Well I'll be... A thread that isn't bashing someone or an 'A-B-C' conversation (A & B, please C your way out). Since my experience (apparently like the music I choose to play) is so different from everyone else's...
yod wrote:a) How old were you the first time you jammed with some kind of band or combo?
b) How old were you when you decided it was something you wanted to continue doing?
c) How old were you when you did your first gig? Your 100th gig?
d) How old were you when you decided you wanted to be professional OR decided it wasn't the career path you wanted to take? (There can be multiple answers for this one)
e) Was there one thing that caused you to give up on "the dream" you started out with?
a) W/ a band? Prob. around age 12, in Mike D.'s garage. They were all older (16-18) and I had stopped by just to listen, when the guitarist asked me to play a simple line on a Farfisa they had. But I wasn't "in the band," as they say.
b) Dunno, really--can't recall ever making a conscious decision like that. I played in college 'cause I needed the dough, but doing 12-bar I-IV-V7 all night was never something I aspired to. After college I dropped out for a number of years and made an honest living.
c) First gig (not to be confused w/ "first paying gig") was at age 9, in a recital @ St. Aloysius. For the person who asked about the first song, it was "Blue Tail Fly" (Jimmy crack corn, and I don't care...). In subsequent recitals, Sr. Elena moved me into classical, usually Chopin. First paying gig was around 13, playing for a jr. high dance; I was playing guitar. I never kept count, but my 100th had to be in the 80s, during college (back on the piano); you tend to lose count when you play the same thing, over-and-over, 4-5 nights a week for a few years straight. But it allowed me to live in a 1-bedroom apt. all by myself while I was in school, which was nice.
d) See b) above. After I got my M.A., I sold everything I owned and was glad to do so. I picked up again years later, when I decided it might be fun to focus entirely on the music I always loved to play, which leads to...
e) The only "dream" I ever had was to play w/ folks who liked the same type of music I did and who were willing to put in the time to develop the sound. That's never happened and likely never will--not in Tampa, anyway. I'm really envious of guys like P-guy who have done this and sustained it for a number of years. And I check out those Steely Dan tribute bands and wonder how they got 8-10 folks to buy into the idea and keep at it. My experience down here has been that guys hear what I play, then vanish. I assume they either detest the type of music I play (down here it's all bar blues, death metal & Lynyrd Skynyrd), are only looking for a quick payday ("Rehearse? Nah--I'll meet you at the gig. Have my money ready.") or they think I really suck. Or some combination thereof.
this one will be electric! 
