I have played acoustic and electric guitar, bass, and a bit of mandolin, as a hobby for almost 40 years. I sang and played in a classic rock garage band in high school and early college, way back before the rock was called "classic." The band sucked - no, really - but we had an awesome time and made enough (almost) to buy crappy gear and keep it taped up so it wouldn't electrocute us in the middle of trying, say, "Cat Scratch Fever." Today, in "real life," I am a gray-goateed, over-traveled, married executive with five grown kids. Guitar for me is like golf for many of my colleagues: Now that I can afford better equipment, I'm too busy to play as often as I want. But every time I pick up the tools of the art, I fall in love with it again. I was a member of Twin Cities gigging bands Ziggy Smalls, Moody Raven, and Moonstone Fever. Now I live just east of Nashville and have just started looking to get back into the scene here.
Music fills my head 24/7, it seems. I even dream hearing songs (sometimes earworms that have been cycling through my thoughts for days). It's a language and a way to communicate feeling and mood. It can make me very happy or very sad, or accentuate any mood, good or bad.
A part-time group or band, gigging maybe a couple times a month, maybe less about the late-night bar/dance gigs and more about private parties, happy hours, coffee shops, festivals. I think a guitarist and keyboardist duo (both able to sing) could even be good. But I'm up for a bigger band, too.
Minimizing the role of politics in our lives.
So many to choose from, but I'll say the first tune I ever bought with my own money as a 45-rpm single: The Joker by Steve Miller Band.
See the rest of my profile -- I list a bunch of them as my influences.
It makes me calm and gives me moments of clarity, peace, excitement and joy.
Life is short. Have fun and find meaning wherever you can.
Nervous before we hit that first note, but after that it always goes by so fast, and feels so cathartic.
The industry wrings out so many amazing, talented musicians. I hear brilliant singers and players on lower Broadway in Nashville, the kinds of talent you just know should be stars, and they're playing for tips! I am glad I don't have to make a living at it. And I'm sorry that it is so incredibly difficult for those who do, and those who have plenty of talent but not the good luck you need to make it.
Just got here. Ask me later. ?
It's hard to get better when life intervenes with practice and rehearsal time.
Before COVID, loved to head out and hear local bands. These days live music is hard to come by near me, though there's plenty if I want to drive into the city. Support whenever I can!
Talent, of course, but to make it you also need just plain luck.
Well, my dad was an amazing jazz piano player and bandleader. John Richard Small.