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Why Some Musicians Don't Gig

#41
Sundogue said:
For me there isn't a single hobby I enjoy that I haven't turned into some kind of money making venture. Music is no different.

But for me, playing music was something I felt compelled to do. From the earliest age of maybe 6 or 7, sitting at our old "out of tune" piano out on the porch playing anything and everything that came into my head was just something I had to do. I didn't just want to, I had to.

When my brother gave me his guitar and a friend gave me his cheapo Montgomery Ward drum set I just had to learn every Beatles and Stones song wearing out my brother's 45's on his phonograph. I didn't know why then, but I just had to do it...for hours on end.

The first time I seriously played for someone and got a pleasing reaction to it, I knew what I did moved people. I knew that there was something inside me that connected with that same "something" that's inside all of us.

Being onstage and having the power to elicit emotions from people is quite the spiritual elixir. Playing alone, or just with a couple other musicians and never sharing it with others (not even in a small, intimate non-professional setting like a backyard gathering), is such a waste of divine energy (IMO).

There is so much that goes into a person to be able to play an instrument, and so much that person puts in of their own self, why wouldn't one want to share that with others?

I can understand not wanting to gig...there is a lot that goes into it. I can't imagine ever stopping gigging. I'll gig as long as I can play, even if they have to wheel my ass out there in a wheelchair and a tank of oxygen. I don't do it just for myself.

But that's me.
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+1

I remember being 13 and playing a private party. When we were done playing some older gentleman came up to the band members and gave each of us a 20 dollar bill. Cool as hell
 
#42
chris stopa said:
I played 4-6nights a week every week for years in the late 60s and into the 70s. It was great money( I was union) equivalent to about $50 an hour now. For me and my bandmates it was our job and many of us had apartments and condos paid for by the pay we received. Then I suddenly stopped and went off and spent a few years teaching meditation and the music seemed so gross when I played it. Stayed away for thirty years and suddenly I started to feel within me a real need to play rock and blues. Now I can not go more than a day without playing. The problem is the music scene where I live (Portland Oregon) seems so different than what I remember. When I was younger there were only so many of us around that really played well and the need in clubs for musicians was high . Therefore as long as you were a competent musician and had a desire to work you could find pretty steady employment. Now everybody seems to play guitar or bass. Because of this large number of musicians and the limited number of bars and clubs that will employ them there is not much decent money in it and so many groups trying to work means that each group can not work much. Many individuals are members of 2 or 3 groups just to have the opportunity to play sometime with one of the groups. I feel that that weakens each group but it seems the trend here and many places. So I end up trying to network with others when I go to GC or talk with someone at a picnic or party who knows someone who plays and may want to form a group. I have practiced with individuals who want to have a roster of bass players so that they can call one who is free when a job comes up but that is not for me. I find myself sitting home , playing to CDs and getting better and better but with no group to plug into.It's very frustrating. At my age I do not need to play a lot but a 3 or 4 jobs a month would be great.
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That...is really sad. Really. Best of luck man...hang in there. You'll meet the right situation at the right time. Do what I did...Start your own band and make it the way you've always wanted a band to be.
 
#43
sound of bass said:
This past summer I met / auditioned for some really cool dudes, 30 yrs. of playing together, they toured USA/Canada, good musicians, and we hit it off from the start. A great set up you would think, but at this point they just want to be a jam band and play at home for fun. They were done gigging, I am not. In fact my search for a new band is now in its 7th month!!! Ugh. But thats their reason.
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I was between bands for a while. I was out of a band for 2 months and I felt awful.

I recently won an audition and am hoping my new band is a good experience for me.
 
#44
Sundogue said:
That...is really sad. Really. Best of luck man...hang in there. You'll meet the right situation at the right time. Do what I did...Start your own band and make it the way you've always wanted a band to be.
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Again, you guys assume that all of us have the ability and desire to start a band.

Starting a band is the last thing I'm interested in.
 
#45
bluewine said:
+1

I remember being 13 and playing a private party. When we were done playing some older gentleman came up to the band members and gave each of us a 20 dollar bill. Cool as hell
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+1.

Music is meant to be shared. To play only by, and for, yourself is the equivalent of masturbation.

I'm of the opinion that life is too short for any of it to be wasted. And doing anything in life that equates to jacking off for amusement is wasting what little time we have here.
 
#47
bluewine said:
Again, you guys assume that all of us have the ability and desire to start a band.

Starting a band is the last thing I'm interested in.
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For 30 years I felt the same way. Then it hit me...what did I want in a band and what did I want to do with music? All those years of selflessly serving a role for others to use and not once did I consider myself.

So I did it. Best damned thing I ever did with music was start my own band. Took me over 30 years to do it, but I've never been happier. But that's me.
 
#48
bluewine said:
I was between bands for a while. I was out of a band for 2 months and I felt awful.

I recently won an audition and am hoping my new band is a good experience for me.
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Right. Thats how I been feeling..awful...something missing in my life and very frustrated about the whole thing and about ready to forget it all. Heres my situation: Divorced, 3 very demanding jobs as a Paramedic, working all kinds of crazy hours and trying to see my 10 yo daughter in between it all. The type of commiment it takes to learn tunes accuratly and hone the craft good enough to play live to people, is something my life and schedule can do without. BUT, I still do it....rearrange my whole life around the band and music. Why? When my life would be simpler without that extra responsibility? I guess its just that important to me. Good luck with your new project, all experiences have some type of value.
 
#53
bluewine said:
I know where your coming from.

I was on the other side of the world, Jersey in the 60s and 70s and have seen the same transition.

Back then bands were a novelty and if a club had a band people would pack the place. There was a real scene.

BTW, I am completely aware that most people don't care about bands or live music anymore.
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having a scene is key - best gigging years of my life were in South Korea - play bass? want 12 gigs a week? No problem - but the ex-pats come out to see bar bands in the designated areas and the Koreans will come out and watch/support original music in the college/university areas so you can easily fill both sides of that...

also the nobody to report to - I have no wife or children so that makes it a ton easier...if that stays the same for few more years I will be past the point of it making any sense to get hitched...so I guess bands fill that pseudo family niche in a way...:bassist:
 
#56
Stress & Frustration!! And I'm there myself! I can never find a group of cats on the same level as I am and I always have to dumb down my playing to fit in! Getting tiresome. The really good musicians just don't want to play (I know they're out there)! I live in an area that is starving for a fresh kick ass band and it just befuddles me all the mediocrity there is here! I'm really close to packing it in and record my own music!
 
#59
I'll offer a slightly different perspective, I'm in my early 20's but graduated in the tech field and landed a solid, steady job. I moved to a bigger city, rented a bigger apartment, bought a bigger car, bought a ton of bass equipment, and I'm right where I wanted to be at this point 5 years ago, but yeah that lifestyle depends on the 9-5, so it gets first priority. 2nd priority is my crew of friends and my girlfriend, who stick by me no matter what flaky band I'm in at the time. 3rd comes the band... and before you rag on me for that, everyone IN my current band is in pretty much the same situation... band comes 3rd-4th. Guitarist works 2 jobs, drummer works and has 2 kids, singer is a full-time student with a part-time job to support herself. Its a sad reality, but when you find likeminded people, it works. We've been playing together 4 months now and want to start gigging in Jan-Feb of next year, but we said right from the get go, our collective schedules could allow for 1 gig/week MAX. Practice 1 day a week MIN, we said we'd call around and set up on free days, but that rarely happens due to our schedules. So long story short, I haven't gigged in probably 6 months now, and while I miss it alot I'm patient enough to know I'll feel the stage again, and from these forums its apparent you never "outgrow" it.
 

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