Lonely Friday Nights.

[robbotbass]

Since my band disbanded last month and I haven't played a weekend gig in almost a month I find my weekends sorta boring, lonely, and a little depressing. New Mothers have postpartum depression. I think I have post band depression. Just sucks that they don't make a drug for this other then getting a new band.

 

[craig.p]

I'm glad they don't make a drug for it, because it forces me to go out and look for a new band. All sorts of opportunities open up once you start the process. You also get the chance to reassess whether the music you were doing in the old band was something you really enjoyed. And you have the opportunity to change your direction without disrupting an existing band.

In terms of skill set, every advancement I ever made in my bass-playing career was during a lull in the action when I was looking for a band. There was one particular band I was in where I was doing backup vocals. The band broke up, and I used the dead time to train myself to do lead vocals, so now I can bring not only decent bass playing but also a good strong voice to auditions (and eventually to my new band). Had that band never broken up, I never would've taken the plunge into lead vocals.

 

[nobodysfool]

I sag backup vocals for years before the band I was playing in, in the early 90's, had a bit of a shock. Our lead male vocalist developed cancerous nodes on his vocal chords, so I had to step up to do the male lead vocals. I struggled a bit with it, lost my voice at one point, and had to learn a different way to sing, but it was good experience, and I developed a strong lead voice. the next band was one I fronted and wound up singing 90% of the lead vocals in, which strengthened my voice even more. My lead guitarist called me "Elvis Clapton", because I could sing like Elvis when it called for it, and also sing like Clapton when the song called for it. We did a lot of Clapton, Cream, and other Classic Rock tunes, sometimes lowering the key so I could sing them. I my current band, I'm one of 3 lead vocalists, so we can split up the duties, and no one loses their voice. Lately, I've developed the ability to sing like Hendrix, not so much his tone, but his inflections and Dylan-like indistinct pitch. Now, I just need to quit the smoking, so I don't damage my voice any more than I already have. I turn 60 at the end of this month, and it's time to give up an old friend, my cigarettes....

Link Removed

 

[robbotbass]

I'm glad they don't

In terms of skill set, every advancement I ever made in my bass-playing career was during a lull in the action when I was looking for a band. There was one particular band I was in where I was doing backup vocals. The band broke up, and I used the dead time to train myself to do lead vocals, so now I can bring not only decent bass playing but also a good strong voice to auditions (and eventually to my new band). Had that band never broken up, I never would've taken the plunge into lead vocals.

So true I've been working on my chops and getting better as a musician!

 

[Lazylion]

I think I have post band depression. Just sucks that they don't make a drug for this other then getting a new band.

+1 Been there too often! I get a feeling of panic - "oh crap, I don't have a band!" But be sure you don't get stampeded into a new band that isn't right for you.
You can use these free weekend nights to network: call your musician friends & get leads, go out to the local places and meet other bands, maybe sit in (without being pushy), spread around your phone number etc.