Musicians who quit the game

[Soul Stream]

Like every musician, I've thought many times about quiting the game of music. However, one thing has always been stuck in the back of my mind. And that is, many times I've seen musician friend who has quit...only to see them several years later looking older, and maybe less full of life. Maybe music is the spark that keeps many of us going. No matter what the scene is (the money, club owners, ect), quitting the game may really get to be a drag.

Any insight from those who have quit? Or quit and come back? I could be wrong, just a thought.

[Free For All]

SS, many are the times that I have wanted to bag it all, usually in the wake of some lame-ass humiliating gig that didn't pay enough for the a) lack of musical quality or b) amount of bullshit. I usually feel differently after a good night's sleep, and also when I realize that a) I love the music too much to quit and b) I have no other marketable skills.

Keep hope alive!

[Joe G]

Most of the cynicism I've seen from musicians has to do with constantly playing music that is not dear to them; just doing the gig. That turns music from a calling into a job, like Paul was just saying. Might as well just go get a job if that's the case. Better hours and benefits maybe!

For me, the times when I'm not close to the music, not creating and expressing myself through music, are when I start having the thoughts of "what's the use?". And life feels pretty grey, when I think my dreams are slipping away... But then I play with Jim and Randy, maybe have a good rehearsal or a good gig where everyone enjoyed themselves and walked away smiling, that I remember what my purpose in music is. And what music does for my sense of well-being.

In anyone's life's work, there are bound to be ups and downs. 2004 was a very rough year for me, so much so that a part of me is afraid to be hopeful and excited about all the great things that are coming together both in my personal life and with the band. Like, when is the other shoe going to drop? And I know that even if all these things pan out the way we are hoping, there will still be challenges ahead; I'm old enough to realize that. I think the most important thing to do in the face of it all is find a sense of equalibrium, that calm center from which you can have perspective and peace, no matter what is going on in your outer life. The Middle Way, never too high or too low. That's what the philosophers say anyway, and I'm sure they too had their moments of despair.

Music absolutely does spark life, when it's done with that intention. I think it's imperative to keep the focus on that, and not let the bullshit get us down. And if you do get down, just come here and vent! I'm sure someone will be around to listen and offer encouragement.

[Joe G]

Having said all that, I recently heard from a friend who played electric bass in a band I was in when I was 20-21. He said he's finally letting it go, after feeling guilty for years about not practicing or not committing to a band. He just wants to have music in his life as a pleasurable hobby; just playing hand drums with people or the recorder or something once in a while. And I think that's fine. If it's really a source of tension and stress for someone, maybe they should take a break and ask some serious questions of themselves.

[scottb]

If it's really a source of tension and stress for someone, maybe they should take a break and ask some serious questions of themselves

I think that's a good point. No matter what the activity, if it's causing more harm than good, you should reevaluate.

I had a similar situation with tennis. I grew up playing quite a bit. It was something I did with my dad. He took the role of coach. In late high school I realized tennis was a great source of frustration in my life and also the coach - athlete relationship was interfering with the father - son relationship. It was one of those things that I did because I had always done it. When I quit, I didn't miss it and my father and I became much closer.

[AllenLowe]

I've never really "toured," and I got burned out playing local gigs; I havent recorded in 10 years (thought that's about to change); my preference would be to be a musician like a novelist is a novelist, put something out every year or two, do a brief media thing, and than go on with my life. Having this attitude has allowed me to average approximately $500 per year in musical earnings, so I would not say it is a good career choice. I like writing, playing, and recording and, stupidly, I once thought that merit was the overwhelimg cause of acceptance in the jazz world - that if you did good work, sooner or later someone had to notice and pay you to do more good work. Happens with some, but you gotta be willing to give up a lot family wise, time wise, and personally, and physically. I never quite got there, but am ready to resume writing my musical equivalent of the yearly novel -

[scottb]

I don't think you should quit music altogether. Maybe just reevaluate the situations that are causing the problems. (a certain gig, a certain bandmember, a certain songlist etc)

[tonym]

2004 was a very rough year for me, so much so that a part of me is afraid to be hopeful and excited about all the great things that are coming together both in my personal life and with the band.

Well Joe, if it helps any, my 2004 was enhanced by hearing your album. If one can achieve releasing an album of any type, then it's not a lost cause by any means.

I'm currently in a creative/proficiency nadir at the moment. Haven't touched my sax for a month and that was only for a handful of times. The time before that was July of last year

I constantly doubt my ability to achieve anything of worth in this field, and jamming with others does help but it's a constant Catch 22 of 'confidence/practice/motivation/time' with me. I don't need others to say I sound good. I want to hear myself sound good.

I feel once my son starts school I may have more time to practice, but the longer I spend not playing at the minute, the further down this slope I slide.

All you guys must be talented/proficient enough to actually gig at all; let alone play jazz -- which is, let's face it, not the easiest music to bluff your way through.

[Jim Alfredson]

2004 was a rough year for Joe, but also for the band itself. After the extreme high in October 2003 of playing the Clearwater Jazz Festival in front of 15,000+ people and being treated like kings, it was back to reality. 2004 we just kind of stagnated, but that's because our personal lives needed attention.

In my life, my wife and I had a baby, which is a big enough change as is! In 2004, Organissimo just lived on playing local gigs for not much bread. We still got a lot of feedback on the CD, but not much in the way of getting out of our current box as far as exposure is concerned.

We're doing our best in 2005 to remedy this, including recording a new CD (that I'm very excited about... you guys ain't heard nothing yet...) and we're actively pursuing a manager to help get us out of Michigan and onto the wider scene. It is my hope that by the end of the year we'll be playing Chicago, Philly, Indy, Columbus, etc. Maybe even Japan if we're lucky (working on some stuff there).

I think 2005 is going to be a good year for us!

And there was one big success in 2004... this board!!! This place has exploded!!!

[mikeweil]

SS, many are the times that I have wanted to bag it all, usually in the wake of some lame-ass humiliating gig that didn't pay enough for the a) lack of musical quality or b) amount of bullshit. I usually feel differently after a good night's sleep, and also when I realize that a) I love the music too much to quit and b) I have no other marketable skills.

Keep hope alive!

That pretty much sums it up for me, too!

[Herb]

I quit playing music for a living back in the early '70's. I was tired of the road, I was tired of the highs and extreme lows of cash flow, I was tired of having to play music I didn't like to generate that cash flow, and I finally decided I loved music too much to let it become "a living" or "just a job". I stepped into the real world and got a job that paid pretty well that I could hate, and started playing music that I liked, with people that I liked, even though it was infrequently, and found it was good therapy and much more fun. The guys I'm with now can play whenever and almost wherever we want, but choose not to play any "high hassle" venues. We don't play much, but we have a lot of fun when we do. This works for me, doesn't mean it works for anyone else.

[Jazz Kat]

If anything, music seems to take me away from everything else. Seems the better I get playing music, the worse my grades get, and I hate school even more. All I wanna do is play music, and there's no time for anything else.

[Free For All]

If anything, music seems to take me away from everything else. Seems the better I get playing music, the worse my grades get, and I hate school even more. All I wanna do is play music, and there's no time for anything else.

I would say keep enjoying and practicing music, but don't bag school. I was by no means a great student, but by maintaining decent grades I was able to have more options when it was time to choose a college music program. I don't know if you're planning on going on to college, but don't write it off just yet. Keep your options open.

I'm not saying you need to go to college to become a successful musician, but for me it was good preparation for what was happening "out there".

So hang in there with the whole school thing!

Edited March 14, 2005 by Free For All

[Jim Alfredson]

Agreed. It's hard, I know. My senior year of high school was really rough for me. I was head-over-heels in love with this girl, I was starring in several school productions, and I was working on an "album" of my original tunes (this is back when I wanted to be Tony Banks!) so my grades took a nose-dive. But I did just enough to keep my GPA at a level where I could still get into Michigan State.

It's tough, but ya gotta do it.

[Chuck Nessa]

From what I've heard, Henry Grimes is doing just fine after over 20 years away from the scene. But I don't think this is the norm.

[Jazz Kat]

If anything, music seems to take me away from everything else. Seems the better I get playing music, the worse my grades get, and I hate school even more. All I wanna do is play music, and there's no time for anything else.

I would say keep enjoying and practicing music, but don't bag school. I was by no means a great student, but by maintaining decent grades I was able to have more options when it was time to choose a college music program. I don't know if you're planning on going on to college, but don't write it off just yet. Keep your options open.

I'm not saying you need to go to college to become a successful musician, but for me it was good preparation for what was happening "out there".

So hang in there with the whole school thing!

Yeah I want to go to a music college. That's probaly where you meet most other musicians your age and at your level.

[7/4]

If anything, music seems to take me away from everything else. Seems the better I get playing music, the worse my grades get, and I hate school even more. All I wanna do is play music, and there's no time for anything else.

I would say keep enjoying and practicing music, but don't bag school. I was by no means a great student, but by maintaining decent grades I was able to have more options when it was time to choose a college music program. I don't know if you're planning on going on to college, but don't write it off just yet. Keep your options open.

I'm not saying you need to go to college to become a successful musician, but for me it was good preparation for what was happening "out there".

So hang in there with the whole school thing!

Yeah I want to go to a music college. That's probaly where you meet most other musicians your age and at your level.

Be sure to take the business courses!

[Jazz Kat]

sure

[keberobeats88]

Poor Freddie Hubbard.

[Guest DizzySpells]

Reading some of the posts here brings back some (bad?) memories. A looooong time ago I made the decision to can a successful music career. I've never been able to figure out how honest my reasons towards myself actually were, but a lot of things came together. I was tired of living out of a suitcase (in my case it was something I had been doing for most of my young life already), and, as mentioned above, I was afraid of the whole thing becoming just a business thing. The last tour I played I noticed that I was forced to spend more time reading contracts, that a lot of fans were going massively on my nerves, and that the music more often than not had to be moved into the background to leave us enough time to handle all that came with having become famous. We had an excellent manager, but he just couldn't keep stuff out of our vision ... nobody could have, I guess. On top of that, the whole lifestyle was eating me up. What used to be fun was becoming a drag and until this very day I'm fighting with a completely fucked up biorhythm that I forced on myself for so long that I don't seem to be able to get rid of it anymore, 20 something years later.

If I really think about it today from my current vantage point, it was altogether a very irritating feeling of fear and insecurity, wondering what would happen the day all the success went down the shute. I guess, if I'm really honest to myself, I just didn't have what it takes because, unlike many others, I hadn't been dreaming of this kind of a career long enough to do whatever it takes for it.

For a while, I dropped music altogether. Cold turkey. Whenever I was approached by anyone, I just blew my top and after a while, former band members (who did no quit) drifted away and, because I moved far away from where I used to play, nobody recognized me.

I'm happy with the decision today, although there were doubts along the way, especially in regard to the, at my rather young age then, staggering income I was throwing away.

I've been getting my feet wet again, playing jam sessions all around the area where I now reside, doing some studio work again, practicing, and just playing. What I'm noticing is that today it's fun again, and I intend to keep it that way.

[bertrand]

Not to nitpick, but Grimes did not record between 12/18/66 and 2/9/03 (according to Mike's discography), so we're talking more like a 36+ year absence, at least on tape. I wonder when his last known gig was before 'retiring', and when his first comeback gig was. That will tell us exactly how long he was out. I suspect it's at least 30 years.

It's amazing how great he sounded after such a long hiatus. I wonder if anyone else in jazz has been away that long. I'm thinking of Terri Thornton, although I don't really know that much about her chronology.

Bertrand.

Edited March 14, 2005 by bertrand

[ghost of miles]

My memory of the Signal to Noise article is rather fuzzy, but I think Grimes may have played gigs as late as '68 on the West Coast... and started playing again when William Parker gave him a bass (sometime in 2002?). But yes, at least 30 years, because by 1971 he had sold his bass (again, maybe even earlier--Mike can supply correct dates on all of this, I'm sure).

[ghost of miles]

We're doing our best in 2005 to remedy this, including recording a new CD (that I'm very excited about... you guys ain't heard nothing yet...) and we're actively pursuing a manager to help get us out of Michigan and onto the wider scene. It is my hope that by the end of the year we'll be playing Chicago, Philly, Indy, Columbus, etc. Maybe even Japan if we're lucky (working on some stuff there).

Jim, if you make it down to Indy, let us know! I'm just down the road apiece in Bloomington, and sheldonm, rachel, and jazzmessenger all hail from Indy... I'm sure we'd all come out to see you. I'll also do whatever I can to have Joe promote it on his weekday jazz program Just You and Me. In Indy, try contacting WICR; they're the main station for jazz (WFYI, the local NPR member station, doesn't play any at all).

[Michael Fitzgerald]

Grimes did not have a bass for over 30 years. He was playing in 1970, probably not in 1971. He received his current bass from William Parker on December 16, 2002. His first "public" performance was the jam session of February 9, 2003.

Mike

[Guest wankyjazz]

If i played jazz i would quit, anyone can show off by playing notes really fast...but not everyone can write a good song.