This may be a bit off-topic, but I think it's worth talking about. I honestly feel a little bad for my musician friends who don't have interests outside of music. Let's face it; sometimes, playing music can be a drag, especially if you are doing it professionally or semi-professionally and need the income. I don't subscribe to the philosophy that automatically getting paid for music somehow devalues it or is philosophically wrong, but having to take gigs that blow because you need them can really take the fun out of playing.
Throughout my teens and early 20s, music was the thing I was really good at. It also was what consumed my time and effort. Around the time I turned 21, I started exploring other things in life and discovered that, hey, there are other things I'm good at and enjoy - there are things that I'm good at that I'm even better at than music. I ended up going to school for something far removed from music as possible and got interested in a lot of other areas outside of music. I feel a lot more well-rounded and I don't feel like I need to get validation or stimulation simply from music.
Now, the drummer of my rock band that just disbanded - he's about 43 and still has the dream of "playing for a living." I don't begrudge anyone his or her dream, but he has RA that severely affects his joints and other parts of his body. He's been averaging major joint or muscle surgery about every 2 to 3 years, and double-header weekends were leaving him completely physically drained. He has a wife and kid. While both he and his wife work, they're not getting rich. But with the new project he's starting, he wants to make another go at "playing for a living." He did it back in his late 20s and early 30s. He toured up and down the East Coast and brought home more money than some people did at their day jobs. A lot of big name rock bands that have went platinum were opening for him at one time. But there's the rub. A lot of the people he played with earlier in his career went on to do a lot of really cool things in music and he never seemed to be able to get to that level; it definitely bugs him. So now, he wants to try and take another stab at it. Lots o' luck, but I just don't see it happening for him.
I don't want to sound condesending, but I'm glad that I found other interests and career avenues outside of music early in my life. I don't want to be middle-aged and still hanging onto some dream of "making it." In my current project, the BL and guitarist are 43 and 48, respectively. As I said earlier, they've done some cool things, like have songs featured on CMT. As my guitarist says, "We don't chase it." That's a good philosophy to have.
Didn't mean to go off on a tangent, but I think it's a good topic.
