Long time ago we was...Originally Posted by Mister Triscuits
Long time ago we was...
Very inspiring, Ernie. "If I had to do it all over again, I would." There's no higher praise than that for a life well chosen.Professional musician for 35 years now. I took piano lessons when I was 8, switched to guitar when I was 10, played in bands throughout high school and finally got serious about it and started practicing my ass off when I graduated. When it was time to leave the nest and fend for myself, music was the only thing I had some experience with and I started gradually breaking into the scene here in Chicago. It was a little rough at first, but I was making an actual living by the time I was 24. I feel like music chose me rather than the other way around. I just kind of fell into it and never thought about what I wanted to be and what kind of "real job" I'd have when I grew up. It hasn't proved to be the most lucrative profession, but I've managed to make a living at it all of these years. I gripe about some of the kinds of music I have to play to pay the bills, but if I had to do it all over again, I would. Only I'd learn how to snag a woman with money this time around.
Don't know if there is a woman in your life, but, though we laugh at the idea of "snagging a woman with money," I think most would be surprised at the vast number of noted musicians and artists in general who have perfected their art and survived due to "the kindness of strangers", lovers and friends! But, then, it takes a special person and/or talent to inspire that kind of help.
I only play my wife.
Aaah...but how well? Would you say you're a "professional"?
In 1969, I was 9 and I was knocked out by Ginger Baker's playing with Cream. I begged my parents to buy me a drum kit because I wanted to learn to play. The said "Get lessons and we'll buy you a kit then". I then took 3 months of lessons, learning my rolls and paradiddles and so on, plus learning to read music. The day I completed the course, I went to them and said "OK, let's go shopping for my drum kit!!!". They looked at me like I had three heads and said "We're not buying you a drum kit, they make too much noise".
To say I freaked out completely is an understatement. To this day, it's the only time I've truly hated my parents but it did teach me that adults lie, so there's that.
I ended up deciding to be "Jack Bruce" instead, so they got me an EB-3 copy and a small amp. FF to 1975 and I started playing in bands. I struggled for years because it was the late 70's/early 80's and I wanted to play prog/Mahavishnu Orchestra type stuff. D'oh! The final straw was in 1985 when I was in a band that was very talented, doing Zappa/Beefheart kind of stuff, we even had some indie label interest. I thought "Finally! All the shit I've gone through, it'll pay off!". First gig goes great, I'm really excited about the next rehearsal and show. I turn up and the "Zappa" of the band announced the band was going to play one more show, but none of the songs we'd rehearsed so hard for months, just a couple of jams. He was breaking it up so he could follow pro "wrestling" around.
I snapped. I realized "I can't sing to save my life, I can't write songs [which is what gives you clout in a band], I'll always be at the mercy of pricks like him". Within a week after the gig took place, I had sold all my gear except my Ripper bass and signed up for college.
Now I have a nice Telecaster and a nice Jazz Bass and I play just for fun. I've had some offers over the years to audition for bands, but I've turned them down flat.
The music business is a horrible, soul-destroying business, I'm in awe of anyone that can make a go of a music career.
...or you could love
Well, the reason for that comment was that I've always ended up with women who made less money than me, including my current "sweeter half" (of the past 6 years) who works her ass off as a medical assistant in pediatrics. She thinks I've got the coolest, cushiest job in the world! I don't think so; it's got it's trials and tribulations like any other job. I spend much more time playing music that I'm not too fond of than I do playing what I'd like to be playing. Then there's a lot of time spent in transit and a good deal of sleep deprivation involved. But I admit, it's got it's perks and things could be a whole lot worse! I generally get paid pretty well per hour; it's accumulating enough hours that can be the troublesome part. But hell, I've seen many of my fellow musicians fall by the wayside and take non-music related jobs over the past 10 years and somehow I've managed to stay in the game. I do have a good work ethic and a non-abrasive personality (which I'll accept credit for), but I think most of it is just dumb luck. And believe me, I'm grateful!Very inspiring, Ernie. "If I had to do it all over again, I would." There's no higher praise than that for a life well chosen.
Don't know if there is a woman in your life, but, though we laugh at the idea of "snagging a woman with money," I think most would be surprised at the vast number of noted musicians and artists in general who have perfected their art and survived due to "the kindness of strangers", lovers and friends! But, then, it takes a special person and/or talent to inspire that kind of help.
I wouldn't go so far as to cross the line and call myself an actual musician, but I like the freedom progressive rock offers in the songwriting department; I spent many years involved in melodic and power pop music and face it, there's only so many ways to skin a cat. With prog-rock songwriting there are no limitations other than my own.
Zoogz!
Life is what we all make of it......There are days when I gig that I do feel like I am just "punching the clock", trying to "Mustang-Sally-Change-In-My-Pocket-Wonderful-Tonight-CCR-Stormy Monday-ritaville" my way to the end of the night as fast as humanly possible.....Then, there are other times where everything is kicking, the band has a magic aura, Im not singing the same ol' tired crap as above, theres energy and and its fun. These are the times I tell myself: "Yup, this still beats the hell out of doing roofing for a living"
Kudos to those of you who can make a living at it.
I play for fun, though I had professional aspirations when younger. Still learning, and always will be.
Here I am...
http://tinyurl.com/pdy4dp7
Dude, you are WAY too modest.
I checked out Heliopolis, and
you are definitely a musician, and a good one.
But you get credit for not bragging.
Not sure I consider myself a musician even though I shred on keyboards. I am in the process of teaching myself to play though.
And I play myself! (lol)
Now that crosses the line!!
Dude...
Kerry, if YOU'RE not a musician, then who the hell is? Both Gary Green of Gentle Giant and Guy Evans of VdGG have at different times said VERY nice things about Pinnacle being "real musicians" (Guy at the NF Afterparty) - and I look up to YOU as a musician. So face facts, man, whether you're writing from the heart about how Strawberry Fields Forever moved you or recording your own version of a composition to fit with that Marco Minnemann drum piece - you're a true musician, one of the truest I know!
Drums, guitar, keys. Mostly drums. I currently enjoy recording stuff on an 8-track. Some of the most fun a mortal man can enjoy
self-confessed NON-musician, entirely talent-free in that respect. had some guitar and keyboard lessons ages ago which went nowhere fast. but i tend to revolve around musicians and act as an intermediary between them and the listening public – both as an enthusiast and as a delivering member of the music industry that i am currently dying to get out of at the next possible exit. plus, i consider listening to music and deciphering it hard enough work as it is!
Count me in!
Of course, I think there is a direct correlation between music education and musical taste. Could be a big explanation for the decline of popularity of more esoteric music in the U.S., since arts and music programs have gradually been dropped from schools.
Yep.Zoogz!Thing was, he came back from that WWE thing and ended up getting signed to SST, according to Discogs.org he made 8 albums for them! D'oh!
...or you could love
Oh, I'm pretty sure my former acquaintance would most assuredly consider you a musician. I got the impression that one of the reasons we no longer talk is because I had the nerve to talk like a "pro" or whatever (though I never thought of it as such), when I'd never been in a band, never had to play crappy wedding gigs or play behind chicken wire, never made a record (well, I kinda was on my way toward making a sort of an ambient solo guitar record, but once again, I never quite pulled everything together to make available for public diffusion), etc.
So yeah, Kerry. You're definitely a musician. You've been in bands, you've played gigs, you've played a music festival on the opposite coast from the one where you live, you've played on albums, and you're respected by a lot of people. Yeah, I'd say you're a musician.
Been playing guitar, and other instruments, for the last 20 years.
Recently been doing some guitar videos, if anyone's interested - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list...rhtrL9XYCCW0iG
Last edited by feltan; 09-10-2013 at 05:16 AM.
Act with courtesy. Otherwise, be polite. ~ Robert Fripp
It was my dream but no, still hobby;-)
Me playing drums behind John Mayer & Buddy Guy
Been a professional drummer in a contemporary Chicago blues band for several years. When I was a kid in the early 70s I loved groups like Steppenwolf and The James Gang (still do) and thought they both had awesome drummers (still do). Then my older brother started listening to ELP when those albums came out, as well as Yessongs when it came out. I picked up on the off-kilter time signatures, etc, then proceeded to get into Genesis, King Crimson and, a bit later, VdGG, Magma, etc on my own. By the time the blues band started ('88) I thought I was a really good drummer (what a goof I was) with the classic prog drummers being my main influences, and would proceed to play against time for a couple of measures (on classic r&b / blues tunes!) and thought it was okay because I came down on the 'one' eventually. Didn't go over too well. In fact, we opened up for just about every Chicago blues 'name' you can think of (Son Seals, Otis Rush, Junior Wells, Buddy Guy, Li'l Ed, Lonnie Brooks, Koko Taylor, etc etc etc) and I would just watch these nameless drummers and could see how awesome they were... and that they were playing blues music in a way that I wasn't. Definitely had a lot to learn! Blues has its own feeling and language (musically). Just because I'd nailed 7/4 time didn't mean that I was 'better' than the 'simpler' blues drummers; they blew me out of the water. Great lesson though and one I thankfully picked up on fairly early (or else we would have really sucked!)
Jim Christopulos
co-author, "Van der Graaf Generator - The Book"
I wouldn't think so!
Kerry, not a musician... right!
I'm going to call BS on Kerry also. I guess swimmers aren't athletes is he's not a musician.
"The woods would be very silent if the only birds that sang were those who sang best..." - Henry David Thoreau
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