better, and to do the music justice. But I can tell there is some prowess I still haven't been able to regain since the injury came on. For the most part I am happy with my progress.

 

I am also happy that I had the opportunity to collaborate on a jazz theory book. that is always a tough sell, so I guess my partner and I are doing OK with it.

 

I haven't made real money with music in years, maybe never, depending on your take of "real money"; I don't prefer to gig "just to gig"; my real passion is writing music; I've been writing songs since I was 11, and the feedback has generally been that I write things that touch people. I can't really say I am a "hobbyist." I think right now, I am investing ... my partner and I are in the final stages of a CD project (it's being mixed) which has a lot of help from good local musicians who've been around. So we'll see where this artistic "investment" goes. I'm just happy to have had the chance at doing it.

 

Believe it or not, this is shorter than it was.

[sudeep]

hi all hows it going

 

well i have been playing guitar since i was about 12 (im 31 now) and played in alot of grunge/rock bands...i kind of hit a musical plateau when i was about 24 in the final year of my engineering degree. And thats when my life changed and i bought myself a crappy portable rolan keyboard and module. From then on the music i played, listened to and wrote completely changed. I also got more heavily involved in musicals, jazz and more songwriting. I practice alot hence people often think i have played piano for longer than i have.

 

And now i have just moved to London (originally from Sydney Australia) to pursue my songwriting. I really wanted to move to the USA to do this...but i need to work to sustain myself (im an IT guy by day)...and i couldnt do so in the states...well not in LA anyway. So london seemed like another good option...its a great city but very daunting, ive only been here 4 weeks.

 

some people might think im crazy considering i havent had any real success back in my hometown...but hey stuff it...its all an experience. I know the UK industry have ALOT of outside writers so its just a case of meeting them now. Ive already started networking by attending songwriting showcases and this weekend am attending a workshop.

 

wish me luck!!!!

[yannis D]

My story in a few words:

Studied classical piano in my hometown (Athens) for about 12 years. After I finished my studies, I went to Paris and studied in Ecole Normale de Musique. Two years later, I took my degree in classical piano.

Back in Athens, I didn't like to work either as a music teacher or as a musician in night clubs, so I swiched to radio/newspapers as a producer/musical journalist. In parallel, I played music. I participated for 5 years in a funky-reggae group called "Oh! My Garden" (2 cd's out) and some jazz combos. Today I'm in a semi-pro condition. I write about music half the day, and I rehearse/play in my band ("The Happy Dog Project") the other half. I also play as a guest musician in various other groups. I have played in several CD's. In November (hopefully!!) i'll be playing with world music master musician Omar Faruk Tekbilek in a concert wich will take place in Rome. If everyhting goes OK (that means, if I can manage to cover properly 15 songs after only 2 rehearsals with a band I have never played before), i'll be his keys player in Europe! (wish me luck). So, I think I'm a semi-pro player, dividing myself between music and everyday needs. I always hope for the best to come, but I know for sure that if things will go bad with music, I'll always have another solution for surviving (BTW I'm turning 36 in November, so sooner or later a family will come)

Regards

yannis

[gangsu]

Great fun reading the bios. And not easy to put into a few words.

 

Going way back, I have vague recollections of learning to sing Christ the Lord is Risen Today for my solo debut in church, age 2. I do remember being embarrassed about the whole thing. - something I kept in mind when my own kids were the same age. They may be young, but they're not stupid.

 

Around the same time, my dad bought my mom a piano. Funny thing is, she's still complaining about it. Says she had no choice in the matter. Good point I suppose. I remember falling asleep listening to her play, and hoping someday to be able to play just like her. So by the time I started school I was playing hymns and assorted songs of the British Isles, which pretty much accounts for my parent's taste in music. I started formal lessons around age 10, and continued throughout most of highschool. I quit when the teacher said she had nothing left to teach me. Not necessarily a compliment. I was always a bit of a shy performer, which translated into a cynical view of people who'd walk over and bang on any instrument in sight. I couldn't see making a big deal out of being able to play. To this day, I still usually wait for the downbeat before making any noise.

 

Geekgurl mentioned Gilbert and Sullivan. Brings back a funny memory. Every year my high school would put on one of those productions. Lots of fun. I was an alto chorus girl. My music teacher had no idea I played the piano, (since I was critically shy about showing off), and one day my mother had just had enough. I was in gr 13 already, guess she figured better late than never. She barreled into his office and set the poor man straight. I think she was upset that my cousin always got all the accompanist privileges. At any rate, I chosen to accompany our last G&S, whatever it was. Performance night, the choir goes flat during an a capella interlude. Piano comes back in and everybody gasps euwww how horrible. Right? Wrong. I transposed down the semitone. No one was the wiser, except my grateful music teacher. He never forgot that, and we remained good buddies til the day he died.

 

Long story short, I'm teaching privately, work exclusively with a ww5, and other assorted chamber ensembles. Accompany various choirs, and so on. Love it. Thanks mom and dad for signing me up for those $2.00 lessons.

[Andre Lower]

Wow, my story is so different from the ones above...

 

Have always had a passion for music. Naturally, it started with singing along Beatles tunes (still mad about them). To make it short, I sing from the time I wake up to the time I go to sleep, be it loud or in my head (a famous Brazilian musician by the name Hermeto Paschoal once said he had this "illness", which made me feel I am not alone ). First instrument was acoustic guitar, playing pop tunes by ear. At 19 joined my first band hoping to play some guitar (had a bad axe by then, good ones were unavailable in Brazil at the time) and was discouraged to play (could not do it right while singing anyway) and strongly encouraged to sing (much to my surprise). Played some gigs for a couple of years, fumbled with bass guitar at odd times in between, and then jumped into my Engineering graduation, immigration to Spain, back to Brazil, starting my professional life, getting married, etc.

 

Fast forward to year 2000 (34 years old by then) and an old university acquaintance invites me to join his band. Bought a better guitar (Texan Charvel Model 6) and sang lead and played simple guitar parts for a year. Took a crappy keyboard left in my flat by my sister-in-law just for goofing' some Rush keyboard parts on a Sunday rehearsal and... Bandmates surprised me with "No, keep doing it, it sounds good!". Bought my XP-30 and never looked back again. Now I am a happy serious amateur singing lead and playing keyboards in cover bands. I play and sing in a Rush tribute band and also in a Classic Rock one.

 

Never took classes on any instrument for more than three or four months. Only enough to learn the ropes of physical technique (positioning, fingering, etc.) and observe how a real player coax each kind of sound from the instrument. I have an excellent ear and use it to the fullest. Took a year of singing technique classes a while ago (am starting again soon, for those ones yielded solid progress). For one thing I am sure I do not want to make a living out of music. There sure would be compromises between my tastes and the demands of the market, and it would end up being just an uninspiring job. My day job is wonderful, pays well and saves me the hassle of having a boss, so I'd be stupid to dump it.

 

For what I read, I am one of the few in this list that does not compose/plays his own music. I am very picky with music and am no wonder as a composer, which accounts for my detachment from the idea of composing anything. And I admit openly that I dig the instant gratification of choosing only the specific tunes I really like and then playing them to my musical satisfaction. No wonder I still love doing this after all these years...

[Botch.]

I've always played music because I enjoyed it, started on trombone in 5th grade and continued thru college jazz band, also picked up piano, harp, and fiddle along the way. I played trombone and congas (very badly) in a 7-piece rock band my freshman summer, but I left and continued in college (I've scored at the 99 %ile in my ACT, SAT, GRE, AFOQT tests in math, and had a full-ride AFROTC scholarship in Engineering, that's where my real strengths lay). During college and my 12 years in the Air Force I continued playing in weekend bands, original bands, very limited recording, and just having a paying hobby in music.

I'm now a civilian engineer for the Air Force, but lawyers and Congress have increased our bureaucratic paperwork so badly I don't really do engineering anymore, and feel stuck in a rut. I've also learned over the years that I don't have what it takes to make a living in music, but I still have it as a balm, in fact last year at age 44 I bought a tenor sax and am learning to play it. I know I won't be able to play the bars too many more years, so I don't really know what's going to happen after that; if nothing else I'll still be singing in the shower.

[Andre Lower]

Originally posted by Botch.:

...at age 44...I know I won't be able to play the bars too many more years, so I don't really know what's going to happen after that; if nothing else I'll still be singing in the shower.

Relax Botch, I am 38 and full of white hair, and still have it going! OK, every time I climb upstage I get curious looks from the kids in the audience, which turn into grins after we start our thing. I am not pretty, no athletic showman and not even famous at all, but firmly believe in playing and singing my heart out live.

 

Talk to your sax with passion, sing your guts out, and it will reach any audience you might have. Even if it ends up being your wife&kids when you are in the shower ... After all, it's all about enjoying it...

[freelance]

Current - Semi-Pro (or paid hobby). Gig from 1-3 times per week. Operate a home based project studio. Play sessions in other local studios (mostly songwriter demos and/or local jingles). Limited success as a "songwriter" with some songs published and a couple placed in films (direct to video - no big screen)

 

Main axe drums/percussion but also play keys, guitar, violin, banjo & harmonica (I gig on guitar/keys and/or drums percussion. Studio sessions limed to drums, percussion & keys)The other instruments are just for my personal challenge

 

History - 7 years full time touring musician in the late 60's through early 70's. Part time (ie: semi pro) gigging musician for the last 30 years. I never counted, but I suspect I have between 3,000 and 4,000 gigs under my belt.

 

Future - During the next year or two I plan to phase out of live gigs (I still get offered plenty of gigs, but gigging just ain't the fun it use to be). Will continue some select local session work (although newer younger cats are starting to take over). I hope to turn the demo studio into enough of a cash flow to allow for early retirement (from my day gig) by 55 (I'm 51 now), but the recording business (the music business in general) is so much tougher now than it used to be. I may teach (privately or through a music store) part time also.

 

Even if I can't continue to generate revenue as a musician I will continue to work to improve my chops on the various instruments I now play and perhaps try to learn a few more (I'm thinking bagpipes - the wife isn't too supportive of that idea).

[Jon Doe]

Originally posted by Botch.:

I've always played music because I enjoyed it, started on trombone in 5th grade and continued thru college jazz band, also picked up piano, harp, and fiddle along the way. I played trombone and congas (very badly) in a 7-piece rock band my freshman summer, but I left and continued in college (I've scored at the 99 %ile in my ACT, SAT, GRE, AFOQT tests in math, and had a full-ride AFROTC scholarship in Engineering, that's where my real strengths lay). During college and my 12 years in the Air Force I continued playing in weekend bands, original bands, very limited recording, and just having a paying hobby in music.

I'm now a civilian engineer for the Air Force, but lawyers and Congress have increased our bureaucratic paperwork so badly I don't really do engineering anymore, and feel stuck in a rut. I've also learned over the years that I don't have what it takes to make a living in music, but I still have it as a balm, in fact last year at age 44 I bought a tenor sax and am learning to play it. I know I won't be able to play the bars too many more years, so I don't really know what's going to happen after that; if nothing else I'll still be singing in the shower.

If Willie Nelson and BB King can still gig, you can too.

[Jeebus]

My story:

 

Age 3: I was very young when my parents asked me which instrument I wanted to learn. I replied, "piano", and so they went out and bought me a piano. I think piano was the only instrument I even knew of at the time, so technically, I didn't have much of a choice.

 

Soon after the piano purchase, my mother heard me picking out various melodies on it by ear, and decided to start me on lessons. To this day, my preferred method of playing is by ear, despite learning how to read.

 

Fast forward to age 14: The classical lessons are still going, but I've become bored and decide it's time for a change. I start learning guitar at this point. I also learn how to play trumpet while in highschool. I pick up bass approximately 5 years after starting guitar lessons. Play in bands throughout highschool and university. Occasional gigging, but not a lot.

 

Fast forward to the present:

I have a part-time job as a teacher at a private music school. I teach guitar for the most part, some theory, and a few piano lessons.

 

I've built myself a little home studio with the gear I've colleted, and use it to write and produce music for a comedy troupe's live shows and CDs. I've done some session work for others, and I work on my own music (when I have the time). I've continued to work with the other musicians I've met, and have maintained long-lasting partnerships with two of them.

 

With regards to playing and recording, my plans are to continue to improve my skills, better myself and learn new things all the time. Some people have told me that at age 24 I've accomplished a lot with music for a 'part-timer', but I still consider myself a beginner in many ways, and I practice nearly every day. Music time is limited since I'm currently pursuing a (non-music) degree. Most of my practice time these days is spent on jazz piano.

 

Jeebus

[Botch.]

Originally posted by Hartmann:

Relax Botch, I am 38 and full of white hair, and still have it going! OK, every time I climb upstage I get curious looks from the kids in the audience, which turn into grins after we start our thing. I am not pretty, no athletic showman and not even famous at all, but firmly believe in playing and singing my heart out live.

 

Talk to your sax with passion, sing your guts out, and it will reach any audience you might have. Even if it ends up being your wife&kids when you are in the shower ... After all, it's all about enjoying it...

Actually I'm not too worried about an audience, I'm currently in the best band I've ever been in, we're booked max, and our guitarist is 52 and still jumps around like D. L. Roth! My hands are starting to hurt more and more, plus its harder and harder to get moving on a Sunday morning after gigging two nights, I'm hoping someday I can just play sax with a keyboardist or guitarist in some lil' ol' lounge full of martini-sodden divorcees.

(and there's no wife/kids, just two Welsh Corgis who howl when I sing ).

[David R]

Started playing piano at age 6. Got into jazz music at age 9. Throughout high school played in the big band, choir, jazz choir, small combo, and pit orchestras. Played a few solo piano and trio jazz gigs, hung out at jazz jam sessions, and was in a short-lived rock/jamband. Played clarinet in the concert band for a year, as well. Age 17, started at university studying jazz piano (I'm currently 19 and in my third year now). Involved with big band, jazz choir, combos ranging from trios to quintets, and three funk bands.

 

Who knows what the future holds?

 

David

[Odyssian]

Thanks to everyone that posted so far. It's interesting to read how wide of a span our interests and backgrounds are. It's also interesting to note that everyone's history seems to have changed somewhat dramatically through the years (like life, I suppose).

 

BTW, Phait - I remember Road Rash!