Bluewine

The demanding day job has to first for most guys. I remember my days of leaving the office at 5:00 ducking into the bathroom to change into gig atire then driving straight to an 8:00- 12:00 gig. That's makes it an 8:00am- 12:00 midnight day. At 25 not at big deal. I was in my late 50s at that time. Blue

I wish we had some 3 and 4 gig weekends booked. My band has been on the scene for 12 years. We're a bar band and we get our share of major fairs and festivals, however were trying to up the profile of our gigs as well as our fee. We want to be consistent as a $200.00 a man act. Blue

I'm a "one band guy" always have been.One band with consistent bookings. It works for some, I don't know how I could be in 2 working bands without a lot of gigs conflicting with each other. I guess my needs are good people and bookings. Creativity and fun come naturally to me regardless of what genre I'm playing. Blue

Sounds like you know who you are and where your at in life to me. 33 with a family does not sound like prime years for committing a lot of time to a band. Blue

Nice! Blue

I've learned the hard way. For me, I must play with good people. Would you play Jason Isbell with a bunch of morons,? Probably not. Blue

That's realistic. If I wasn't retired the band thing would be extremely difficult for me. Again it's knowing where your at in life. I'm not going to chase an opportunity for a 23 year old at 65. Blue

Location Don't beat yourself up if your having trouble finding a band or even just guys to jam with. It's probably because you live in an area where those opportunities are unaccessible. Not your fault. Blue

Bravo! I think you hit every "red flag" for identifying "time wasters". Blue

Having a good time and having fun is a requirement in my band. It's really a given, why would you do this if you were having fun? My point was, and especially for newbies, watch out for the "we don't care about money" thing. It's not always a good attribute. Blue

This is why I pointed out "where are you at in life" Illness, young children, demanding traditional job. Is it realistic to even think about joining a band? If so, what kind? Blue

A few have mentioned "time wasters" Anyone have any suggestions on how to avoid them? Unfortunately your going to keep a Keen eye on start up bands. It's where you find these guys that think anyone can just go out and start up a band. When they realize how hard it is they usually let everything fall apart. That's just one thing to look out for there are others. A lot of you guys won't like this, but I'm going to say it. "We don't care about money" That very noble fine and good. But in some instances if they don't care about money it might mean they don't care about a lot of other things that might be important to you . Blue

With 4 young children I don't know how you can commit any time to a band. Blue.

65, I've been in bands since 1966. I hope that never happens to me. Blue

Age, for those of us in that 65 year old range. Do we really want to play in a band primarily with guys in their 20s. Some of you will say age should not be an issue. I say age does matter depending on the type of band, genre and level of play Blue

Who am I ? Where are you at in life, 18 and single Married with young children 65 plus years old with 50 years experience. My first band Live in the sticks with few band opportunities. Live in a large metro area with plenty of opportunities. There are more these are just few things we might think about. Blue

It's a new year and many of us will be making all sorts of changes. That might include joining a new band. It's an old topic , but one we should revisit occasionally. We hear all sorts of frustrating situations we end up in with bands on BC. I'm not sure we can avoid all band problems but we can certainly mitigate some of them. Let's deal with a few bullet points; Who Am I Why Am I Looking ? What am I looking for ? If you can't answer those questions it might not be the right time to look. This topic is wide open. Let's talk about it. Blue

Good point, There really isn't a too old issue. However there could be a in poor health issue. Blue

Depends on the type of band and gigs. Your not going to see many music stands on stage with rock bar bands in the States. Blue

New venue for us, nice place and nice room with a bar. However this was a big place with another room with a bigger bar and a restaurant. Always a challenge when you competing with another room with a bar. We held our own and managed a smaller yet respectable crowd. Musically we got off to a slow start , however by the 2nd set things started to improve. Blue

Nice! Blue

Has anyone mentioned it depends on what you mean by playing. Bedroom Player, 1 gig a month player, reheasal only player, gigging 3-4 times a week. Pub gigs , corporate/ function gigs. That's going to vary from one guy to another. There are some guys in their 60s- 70s that are in no condition to do any serious gigging and there are some that can play multiple gigs per week with energy to spare. Blue

I'm willing to bet Liberty pushed Billy to far. Blue

Yeah it's not for everyone. I would have been a perfect match for it. Now I'm too old for it. Blue

For those who have watched it The lady guitarist that got the gig with Alice didn't get it on her musianship alone. Very attractive But I guess that goes for anyone trying to score a major rock gig. I've heard that Prince rejected a lot of guys because they didn't have the right look. Blue Blue