What’s Up With My Peers

bluewine · #1 03-10-2011, 02:15 PM

I just realized that all of the musicians that I know that are my age 58,have no interest in bands of playing out anymore. I also feel they are a little critical of me because I still want to do this.

What’s up with that;

•Did they just get sick of it

•Happy to compose in their home studios

•Health issues
•Lack of confidence to get on stage as an older guy

•Don’t want to be in bars or clubs anymore

Comments

MatticusMania · #2 03-10-2011, 02:20 PM

One of my fiancee's bands just broke up, and it was the one she was into the most. Their drummer quit because he's just an unhappy dude who wasnt with it anymore. So the rest of the band figures, well we'll just find another drummer then. Nope, the guitarist/songwriter who started the band with the drummer doesnt want to play shows anymore. He's only 31.

jaywa · #3 03-10-2011, 02:24 PM

Great topic. I'm in my mid-40s and find myself most often playing with musicians who are my age or older, so this is definitely something I've been keeping an eye on.

Where I live, anyway, I haven't seen a huge drop-off in activity among musicians, say, 50 years old or older. A few of them have temporarily been sidelined for health reasons or have scaled back their gigging a lot (either in frequency or intensity, i.e. acoustic gigs vs. full-production "rock shows"), but there are still a lot of active players that age and above in this area and they continue to be some of the best musicians around.

To directly answer your question I would say #3 (health issues) and #5 (don't want to be in bars and clubs anymore) are the most prevalent among older players who have scaled back. However, my state just passed a smoking ban in bars and already I have seen some of the older guys starting to come back out of their "retirement" and make the scene so I think that has a lot to do with it.

Passinwind · #4 03-10-2011, 02:26 PM

Blue, how long a break from gigging did you take? Pretty long one, wasn't it?

hdracer · #5 03-10-2011, 02:27 PM

It isn't that way around here. There seems to be a reinsurance of us greybeards that played when we were young and now are getting back into it. The band I'm in is all over 45 and have picked up playing after years of work & family. CL always has people like us looking to get back into it. None of us have the experience that you have but we can afford good gear and devote ourselves to the music. Now if we can just find a key's player we will be set. They are the hardest to find. What part of Wi. do you live?

jaywa · #6 03-10-2011, 02:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MatticusMania

One of my fiancee's bands just broke up, and it was the one she was into the most. Their drummer quit because he's just an unhappy dude who wasnt with it anymore. So the rest of the band figures, well we'll just find another drummer then. Nope, the guitarist/songwriter who started the band with the drummer doesnt want to play shows anymore. He's only 31.

This isn't that unusual. It's a huge psychic drain when you pour yourself into a band long-term and then it falls apart. Sometimes you cope by getting into another project as soon as you can, other times you just need to take a break and recalibrate. I co-founded an originals band when I was 26, and it broke up just a few months before I turned 30. At which point I just couldn't bring myself to invest the energy to start another band (though I did audition for a couple other bands but never found a fit). So not only did I not join another band, but I moved back to my hometown and pretty much didn't play music at all for a couple years. Then eventually I got the itch and started getting back into the scene and now at 45 I'm playing out more than I ever have.

bluewine · #7 03-10-2011, 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Passinwind

Blue, how long a break from gigging did you take? Pretty long one, wasn't it?

Yes, for the 10 years I was married. I wasn't allowed to do anything for myself.

bass_snake · #8 03-10-2011, 02:48 PM

In my experience. Well, around the same age as I am (31). Some of my friends gets married and have children. That's their main reason they don't want to gig.

Hope you find musicians around your age who still wants to play music.

Fred

bobunit · #9 03-10-2011, 02:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bluewine

•Did they just get sick of it

Resistance from other band members to learn new tunes (effectively removing them form their comfort zones), I flat got burned out playing the same music.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bluewine

•Health issues

Back issues, tennis elbow, golfer's elbow (neither which I play

) have certainly reduced my stage time.

tangentmusic · #10 03-10-2011, 02:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bluewine

I just realized that all of the musicians that I know that are my age 58,have no interest in bands of playing out anymore. I also feel they are a little critical of me because I still want to do this.

What’s up with that;

•Did they just get sick of it

•Happy to compose in their home studios

•Health issues
•Lack of confidence to get on stage as an older guy

•Don’t want to be in bars or clubs anymore

Comments

All of the above

MatticusMania · #11 03-10-2011, 03:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaywa

This isn't that unusual. It's a huge psychic drain when you pour yourself into a band long-term and then it falls apart. Sometimes you cope by getting into another project as soon as you can, other times you just need to take a break and recalibrate. I co-founded an originals band when I was 26, and it broke up just a few months before I turned 30. At which point I just couldn't bring myself to invest the energy to start another band (though I did audition for a couple other bands but never found a fit). So not only did I not join another band, but I moved back to my hometown and pretty much didn't play music at all for a couple years. Then eventually I got the itch and started getting back into the scene and now at 45 I'm playing out more than I ever have.

I think his situation is a little different than band break up > take a break, though. They could have found a new drummer (they practically have people lined up for the spot already) and kept going without missing a beat. They have a good following and make some good original music. The guitarist still writes and records a lot, but thats all he wants to do these days. Maybe he'll get the itch later on, but by then he's already lost the foot thats holding the door wide open for him

ForSix · #12 03-10-2011, 03:53 PM

The thing that kanles most musicians hang it up is bwecause their musical growth has stopped. This could be because they mo longer wish to progress themselves, or, more likely, their musician friends no longer wish to keep developing.

I've been playing with the same guys for 29 years now, and we have no intentions of hanging it up. We've gone from farting around to playing The Iridium Jazz Club in NYC.

The big band I play with always has 17 people plus vocalists at rehearsals, and has been rehearsing weekly for three years. It's because we continue to keep getting better.

jaywa · #13 03-10-2011, 04:03 PM

Where I live there's a pretty definitive generational cutoff at around the 28-32 age.

The "originals" bands in the area are overwhelmingly populated by musicians at or below that age line. OTOH, almost every working cover band in the area consists mostly or entirely of players 30 or older... in many cases, 40 or older. You really see very few intergenerational bands around here because the younger guys don't know (or want to learn) the music that sells on the cover band scene and the older guys have no interest in investing time or money in somebody's original material... they just want to play cover gigs on weekends and get paid reasonably well with minimal rehearsing.

BigOldHarry · #14 03-10-2011, 04:05 PM

LOL

I just auditioned for a group whose leader was a grandmother... And she can SING.

Age shouldn't be a limitation - if your old fart buddies roll their eyes at you, the heck with them.

jimc · #15 03-10-2011, 04:07 PM

I'm 56 and, while I can't see me giving up on playing, I don't particularly enjoy the 9 - 1am bar gigs so much these days. My band is in agreement on this and we concentrate on looking for winery gigs, festivals, fairs and earlier shows where possible.

It sucks getting old, youth is wasted on the young!

Passinwind · #16 03-10-2011, 04:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bluewine

Yes, for the 10 years I was married. I wasn't allowed to do anything for myself.

Ouch. Just thinking maybe that's partly why you're so gung ho. I've been mixing or playing in clubs for around 35 years continuously, at this point I'd rather just go see someone else do the hard work. I will always love live music though, whether I'm playing or working the show or not.

As you know, I've always been more about jazz and improv based styles, which has worked out pretty well for me as I get older. In an hour I'll be packing up to play for 100-150 people, with many of the best cats in town. With a little luck I'll get the Motown set and watch the dance floor rocking for my whole stint. And I'll be home before ten, which sure works for me!

And for some reason I'm getting a lot of interest from local joints to start doing my original stuff again, which has always been my first love.

Anyhow, who cares what anyone else thinks?

bluewine · #17 03-10-2011, 07:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimc

I'm 56 and, while I can't see me giving up on playing, I don't particularly enjoy the 9 - 1am bar gigs so much these days. My band is in agreement on this and we concentrate on looking for winery gigs, festivals, fairs and earlier shows where possible.

It sucks getting old, youth is wasted on the young!

I know what you mean, 2:30Am and you have a 1.5 hour drive home alone. Oh well, it 's stuff like this that keeps me going.

I received this e-mail today;

Hi blue, You were the 1st bass player to soulfully deliver the licks to our class in hillside school in the 7th grade. My love for music has evoleded into the dedicate crafting of mini instruments. I take orders personel guitar models. Student,pros's and I consider you and Timmy Stone as local Legends."

RBrownBass · #18 03-10-2011, 07:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Passinwind

Ouch. Just thinking maybe that's partly why you're so gung ho. I've been mixing or playing in clubs for around 35 years continuously, at this point I'd rather just go see someone else do the hard work. I will always love live music though, whether I'm playing or working the show or not.

As you know, I've always been more about jazz and improv based styles, which has worked out pretty well for me as I get older. In an hour I'll be packing up to play for 100-150 people, with many of the best cats in town. With a little luck I'll get the Motown set and watch the dance floor rocking for my whole stint. And I'll be home before ten, which sure works for me!

And for some reason I'm getting a lot of interest from local joints to start doing my original stuff again, which has always been my first love.

Anyhow, who cares what anyone else thinks?

I was the second oldest member of an original band back in the early-mid 90s (in my 20s), and then the oldest when the vocalist departed, so to speak. Most of that band's fanbase was in their late teens to early 20s. My jazz gigs are different- I'm almost always the youngest player on stage at 47.

Grown men are still playing- they just aren't play as much rock as they did back when.

bassbully · #19 03-10-2011, 08:08 PM

Well I think allot of those 50+ have done it and are just getting to tired and old to keep doing it. There are not allot of rockin 50+ years old's anywhere but in blues,country,folk etc you see them allot.

duff beer · #20 03-10-2011, 08:49 PM

All 4 of us in our band are between 45 and 50. We have no intention of slowing down, in fact, we have been commenting lately how it would be nice to have rehearsals during the day after we are retired.

The keyboard player wants to start a "second" career teaching music once he's retired from his real job. I keep looking for other bands because one band isn't enough for me. There are older people who keep playing, but they may be harder to find.