Age Gap?

[cymbop]

What's the age gap in your current band? What's the biggest gap you've ever had in a band?

Currently I'm the oldest, by 12 years over the whippersnapper. Last band I was in? The youngest, born 32 years after our wisest.

I'm grateful for the things I've learned from bandmates of a different age -- on either side of the number line.

 

[ArtechnikA]

Guitar Guy and Singergirl are mid-30's. Drummerguy is low 60's. I'm 6 weeks away from 70...
We stage the yuppies up front, rhythm section keeps to the back and builds the foundation. Everybody's visible but the front people are up front...

 

[Biggbass]

we're all within 4 years of each other.

But the biggest age gap I've experienced in a band was when I was 15. I answered a newspaper ad for a country music band looking for a bass player. The ad said the band would apply the equipment.
I called the number and my dad drove me to address where I was interviewed by the band leader. They hired me and provided a Fender P and Bassman amp, plus cable, strap, etc.
I played the honky tonk circuit of NW Tx and SW Okla with them for about 18 months and got paid $5 per gig and they provided transportation. It was a breeze for me since I'd been playing upright bass in the school orchestra for a couple of years and could read bass notation and had the ear for the simple bass parts on the songs they played.
I was 15 and the rest of the band was in their 40's to early 50's.

 

[Marko 1]

Present band, 59 through me at 66.

I started later in life, and all my projects have been similarly gapped.

 

[Parzival]

Main band, oldest is late 50s and youngest is 31.

Big band I just left, oldest over 60 and youngest was 22 I think.

 

[Jefus]

I'm 45.

Tuesday night band: 2 guys turned 50 this year, one turns 50 next year.

Thursday night band: Drummer 47, other bass player (yeah, there's two of us!) is 53.

Biggest age gap: Reggae band I was in in high school. I was 16. Singer (her band) was mid-50s.

 

[Tanner5382]

I’ve pretty much always been the youngest in my groups by at least 25 years. It got/gets old, not to make a pun.
Learned a lot, but after a while the hangout factor/interpersonal factor just doesn’t work that well. No relatability. Nobody’s fault.

 

[Five or Six]

One of my first bands my drummer was 16, I was 32. Now, 400 years later our drummer is in his mid 50s and the three of us are closer to the end than the beginning. The other 3 of us are within 5 years apart, me being the oldest.

 

[fdeck]

My band has had different lineups over the decades -- the biggest span I can remember is 20 to 80.

 

[mikewalker]

When I was a teenager many of my bandmates were 20 years older (30+ in some jazz assembleges). When I was in my 40s most of my group was 20 years younger.

 

[pfschim]

I was in a band with a 28 year old American Idol contestant (male).... when I was 59.
I also played behind another Am Idol contestant (female) who was 23 when I was 63.

both of those gigs worked out ok, although they did not last too long because those younger talents were pretty restless. both have been through multiple bands worth of players over the past 3-5 years which I kind of accept as the "nature of the beast"

I have regularly played with folks 10-15 years younger than myself. If everyone is committed and has a professional attitude/approach, it seems to work out fine (at least so far)

 

[Julian G]

My old band had me at 56 with the first singer we have being around 28 and then she was replaced by a 22 year old so that would have been a 34 year difference!! Did it make me feel old?.....Nah made me feel young

 

[lowfreqgeek]

I've been the young guy with anywhere from a 25-30+ yr gap, and I've been the old guy with a 29yr gap (I'm 45 now). Granted, it was my own 16yr old son filling the drum chair for my 50yr old band-mate who couldn't make the gig due to a previously booked session he was producing.

I've routinely (not exclusively) played with guys my parents' age (and older) since I was in high school. Now I'm the same age that my parents were when I was in high school, and my high-school-age son is starting to play out a little. Weird.

 

[smperry]

Usually, I'm one of the oldest in my indie rock bands, but I'm more than 20 years younger than my current bandmates (jazz trio).

 

[juancaminos]

Currently I am 68. Drummer and Rhythm guitar are 69 while the band leader and lead guitarist is 73.
Before leaving California in 1977, I was in a band where I was 22 while the rest were retired.

 

[Pocket Dave]

My Thursday-nights gig band has a 40 year range with the youngest at 26, a drummer who probably works more than any other drummer in Dallas/Fort Worth.

My Fri/Sat band has about a 25-30 year range with the oldest at 71.

 

[TyBo]

About 40 years. I was on the high side of that. .

 

[KohanMike]

My uke group of about 40 people goes from a new member today, 16, to 93. I'm 73.

 

[themickster]

What's the age gap in your current band? What's the biggest gap you've ever had in a band?

Currently I'm the oldest, by 12 years over the whippersnapper. Last band I was in? The youngest, born 32 years after our wisest.

I'm grateful for the things I've learned from bandmates of a different age -- on either side of the number line.

I'm the lead singer bass player, 59, and the guitar player is 22. Now and again I see band ads that want someone the same age. One even said it without saying how old he was.

 

[swink]

What's the age gap in your current band? What's the biggest gap you've ever had in a band?

Currently I'm the oldest, by 12 years over the whippersnapper. Last band I was in? The youngest, born 32 years after our wisest.

I'm grateful for the things I've learned from bandmates of a different age -- on either side of the number line.

When we talk about mental age, there is no big difference. To me, that's the only age that matters.