United States

I'm finally in a band again after years of not being interested but I kept playing / recording all these years.
Had offers and dead ends that I backed out of because of other issues like : big egos with no talent, substance abuse issues, family / financial issues and many other reasons.
This band is a Classic Rock band with guys that love playing music for the love of it ( cool, no young kids Mtv dreams), that are responsible people with a professional work ethic. One cool thing, these guys are going to let me have a solo spot to do my Yngwie, Rhoads, Vai, Satriani and Holdsworth thing.
It's basically a 60's, 70's with some 1980's music. I can't wait to hit the stage !!!!
Have any of you guys took a hiatus from playing live music and jumped in to the fire again.

To answer your question - yes.

And to your post - good for you man - congratulations.

Talbot

It's all a new experience for me and I'm loving it.

Congratulations ! Hope it feels as good or better than it ever did for you.

Have fun AJ!

Taking a break now and then is a good thing. You come back with fresh ideas and direction.

Yeah, how about a 25 year break from stage playing?! When I did it again I realized what I had been missing and have been striving for more stage time ever since.

I got a set list .....lots of Yes ( 70's / 80's), Pink Floyd, Rush, Deep Purple, 70's Alice Cooper, Thin Lizzy, Zep, Trower, SRV, Hendrix , Cream, Police, Van Halen, Black Sabbath and some Ozzy .... sounds fun already.
He told me , they're going to let me have a solo spot to "Shred" .... I guess for they could call the wives at home .... LOL !!!!

I haven't played in a band since about 2008 or 09. I would've remembered the dates if my last band had done anything but get high and goof around.

In 2008 I was developing my own sound while I was away from the band. I would try to bring this sound to them, but they preferred playing "What we already know". So I quit them. From about 2009 to 11 my playing style just took a 360 for reasons I still don't know. Instead of brutal Pantera esque Metal, which I still appreciate, it's this jazzy happy twangy sound.

I'm not about to knock bands, just my last band and my first band. The ones in between were actually pretty good. I was in a band called Southern Brutality back in Louisiana, during high school, that really had something, and we were all friends. You wouldn't guess by my picture, but I looked like Megadeth's unheard of 230 pound guitarist in those days. Sadly, I was still a teenager, so when my dad found work in TN, I had to leave.

While it took leaving bands to find my sound, it seems now that I need a band to add to it. I didn't have a sound in my teens. 18 years old, I was trying to do the Dimebag thing. I was always trying to sound like somebody else. Now I don't sound like anybody. Don't trust my recordings on the page, they are either 5 years old, or just a reason to test my chops.

They gave me a song list ..... Wow, talk about diversity in music ..... at least they'll let me have a solo slot to show off !!!!