deepbass5 Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 Seems this first week of a new year is a time of reflection. What will this year bring etc. etc. Musically I have always been busy, by my mid 20’s had done hundreds of gigs and supported and backed some top acts and cabarets artists of the day. Then took up Bass married the singer started a family and our own band and lived happily ever after..........But - One day this must all end..... Your opinions on playing on regardless please. Is your band the Rolling stones of the North East ? are you still taking top billing at the Dog and Duck in ‘Piddling in the Marsh’ Should those with silver hair just look to Jazz and Folk or should we take the fight to the local Indie bands and the local metal bands that have only ever heard Led Zep on down load. Well I'm going down fighting, what says you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BetaFunk Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 Take up the Mandolin and go down your local folk club. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buzzy Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 (edited) Keep playing as long as you can and you are enjoying it !! I'm 55 next week and busier than ever. I play bass in a Stones Tribute, took up Sax three years ago and play it in an originals band, recently started playing Double Bass in an acoustic band. Edited January 5, 2014 by Buzzy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spinynorman Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 I still play rock at 61, and most of it isn't classic 60s/70s stuff either. The playing is ok, but carting the gear about is starting to get me down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deepbass5 Posted January 5, 2014 Author Share Posted January 5, 2014 (edited) I have been putting off getting a double bass for years despite playing in a Swing band, Im citing all those Gordon Goodwin charts to play my 5 string. I was thinking of gaffaring a DB headstock to the side of my head to keep the purists happy I can't imagine not having an excuse to walk into a music shop Or have enough Gigs to justify that new bass or Cab Edited January 5, 2014 by deepbass5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger2611 Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 If Les Paul was still gigging at the age of 93? I still have a few years left in me....anyway the originals band I am playing in currently is certain to be the next big thing....this time I am certain of it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dingus Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 (edited) I know from past experience that these threads about age can be very sensitive , to say the least, so I will try to tread carefully. There is nothing wrong with playing rock music - or indeed any kind of music- if you are of advancing years, but if anyone thinks that they are going to become commercially successful playing original material over the age of forty if they not already a musician with an established career then they are kidding themselves. It just doesn't happen . That is one aspect to consider. Rock music is a middle-aged art form anyway- it goes hand- in- hand with watching Top Gear and wearing jeans like Jeremy Clarkson- so I wouldn't waste a minute of time worrying about whether you are too old to play that style of music, but when older folks have delusions that they could still be "cutting edge" and in-tune with what young people really like nowadays then things can get a bit awkward. Age is just a number, as people seem to like to say , but it's a number that lets people know how old you are, and, crucially, it doesn't really matter how older people see themselves in relation to younger people, the important thing is how the young see older people. And middle -aged people are just as irrelevant to the lives of young people now as they were when we were young. Edited January 5, 2014 by Dingus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat Burrito Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 I stopped in my mid 20s as I thought I'd be too old. I started back up again in my early 30s and am now 40. I don't really know what a mid life crisis is but am happy just doing what I want as I go through life. The great thing about getting older is you are more comfortable in your own skin and therefore less interested in whether everyone else might be debating whether you are having a mid life crisis or whatever other accusations life brings. Playing / being in band is definitely more enjoyable now I'm older though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icastle Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 Mid life crisis? I've been playing folk clubs since I was 16. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyfisher Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 [quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1388943336' post='2327913'] . . . . but if anyone thinks that they are going to become commercially successful playing original material over the age of forty if they not already a musician with an established career then they are kidding themselves. [/quote] What does the panel think that "commercially successful" actually means? There must be thousands of musicians who manage to earn a living from playing in bands but my feeling is that 'commercially successful' would be a step beyond that, though I'm not sure what exactly it would be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 48 and still happy singing If The Kids Are Utd and Teenage Kicks. It`s what I do for fun, never wanted "to make it", found that out when I was in bands who were, it`s my hobby, under no illusions of fame, grandeur, money etc, but it`s still a blast after 33 years of playing. Why would I want to stop if I don`t have to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BetaFunk Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 I and most of my friends have gone through that time in life and i've come to the conclusion that a 'mid-life musical crisis' is fine. It's the non-musical ones that worry me like at one time every friends house had a gleaming new Harley-Davidson in the drive. That was worrying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamT Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 I will be 56 in March and after 15+ years after picking up a guitar for the first time, 12+ years of playing bass and regular jamming with two mates who play guitar, a handful of false dawns with singers who only want to sing jazz, drummers who can't keep time and keyboard players who would be best suited playing in a church, we finally found a singer and drummer who we get on well with, like the music that we like and want to gig a bit. That was 18 months ago and we all have had great fun doing covers at the occasional local pub gig, a beer festival, birthday and Halloween party, charity fundraiser and a couple of Xmas bashes. We are learning about live performance all the time through trial and error - mostly it is a trial and we err (see my other recent post) but we are expanding our song list, I am going to my first bass lesson onThursday and we are planning a busy 2014 (families permitting of course) This is the most fun that I have since I gave up freefall skydiving (I started to look at the "what If" instead of the "it'll never happen to me" scenario) and UK scuba diving (the kit is too heavy and it is too cold)! It's a great way to flex those creative muscles (especially as my day job is in the Building Industry and at weekends I fell trees) and my kids aren't embarrassed (in fact I think that are quietly proud). What more could I want?? Keep on rockin' my son. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyfisher Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 Are such things really 'crises' though, or just a reflection of people in middle age having got themselves together? Maybe the kids have left home, mortgage paid off, bit more spare cash, bit more spare time, so they spend a bit more time doing stuff they've always been interested in whether it be Harley's, playing in a band, scuba diving, track days, whatever. It's playtime and it's important. Nobody on their deathbed says they wished they'd spent more time in the office! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icastle Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 [quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1388947067' post='2327985'] Nobody on their deathbed says they wished they'd spent more time in the office! [/quote] Unless they got run over by a bus when they'd rung in sick... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jigster Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 I won't tell you how old I am (ha ha )[size=4] but I play in a band where I will probs be dead by the time the keyboard payer is my age (if that makes sense) we all rub along together, mul-ti generational as our American friends might say. And it's all original music, drawn from a collective cache of influences from over the years.[/size] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BetaFunk Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 (edited) I wonder if Ed Cassidy had a mid life crisis? He was 46 when this was recorded and being the drummer in a band of youngsters obviously didn't do him too much harm as he lived to be 89. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bs7qUw3cuYc Edited January 5, 2014 by BetaFunk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrenochrome Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 My band ranges from mid 30s to early 60s. Our 63 year old drummer is the fittest in the band, because he has to be. He keeps listening to new music and re-inventing himself. TBH none of us has ever grown up in the 'pipe and slippers, sit in watching TV' kind of way, and I don't think we ever will. The only concessions to age are drinking in moderation and early nights when not gigging. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deepbass5 Posted January 5, 2014 Author Share Posted January 5, 2014 Well done lads, we should all make a new Years resolution to get someone playing again. I bet names of old band mates must spring to mind, get those Muso friends arses off the sofa this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger2611 Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 [quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1388943336' post='2327913'] I know from past experience that these threads about age can be very sensitive , to say the least, so I will try to tread carefully. Rock music is a middle-aged art form anyway- it goes hand- in- hand with watching Top Gear and wearing jeans like Jeremy Clarkson- so I wouldn't waste a minute of time worrying about whether you are too old to play that style of music, but when older folks have delusions that they could still be "cutting edge" and in-tune with what young people really like nowadays then things can get a bit awkward. Age is just a number, as people seem to like to say , but it's a number that lets people know how old you are, and, crucially, it doesn't really matter how older people see themselves in relation to younger people, the important thing is how the young see older people. And middle -aged people are just as irrelevant to the lives of young people now as they were when we were young. [/quote]There is nothing wrong with playing rock music - or indeed any kind of music- if you are of advancing years, but if anyone thinks that they are going to become commercially successful playing original material over the age of forty if they not already a musician with an established career then they are kidding themselves. It just doesn't happen . That is one aspect to consider. Well that about wee's on my bonfire then what's to say the world isn't going to change and older people will start buying more music....after all a lot of the kids these days have absolutely no interest in music at all. I honestly think what you say is true but I am not going to accept it because I am old and cantankerous....so there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoffbyrne Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 67 today & looking for a band as The Blues Devils has folded. I've been playing since I was 13 (pre-Beatles it ws The Shadows...) Yes, lugging the gear becomes the problem. I have a PA I can't even pick up..... G. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deepbass5 Posted January 5, 2014 Author Share Posted January 5, 2014 (edited) well done Geoff good luck which raises another issue where do bands post wanted adds these days, don't say social media sites or I'm phkt Edited January 5, 2014 by deepbass5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dingus Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 [quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1388944602' post='2327933'] What does the panel think that "commercially successful" actually means? There must be thousands of musicians who manage to earn a living from playing in bands but my feeling is that 'commercially successful' would be a step beyond that, though I'm not sure what exactly it would be. [/quote] When most young people set with serious ambitions t to play music what they ultimately aspire to is to be in band with a recording contract that makes albums and does international tours. I know I certainly did. That is the usual benchmark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dingus Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 [quote name='geoffbyrne' timestamp='1388954400' post='2328145'] I have a PA I can't even pick up..... G. [/quote] I had a similar problem with my Personal Assistant , but she eventually succumbed to my charms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seashell Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 It was a mid life crisis that got me playing bass in the first place. ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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