So you're a musician?

[kookaburra]

Can’t top your story OP. Not even close.

 

[Lou Tencodpees]

I've played in garage bands, original bands, house parties, basement jams, free gigs, paying gigs (bars, weddings, corporate parties, outdoor festivals), studios...all while maintaining a mundane day gig and supporting a family. I write and record these days. In recent years I've referred to myself as a home recordist. Do I consider myself a musician? Hell yes. I really don't care what others might call me. Considering myself part of the tribe isn't an affront to those with bigger accomplishments.

 

[SRHmusic]

I’m not sure why some people have to label themselves and others and then parse each label to create some artificial pecking order. It’s more important how we think of ourselves than how others think of us. You want to call yourself a musician? Who am I to argue?

A philosophy professor once told me that a philosopher is just someone who loves philosophy. Like that, I see musicianship now as a continuum, as it's a never ending journey. I've had the pleasure to play with more than one outstanding younger pro musician (in their late 20s) who just enjoy making good music with others (they each had sat in with our band at times). They readily say that everyone is somewhere on their own path, dismissing any self-effacing comments. It's a refreshing attitude and very freeing. Just keep at it!

 

[Sparky2]

So, Bob the drummer and I did a job at a good friend's retirement party years ago.
It was freezing cold outside that evening.
No bass player available, so I packed a Crate amp that had the option of a bass octaving feature, so we went ahead and played the gig.
I dialed just a bit of the sub-frequencies, and Bob and I sounded good.

It was cold as hell outside on that club house veranda, and the host had all these outdoor propane heaters set up.
(Actually, since my avatar is from that job, so you can see one of the heaters there behind me.)

This had to have been 2012 or 2013.

Anyway, we played set after set, and though a lot of the crowd stayed inside the clubhouse where the food and wine and beers were, a great number of guests stayed out on the veranda with us, and rocked out.

My wife was there, taking photos with her Nikon camera, and enjoying some beverages. (She still drank back then.)

We had a lot of people on the dance floor, and a good time was rolling. One friend got up and sang a few songs with us, and the crowd was digging it.

At one point, one of the ladies dancing with her hubby and some friends danced her way up to my mic stand, as I sang something she really liked, and she began to shimmy and flirt. And I must confess two things right now;
a. She was a stunningly beautiful woman, very sexy
and,
b. My wife was having none of it. She was off to the side with her camera, and glaring at the shimmying chick with all her might.

I laughed like hell and carried on with the performance.
Bob and I played a couple more dance-able tunes, and then took a break to enjoy some beers.

I hugged my wife and asked her, "So, how did you like that set?"

She grumbled, "It was good, but I thought I was going to have to peel that b1tch off of you at one point."

Bob snickered, and said, “Don’t worry, Beth. She was only coming on to him so she could hook up with the drummer eventually.”

I agreed. “Yep. Drummers get all the girls.”

Good times.

 

[Trenchant63]

She complained, you play the stuff my dad likes and in a suit.

That suit represented stability to her - she apparently found that ‘boring’ and wanted more drama than you were able to give. Some women (and men) I’ve known couldn’t feel truly alive without a good dose of drama in their lives. Congrats on dodging that bullet!

 

[TokyoPortrait]

One is meaningful for the masses.

Pax/
Desn

 

[TokyoPortrait]

Hi.

The writer (who had bitten his tongue — shredded it, in fact — in too many similar conversations) blurted, "What a coincidence! When I retire, I plan to operate on someone's brain!"

Not quite the same, but occasionally someone will ‘compliment’ me on a photograph with something like “you must have a good camera.”

I try to return the kindness, if I can. My fav, to a restaurant owner, remains “That meal was great. You must have good pots.”

Pax/
Dean

 

[brookdalebill]

Now that I’m not young, no one ever says that to me, anymore.
Luckily, I’m not a “pick off”, I don’t look like anyone’s idea of a musician.
I look like an old, tired, retired guy who worked retail till it killed him.
Oh wait.

 

[Andy B]

Great post Bill!

 

[archetype]

The good news is, I'm a musician.
The bad news is, I'm a musician.

-Webb Wilder

 

[emu!]

A friend sent me this well-known meme now that’s its common knowledge amongst them that I write and produce pop, dance and K-Pop tracks after years of playing mostly jazz and looking down at their pop sensibilities,

to whit:

It made me think of memorable moments in my social life that were centred around my being a professional musician…

Way back in the in 1981, one of my neighbours had a barbeque and I met his utterly charming sister, a single 20 something like me. She was excited when she found out that I was a “professional musician”, i.e. my full time job.

We arranged to go an date and I suggested she come watch me work (so I could duly impress her) and then we could go for a late night romantic meal. So roll on Saturday night and there was yours truly in his finest wedding tuxedo and bow tie, in the pit band doing a Morecambe and Wise special at the old Rediffusion studios now owned by Lee International in Wembley (where we both lived).It was my best paid gig as I got double scale and golden as it was the weekend and after 5pm, plus I was playing in a top rated TV show watched by millions, what could possibly go wrong?

After the show, she came down to the green room and after a few drinks and some banter with the totally charming Eric Morecambe , off we went to a little faux French bistro a few doors down.

I couldn’t help noticing she didn’t seem particularly enthusiastic and as we got to the coffees and black forest gateau ( folks this was 1981 and I was showing my exceptional gourmand taste) I asked her what was wrong.

She rather sadly told me that when she heard I was a professional musician , that it would be something like Pink Floyd or Blondie etc. She complained, you play the stuff my dad likes and in a suit.

We finished our meal and went our separate ways, me to another few decades of session, pit band and cruises then starting and selling a web agency, finally returning to sessions, writing and producing. She got married to a local jack the lad turned property developer and moved to sunny Spain.

The meme made me curious as to what had happened to her: Knowing she now lived in Dorset, very near me (through her brother), we met for a coffee a few days ago: It turns out out she had a pretty wild ride for the past four decades including five marriages. Her first one ended when jack the lad turned out to more of fraudster than a business man and ran off to hide in Greece and was subsequently jailed for 10 years. Her latest lasted two years until he ran off to Thailand with her teenage daughters best friend, also a teenager.

I also noted there was an awful lot of hand touching , complementing me on my still shoulder length hair and hugging going on and then she leant over and asked,

“So you are still a musician?”

“Yes” I replied

“and I’ve still got that tuxedo that your dad liked so much.”

I’d love to hear of your musically influenced encounters.

Great story...kept me enthralled until the end.
You are a musician AND a writer.

 

[bowman]

Over the years I’ve had a few women I knew who’d showed up to see me play, and of course I was flattered and also determined to see where it would lead. These events happened in between longer relationships, so I was at different ages each time, but one thing was the same: they weren’t really interested in the music all that much. It was actually me that they were interested in. Now, on the one hand I guess that’s a good thing - hey I can attract these beautiful women on my own merits! - but at the time I was kinda disappointed. I wanted them to be attracted to me for my playing and singing at the gig. They were much smarter about it than I was. They just wanted a fling with a relatively normal guy that they already knew, while I wanted the same thing for an unrealistic reason. At least I wasn’t dumb enough to offended - we had some good times, and after all, the music was the excuse we needed to make it happen.

 

[Happy Enchilada]

I remember one night when my buddy and I were doing our folk blues act in this college bar we frequented. Met this girl on break who carried her nighty in her backgammon case just in case ... Turned out to be a real wild ride that I still remember vividly. Opened a box of junk from back then in storage the other day and there was her driver's license! Wonder how that happened ... and where she is as an old lady today ...

 

[msalama]

 

[StoneH]

View attachment 1117456

Then again . . . it is a bass.

 

[msalama]

it is a bass

True that

 

[Peegoo]

 

[ElvisNixon]

My brother-in-law told me that when I apply at the unemployment office I should tell them I'm a poet.

Just make sure to answer the forms and answer questions in Haiku or iambic pentameter. They will realize you have absolutely no chance at a straight job and the money will flow like wine.

Also talk about wine a lot. Thunderbird, Mad Dog 20/20. You know.. The good stuff.