About 9 months ago I decided that live band performance was a part of who I am and that it was time to get back on the horse.  Remembering the process from eons ago I knew that it wouldn’t be easy to get something off the ground but I had no idea how difficult it would really be.  This isn’t “hard to do” difficult but difficult in the sense that I’m no longer 25 years old, which seems to still be the range where there’s interest in doing original music, plus the fact that what I want from a band and what I’m willing to deal with is even more specific than when I was 20 something.

What I’ve found is most musicians my age either want to be in a club cover band playing 3-4 sets a night for $100 a piece or join a tribute band who generally, also makes $100 a piece per show.  The money isn’t a concern to me. I’ll play for free until the band builds a following for as long as necessary, but I MUST be loving the music.

The tribute thing seems to go like this:

• Figure out what band you’re going to cover
• Decide whether or not you’re going to dress up and act like your designated character
• Decide on a set list
• Book and play gigs

All of this is generally expected to occur within a 2-3 week timeline.  What?  Yes, that’s what I’m being told.

Don’t get me wrong, I get it, older dudes don’t want to mess around they just want to get down to the business of performing, but this seems like a half-cocked way to get out there to me.  Sure, you’ll hopefully improve over time…

Of course, this is moot anyway because really, I’m not interested in a tribute at this point, although about 8 months ago I was ready to do an Iron Maiden tribute (no dress up) playing Number of the Beast from start to finish.  That would have been fun but as often happens with band stuff, it fell a part before it got off the ground.

So what’s the point of all this?  I guess it’s that forming a band is just as hard nowadays as it was in the 80’s but being even more selective than I used to be along with not being a kid anymore makes it even more troublesome.

All that said, I am not discouraged.  Apparently in some ways I’m actually more patient than the 20 something Savage.

Until next time…