General Music Chat

Don't be bitter, just tell them $100/hour session time.

When Im looking for players the older ones are mostly the guys I like and end up with
But then again Im playing oldies .....
Bands are good due to chemistry ( snicker ) among band mates - its not rocket science why peps group together by age

I also see ads that point out "Age Restrictions". I myself in the past have placed ads with "Age factors".
I have no issue with someone's age,as long as they can play,just know that it has before presented itself to be an issue trying to relate. But not a biggie

You get plenty of good years between Menudo and One Foot In The Grave.
What you do with them is up to you.

hahaha...you doubted me?


A solo artist at age 22 is already too old for a record company. Not that record companies count anymore, but the reasons are many.

I've been looking for a band for many years, and actually have one that I like but they're spread out over the world and we can only get together about one month a year (or less). They are all young guys because old farts just have too many stubborn ways to deal with. Youngsters don't expect as much money and are a lot more energetic, more fun, often they are even better players because they have the past and the current down, and they are a lot more exciting for an audience to watch. Plus you can get a few more years out of them than the old guys.

Old guys are usually only interested in doing 3 -5 gigs in a month, or they have to go home too much to make expenses work.

For musicians youth is extended a little bit...around 30 seems to be a good mix of experience vs youth...but I prefer them in the late 20s up to about 33? If I were a rock band, 29 would be the cutoff age.

Metal music is a lot more forgiving with age. Limp Bizkit's mainstream breakthrough was when Fred Durst was already 30. While Benji Webbe had some minor success with Dub War in the 90s, his main success has been with Skindred which didn't start until 2002 (he was born in '67 so was in his mid-30s by that stage). The main age for bands that break through into the metal press like Metal Hammer and Terrorizer (not tweenrock mags like Kerrang) is late 20s through to early 40s, with odd exceptions like Steak Number Eight and No Sin Evades His Gaze.

Would you really want to be in a band with a bunch of 20-somethings? They feel the same way.

absolutely! as long as they met the same standards and criteria i expect from ANYONE that i play with.

1. they can play
2. they're not jerks

and i won't offhandedly assume that because someone is young, that they don't meet my requirements. that's why i bridle when shoe on the other foot.....a youngin' will write me off as not being able to bring the goods.

that speaks to me of a little bit of closed mindedness and not being open to possibilities. those are NOT qualities i look for in bandmates.

i had a conversation (series of emails) w a youngin' a few yrs ago and we politely went back and forth on why i would or wouldn't be a good fit for his band. (they were looking for and had answered my ad for a "utility guy").

in the end we never did get together....the deciding factor being how could he at 28 relate to someone in their 50's????? what could we possibly have in common?

so, i made him a list of possible points of interest and conversation that included sports, movies, books, tv shows, women, brews of choice, gear, and oh yeah...music (duh).

no sale...and i walked away thinking "well, that's someone too close minded and unopen to possibilities for me. no loss."

I'm in negotiations with a couple players at time of this post, too, a Mr. Reynolds from Osceola is really wanting to get a blues band started and wants to just get one set really tight for now, I am trying to figure out a "1/2 way point" to have the 6 rehearsals required for 1 pro gig, (his philosophy and I agree) since at least for me 55 miles is too long of drive, we have temporarily decided we will get together at Fair Play swap meet on Tuesdays, and suss each other out, he is a harp player and saxophonist and we have NOT DISCUSSED AGE at all..
also met a guy yesterday while doing a show in Buffalo, Mo. that has played it all, and after looking at my Villaume fiddle and Bruno Ventura gut string for sale, told me he would be willing to host? near Goodson, Mo.? up the road 16 miles .. he would not play on my guitar when I asked him, but maybe he does not like gut-strings? he looks to be near my age, Brucie want s to do strictly "fusion" stuff and I know it will not pay well at least here in the Ozarks.. with Brucie not wanting to do commercial smooth jazz that has a chance of being marketable, I've decided to look for other players, the gays did not have any couthe whatsoever, I give them 4 points negated for common courtesy

Really, it depends on the situation and genre.

Nicky Sixx (Motley Crue) was an old man already when they started hitting it big...but he could rock a full head of long black hair so it wasn't an issue. He looked good enough, and could really play better than others they might audition. But had he been bald and feeble it would have been different, I'd bet.

If you're putting a band together for local gigs, it's not as crucial as if you're putting together a band with aspirations of signing with a label. You are dead in the water with an older band that doesn't appeal to young consumers and no label is going to invest in a band that can't give them 10 years of sales, if they take off.

So don't begrudge a band with a vision that doesn't include you personally for any reason (age, looks, gear, talent, sexual orientation, whatever). They are not holding you back.

Wish them luck with their dreams and go put a band together (or not) for yourself.

There are a few reasons for this. The most obvious one is that these guys are trying to mass produce junk, assembly-line style. Find a good-looking youngster with no brains, minimal talent, fill their head with garbage, give them a few stupid songs, use them to make all the money you can, steal their original material, then throw them on the trash heap when they get wise to you, or no longer want to play the game. That's the old system.

Older people who have been playing for a while know the score, so you can't BS them with junk like, "..you have to play for free to get exposure", ".....55% is the standard agent fee...", "...do this and you will be a star..." etc...

Thank God for the internet. Now we have control over what we do.

Amen! If your goal is to create art, no one can stop you but yourself. Create great art and there will always be a market for you, regardless of industry norms.

But for those creating a product that sells to the buying public (youth) their art is promotion, and building idols is more visual than substantive.

Would you really want to be in a band with a bunch of 20-somethings? They feel the same way.

absolutely! as long as they met the same standards and criteria i expect from ANYONE that i play with.

1. they can play
2. they're not jerks

and i won't offhandedly assume that because someone is young, that they don't meet my requirements. that's why i bridle when shoe on the other foot.....a youngin' will write me off as not being able to bring the goods.

that speaks to me of a little bit of closed mindedness and not being open to possibilities. those are NOT qualities i look for in bandmates.

i had a conversation (series of emails) w a youngin' a few yrs ago and we politely went back and forth on why i would or wouldn't be a good fit for his band. (they were looking for and had answered my ad for a "utility guy").

in the end we never did get together....the deciding factor being how could he at 28 relate to someone in their 50's????? what could we possibly have in common?

I sorta like gigging with twentysomethings. I do a worship set 1-2 times a month and the band is mostly 20ish college music majors with awesome chops. They sing well, look good, and are mostly polite to the old guitarist they "grandfathered in". The youngest is 19 on drums and he is still in the formative years. The other guitarist is a MI grad that rips. Bass is closer to 40ish and the keys and vocals are usually 20s female, easy on the eyes, and very good at this game. We all get along pretty well and we even have them over for BBQ once in a while.

There have been a few who breezed in and didn't fit well with this group but overall it's pretty fun.