Just quit…big sell off incoming

[fretmeister]

Just make sure you don't end up like I did.

I quit my band after 12 years...

 

Now I have a Telecaster and a guitar amp.

 

I feel dirty.

[Geek99]

2 hours ago, fretmeister said:

Just make sure you don't end up like I did.

I quit my band after 12 years...

 

Now I have a Telecaster and a guitar amp.

 

I feel dirty.

Not surprised 😳 

[Grooverjr]

I'm 50 and I've just taken Voluntary Exit after 24 years with the same outfit, moving round the world and largely being carefree. My daughter is 18 and struggling to work out what to do but has settled for the moment on studying speech therapy because she wants to do something that helps people. My son is 15 and has had to drop out of school education because there is noone doing Cambridge qualifications in Bolivia, which is where we are going mainly because the UK is just too expensive to go into.

How is this me,me,me relevant? Well, firstly I could have stayed on and come back to the UK but I realised that the politics and nonsense and the direction of things had outweighed the joy I got from supporting and developing the people in my teams. I have no idea what is coming (other than homeschooling my boy to try and get him 5 GCSEs!) and there is definitely a big dollop of guilt / concern that I should have stayed for the stability but life's too short to be surrounded by the fallout from incompetent people covering up their own failures and insecurities by attacking others and being drawn into it. I've not been in a band for a long time but it does sound familiar....

Another big element was not wanting to come back to present day England. Every time I have come back over the past 10 years or so it's seemed there is a growing sense of dissatisfaction and passive (or not so passive) aggression across the board. Obviously there are islands of sanity and decency but the bickering over minutiaee Andy describes sounds totally unsurprsing. I love North Kent and it's etched in my heart but I don't want bad vibes to drain that love and it sounds like Andy is making exactly that decision - get away to keep the kernel of what you love about making music alive.

We've moved every 2-4 years for the last 25 years and there is definitely a cycle of catharsis getting shot of the crap we've built up. I wonder if that has stopped me having any of the other cycles so many people have described here. Maybe these cycles are a natural part of life and staying sane in a modern world where we don't need to graft to get food on a daily basis. 

Long rambling post but I say good on you, Andy. Don't get stuck in the rut or make decisions that are positive, not avoiding possible negatives. You sound like you have a very full life outside of the band and it doesn't need to define you. 

Luckily for me, I'm now out of buying mode, but I'll enjoy watching the circus!

[Maude]

4 hours ago, Earbrass said:

Anyone else monitoring the Marketplace forum, while feeling like a vulture circling a corpse?

 

How can people be so callous? 

 

 

 

 

 

So then @AndyTravis, when's the err... the erm...    ya know... the err red Jack Casady being listed?

 

Just curious, no real reason. 😉

[Skybone]

6 minutes ago, Maude said:

 

How can people be so callous? 

 

 

 

 

 

So then @AndyTravis, when's the err... the erm...    ya know... the err red Jack Casady being listed?

 

Just curious, no real reason. 😉

Asking for a friend?

 

@AndyTravis, we've all been there. You'll bounce back after a while away. Good luck.

[EMG456]

21 hours ago, AndyTravis said:

I don’t really need a band as such. Wish I’d learned how to sing 😆

Never too late. I always did backing vocals and often would sing one or two songs a night just to offer the singer a rest/ give the crowd something different but never viewed myself as a “singer”.  That is until the singer in my originals band left and it became down to me. So I did it and it was actually ok.  Then I started wondering if I would be able to carry a whole night as the “singer”. So I did it and I enjoyed it and the punters enjoyed it and now it’s just something I do or don’t, depending on the circumstances.

If like many bass players, you have an ear for production and arrangement, I will say that being the singer as well gives your opinion far more clout in these sorts of discussions - piper calls the tune etc.

So I say go for it. A very worthwhile thread of your musical journey. 

[jezzaboy]

Good luck Andy in whatever you choose to do. Band members can suck all the enjoyment of playing music right out of you. 

[police squad]

16 hours ago, fretmeister said:

Just make sure you don't end up like I did.

I quit my band after 12 years...

 

Now I have a Telecaster and a guitar amp.

 

I feel dirty.

if you're gonna feel dirty, a telecaster makes it worth it

[fretmeister]

A good telecaster is a thing of beauty.

 

As it happens swapping instruments for a bit has got me writing again and I haven't done that for ages.

I still have my favourite bass kit, but at the moment I'm looking at it as part of composing rather than being a bassist.

 

I might even record some of it if I ever get a week off work.

[ezbass]

On 22/07/2025 at 13:36, Earbrass said:

Anyone else monitoring the Marketplace forum, while feeling like a vulture circling a corpse?

BC right now...

 

[AndyTravis]

You might have to hold your horses.

 

theres a band meeting been called.

 

I’ve obviously raised some valid concerns and I don’t really want to leave.

 

i wont lie - ive not been in a great mental space recently so maybe the band has copped for it…

 

i dunno:

[admiralchew]

Just now, AndyTravis said:

You might have to hold your horses.

 

theres a band meeting been called.

 

I’ve obviously raised some valid concerns and I don’t really want to leave.

 

i wont lie - ive not been in a great mental space recently so maybe the band has copped for it…

 

i dunno:

Good luck!