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Good thing we didn't meet up at the time I got drunk on these forums!

My impression is I think you tend to think the majority of older people are stuck in this musical gap. If those are your thoughts, that's hardly the case.

Speaking for myself, I can appreciate music before my time, during my young years, and music today. Though I do think older music is better and had impact, I still am charmed at some of the bands today. Granted, since I've been around so much music I'm rather picky. But bands like Chimaira and Meshuggah are brilliant. I think they took the Metal torch and are keeping it burning well! I can't stop listening to Chimaira:Left for Dead. But I like it cause it's good, not old or new.

THe way I do some of the blues is definitely NOT traditional. I add bridges, change keys, ad-lib lyrics, put two completely different songs together, take lyrics from an old song and put the lyrics to my music, etc. You'd be amazed how many people think I'm a heretic! I understand how you feel about older people stuck in their ways. You're at an age where you've got a lot more active brain cells than me (I'm assuming you do!). I say NOW is the time for you to experiment. Go for it. When I was first getting into a band (about your age) we did everything note-for-note. It was good and bad. I learned a lot of great bass-lines, added a LOT of tunes very quickly to our repertoire BUT we didn't do anything creative. It's kind of a waste (a mind is a terrible thing to waste!) to NOT create anything when you're young. This should be an exciting time for you. Over the next few years you will add a bunch of new ideas to your musical arsenal. It sounds like you need to find like-minded people. There's a local band called Mouth that does every gig with NO SET LIST. They create songs ON THE SPOT. How cool is that? Nothing planned, total creativity. They usually record everything. They have come up with some gems without any preconceived notions. Anyway good luck in your search. Yeah some of us old guys can be set in their ways. Pick their brains and get some good ideas from them and move on in your own direction...

While I agree with you to a point, bob, I can't help but add that those experiences you had playing note for note gave you a foundation to stand on. You learned your theory, your fingers got stronger, & you also learned how a band works together while you developed your stage presense. It's one thing to come onto the scene with the tools you need to contribute to the needs of the band, & quite another to come in saying "Hey, I got an idea," when you have nothing else. And this guy, in his inebriated approach, went another step even further. I can picture him at the bar, swaying, saying "you guys SUCK! *hic* You're old & sssshhhhtuck in yer ways!"

He seems to have forgotten that there is even a need for the cover band, & imho there is something about a band that can deliver someone else's music in a live setting that really should be respected. Not everyone can be the songwriting forward-thinking leader in the field of music that cheshire seems to want or expect us all to be.

I would equate it to writers in other fields of endeavor - you have the fiction novelist who makes up stories; the non-fiction guy who reports facts in interesting ways, & presents real facts & figures; you also have your writer of tech manuals, news articles, etc etc etc. There are as many different types of approaching the printed word as there are playing music, & yet, if you don't have the basic foundation of using language correctly, or knowing where to sell your wares, or how to act at book-signing events, etc, you'll fail in writing anything at all. Like music, there's more to writing than typing on a page.

To accept someone of his obvious experience level (look at his age), you have to take into account - how much does he actually KNOW, how much can he CONTRIBUTE, how well will he WORK WITH OTHERS - as well as wonder how well he'll handle all of the problems inherent in our business. That last one is just as important as the rest, cuz many ppl flake out when that power amp blows, or even when a string pops in the middle of a song. How well prepared is he emotionally & technically to work around these things, & will he have the forethought to prepare for the unexpected? These are all skills that he will develop as he goes, but could learn much faster by working with the experienced, OLD guys, than he will learning them through trial & error, the hard way.

He doesn't show me any interest in going the fast route, though, & I'm too old to waste the necessary time wading through his youthful exuberance & trial & error ways of handling problems, so perhaps it's best for him to work with ppl in his own age-group & let him sneer at the old ways & the old ppl out there in the real world who have been doing it & are continuing to perform rather successfully...

I wish him luck, but I haven't any huge expectations for him.

Philby you and Bob both have valid points. One thing I was thinking as soon as I read his post. There are always two sides to every story and from his post we are hearing one side, His. It would be interesting to hear those thirty somethings side LMAO!

i really do like big b(*)(*)bies!

Leave it to Crip to keep everything in perspective for us!

you know, i've read all of your responses, and it doesn't seem like anyone actually read my last post in its entirety. which i supposed is understandable, considering that's practically a short novel. XD

but, as i "re-hash" here lol, i have every respect for older musicians, i frequently listen to old music, and i JAM with older musicians almost every chance i get. but i came on this site to START A BAND. and that means that since im NOT interested in writing mediocre generica, i need to find more open minded musician. another reason that some musicians under 30 would be preferable, is because i want to put on a HIGH ENERGY show. and i am, luckily, still a "whippersnapper" so i can run around and jump off of sh*t, and it's that same level of energy that i want to be synergizing with when im on stage. i understand that everyone gets old, and that it's perfectly fine for older people to still be interested in playing music, and so the cover band bar scene is perfect for that! you guys im sure have families and can't afford to go on the road, or maybe some of you can, but i also need to be with people who are held down by a family and a huge career so we can go on the road and make the best of it that we can.
i NEED to learn as much as i can from older, SUCCESSFUL musicians, to know what to expect, and how to make it all happen. but i don't see my best bandmembers and travelling compatriots in people who are 30+. i know that this dissappoints some of you because i know how much you want to be in my band, but sorry to break it to ya, probably not gonna work out. XD haha

i hope you old farts can still take a joke.

LMAO

P.S. big boobies rock

Dude.... I'm 50.... I do flips on stage... run around like a screamin' banshee and flip my axe around and play with my teeth... age has nothing to do with it... it's all heart.. We play Disturbed, Godsmack, Velvet Revolver, etc... Fuk gettin' old... I'm gettin' crazier as I get older!... and I hit unmentionable speeds on my sportbikes... sooo all that sh¡t about age is a crock of sh¡t!

I'm with Crip2Nite. Not only am I energetic, I'm one healthy mutha. At 37, I'm in the best shape of my life. I don't look my age either. That's probably from being youthful, momma's genetics, or both.

I do 1,000 to 1,5000 crunches a day(500 reps at a time). I lift my weights, eat well, and walk for miles. I can still blaze on my skateboard faster than most kids I see. So for me, my age has become a blessing. Plus, it's easier to get those girls in their early 20's.

My current band has a 34 year age spread. The front "man" is 14!

You'll find that when you get old everything on your body starts to get stiff...except the one thing that you WANT to be stiff...

I threw out my back tonight carrying a big damned TV around with my son. Never move heavy stuff with someone who doesn't know how to move big heavy stuff around. He about killed me on the steps...grrrrr

DAMN I'm old!

I am with Crip on this one, Mr. Cheshire your generation cracks me up. I am 51 and you guys make my generation out to be Dinosaurs or something. It is not that we are old IT IS THAT YOU ARE JUST A PUP! LMAO. Yes I can take a joke and of coarse I mean most of this in jest! Hell I even have a Mullet AND DAMN PROUD OF MY MULLET! We have all been where you are now! You see us older guys have had our day! I still try just as hard as I ever have to play great music! The difference is we have already tried to make it in the music biz. and we play music because we love it and are extremely passionate about it. I know that the pipe dream of making it is not a reality especially for a guy my age. One thing, I am exactly the same guy I was at 13 I haven't changed one damn bit. When I get on stage I give it everything I have jumping off Sh!t and everything. If you saw guys like Crip and myself playing in a club you would never know that we were in our 50's the F#ckin Rock & Roll HAS KEPT US YOUNG!

... What's funny is the majority of our crowd are in their 20's and 30's and we get nothing but compliments from them when we're offstage and the same faces keep coming back... You've got to learn that age is just a state of mind... You're as old as you portray yourself and I can shred with the best of them!