camaraderie for me. I am lucky enough to be in a band with very few egos and we have been together in the current line up for 6 years. Unusual, I know.

Being in a band means that possibly a person or two will quit the band and think they can get into another band that suits them better.

Being in a band also means to find a job that actually pays the bills usually in a different profession.

In my case, spending half the rehearsal time trying to remind the guitarist how the new song goes again - great guitar skills / not so good memory skills.

Pretty much always the last pic for me. :(

Loved it all at the time, but wouldn't do it now.

Being a band means never having to say you're sorry.

Being in a band means "on the run" ~P. McCartney & Wings

Being in a band means "travelling" ~Creedence Clearwater Revival

Being in a band means "up on cripple creek" ~The Band

I've really been thinking about it since my last post.

Up until I got married it was the coolest thing in the world.

Looking back it was all clicking....fantastic music to cover. Wild times.
Just total fun and it was powerful. And the money was good...the money
was very good up until I quit.
In the last band we had an 8 track studio to practice and record in.
What a great place that was. We almost lived in it. High times.

It's really when families started that everything changed. If I'd quit when I got married I wouldn't have not so good memories....or if I'd kept playing and not got married I
may still be single and loving the band thing...but not with married members lol.

I think I just couldn't do both at the same time to the level or comittment they require
or what I thought they required.
 
 
Bapu...you mean being in a band means writing songs?
I don't know why the format to my posts changes.

I miss being in a band. I haven't played out since 98. :( I started when I was 13 and quit when my daughter was born. Music was still calling me, so I went back a year later. My wife brought her out to a few campground gigs and private parties, and once in a while my folks would watch her and my wife would come out. So for me, family was always included. We played 50/50 bars and private parties/weddings. But, by that time, live bands were dying off and bars were closing, so we played less. It was rare that we played two gigs a weekend. By that point we were doing 95% private parties and weddings on Saturday nights.

Family is everything, but it's not everything ... if you know what I mean. You can't be a musician, gig for 15 years straight, cut it off at the head, and expect to be happy sitting at home every weekend with your family. If you are, you were probably ready to quit the band anyway.

All these years later I still get butterflies in my stomach on New Years Eve because even though it's been 14 years, I still feel like I should be playing some big New Years gig. It was the highlight of the year for us. Our families came out, we made a BOAT load of money, always played at a private party so the food was great, no bar scene ... it was really great and I really miss it. We never once played a bar for New Years except at private clubs such as Elk's, Moose, Fraternal Order Of Eagles, Legion's, those kind of places.

I was fortunate in that I played with people who did it because we all loved music and the money was secondary, maybe even thirdendary. (Is that even a word? HEHE). The first band I was in SUCKED. We did a few good songs, but it mostly sucked ... BUT ... we had a huge following because we had a good time, laughed, told jokes, interacted with everyone, laughed at ourselves when we screwed up, and people love that. Now, if you're at a hot nigh club in Manhattan, no, that wouldn't fly. But in rural Norther NJ, we were a hit. We used to have Halloween parties every year and 200 + people would show up.