I retired from the music business yet again

[Bionic-Joe]

It's Just going to take a while to attempt to recoup My money that I have invested in gear... sucks...too Old to Rock N Roll...Too young to die....

[Droombolus]

You maybe too old to die young, but you're never too old to rock n' roll.

It's an addiction alright. I've seriously stopped twice and became a miserable grumpy ol' man at the ripe age of 30 and 40 years old respectively. I've had a much easier time kicking soft drugs, that was just a habit apparently.... 

So as far as I'm concerned it comes down to: Keep feeding the vein or prepare to shoot your brains out ........... I'm in a hobby band playing some 5 to 10 gigs a year with people who annoy me to no end most of the time because they can't be bothered to put in the work outside our weekly band practice, but hey it's better than no band at all .........

[Highlander]

Jon's post made my mind tick over... fully agree... it is an addiction, as is the potential for alcohol or ciggies, which are just as much an addictive drug as more notorious items, but then so is being a petrol-head, or any form of collector; that obsession many of us suffer from, whether at some low or high level... it can be multiples... an "addictive nature" can bear fruit in any way, shape or form, and we have plenty of you here...

I remember some liner notes I wrote for a low-level release I was on some years back... "it was never going to make any money, but it was fun while it lasted..."

The best we can hope to attain is that it's fun while it lasts...

Jon... post the article if you can... might be quite entertaining to see the reaction...

[rahock]

Patman, Do what you have to do for now, but if it's in your heart like I think it is, you'll be back.
When I was a young tadpole, about 13 or 14, I was a very violent person. As a diversion I started lifting weights and getting in to sports. This had some positive effects, but now I was much more physically fit and when I had my violent outbursts I was even more dangerous. I discovered music and life got a lot better. It gave me a creative outlet that was very good for my head. Over the years I've picked it up and put it down several times. The violence thing has long disappeared, but I still get kind of uptight and stressed out  sometimes, and picking up the music always brings my head back to a better place. I get away for a while but I always come back .
Rick

[steveonbass]

Pat,

Hope you are finding a balance.  I stopped gigging about 3 years ago after my marriage fell apart.  I still play but I really miss gigging a lot. 

[gweimer]

I know how you feel.  Music was a huge part of my whole life.  It helped fill a gap, and fulfilled a deep desire.  My bad marriage was "only" 27 years.  I was the last person to see how bad life really was for me.

So...I got divorced.  I stopped playing, for many reasons. I still love music, but my heart isn't in playing anymore.  There were too many negatives, including some physical limitations, that took a lot of the joy out of it.  I lost about 80 lbs. over the past 4 years.  I have an incredible woman in my life, whom I love more than I ever thought possible to love a single person.

Patman - take care of your soul first.  Everything else will start coming together once you work on that.  Trust me.  I've been there.

[4stringer77]

Music can be many things to many people. I applaud the journalistic freedom to express a valid opinion in said article but it is a bit bleak. To me music is a passion and a discipline that has the potential for both beneficial and sometimes negative consequences.
Patman, best of luck navigating through your adversity.

[clankenstein]

My Band, which was gigging every couple of months had a meltdown between the guitarist and the singer who plays guitar about-you guessed it- the singers guitar playing.Now we are recording our set .1 night a week we go over to our drummers studio to lay tracks down - the guitarist is going to over dub his parts .If nothing else it will serve to define and tighten up some of the parts-anyways it got me thinking(A)Im too old for this crap-why is it not obvious to them that they are being dipshits?(B)If i dont have a creative outlet, long term im just not happy.(C)anymore than one night a week and the Mrs. is not happy.(D)Its been like this since i was 17 ,who knows how i will feel about it in the future but for now i sure think about it a lot.On a slightly more positive note its sounding pretty F@#$ing good! Anyway, finding what works for you is the important part i reckon.

[godofthunder]

  Music is rarely the problem. Sorry for your troubles, glad you brought them here, I like to think of it as our pub without beer........................well we can bring our own right?

[patman]

For my wife, music is not the problem...only the convenient excuse.

Thanks to everyone for their perspective.

Scott, I'm of Czech ancestry...we pretty much don't do anything without having a beer in our hands.  It's tradition. I call it "pre-game" when I play.

[Dave W]

Sorry for the digression but this calls for Slim Dusty

[Blackbird]

Music..for me..is the only place to go when there's no place to go....and I've had my share..

[Highlander]

Whose round is it anyway...?

Mine's a malt...

[4stringer77]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKD_o4gbcSE&list=PLA53053C83BB21AF7&index=12

[Highlander]

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vb_P46gNf_k

www.youtube.com/watch?v=wq1BSyvvhmw