Members Potts Posted July 13, 2012 Members Share Posted July 13, 2012 LOL.. I'm sitting here post-gig tired out of my mind. I've been waiting for it to hit. Being 43 and going to school during the insanely demanding summer sessions is brutal. They're 3 week sessions and the workload is like 5 hours a day. I'm looking forward to the Fall semester because although I'll be going full-time I wont "appear" to be as busy. Add this 60 day never-ending cycle of 11 gigs in 14 days thing that happened and it was bound to catch up. I knew I was overbooking when I was taking the gigs in Jan-Feb but, it's tough to turn down any date that doesn't have something written in it in my book. Not all is lost though...I play Friday and two Saturday and then were taking an overnight excursion to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. Which is funny because it's about 12 minutes from my house and the actual "Falls" is not really our destination. The kids want to eat at Rain Forest Cafe and get ice cream from the Hershey store Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members KeysBear Posted July 13, 2012 Members Share Posted July 13, 2012 I remember when my daughter was young enough to get excited about the Rain Forest Cafe. I have double headers booked the next couple of weekends so should be interesting for this geezer musician. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted July 13, 2012 Members Share Posted July 13, 2012 lol @ the 43 year old complaining aobut getting old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members OldGuitarPlayer Posted July 13, 2012 Members Share Posted July 13, 2012 Enjoy your trip to Canada eh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Potts Posted July 13, 2012 Author Members Share Posted July 13, 2012 lol @ the 43 year old complaining aobut getting old. David don't be a punk You obviously missed everything AFTER my age. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted July 13, 2012 Members Share Posted July 13, 2012 David don't be a punk You obviously missed everything AFTER my age. When I was your age I did all that and walked 5 miles through the snow to get there. Up hill. Both ways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MickeyKeys Posted July 13, 2012 Members Share Posted July 13, 2012 When I was your age I did all that and walked 5 miles through the snow to get there. Up hill. Both ways. Right. I had to get up in the morning at ten o'clock at night half an hour before I went to bed, drink a cup of sulphuric acid, work twenty-nine hours a day down mill, and pay mill owner for permission to come to work, and when we got home, our Dad and our mother would kill us and dance about on our graves singing Hallelujah. You try and tell the young people of today that ..... they won't believe you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jimiv Posted July 13, 2012 Members Share Posted July 13, 2012 I still get excited about going to the Rain Forest Cafe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Howie22 Posted July 13, 2012 Members Share Posted July 13, 2012 I hear ya. The full time day job (which includes a lot of travel) plus 8 gigs in 10 days really kicked my ass a few weeks ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Potts Posted July 22, 2012 Author Members Share Posted July 22, 2012 Yep..2 weeks later I feel the same way as when I originally posted this. I'm finishing up a stretch of 10 in 13 days. I slept for 12 hours and have the last gig today at 6. I'm off for 4 days then I pull 12 more in 15 days. Fall semester starts in there too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Potts Posted July 22, 2012 Author Members Share Posted July 22, 2012 I hear ya. The full time day job (which includes a lot of travel) plus 8 gigs in 10 days really kicked my ass a few weeks ago. Yeah man that's a lot of gigs. People fail to realize how much work it is to play that much whether it's a full band or solo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MDLMUSIC Posted July 22, 2012 Members Share Posted July 22, 2012 I can sympathize with you. I used to go through the same thing when I was a public school administrator during the day and a gigging musician at night. But since I'm retired, I'm now a full-time music bum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Potts Posted July 22, 2012 Author Members Share Posted July 22, 2012 But since I'm retired, I'm now a full-time music bum. Whoo Hoo! Nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members KeysBear Posted July 22, 2012 Members Share Posted July 22, 2012 Yep..2 weeks later I feel the same way as when I originally posted this. that happened to me a couple of months back when I had a massively difficult weekend including an out of town festival. I got exhausted and it took me weeks to snap back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Potts Posted July 23, 2012 Author Members Share Posted July 23, 2012 that happened to me a couple of months back when I had a massively difficult weekend including an out of town festival. I got exhausted and it took me weeks to snap back. Gets crazy..I just got back from the last gig until Thursday and I feel pretty fricken good though. It's usually that way after playing though. Tonight was the closing for this huge festival the city puts on every year. It was a crazy early party on a Sunday and I had a riot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sventvkg Posted July 23, 2012 Members Share Posted July 23, 2012 LOL.. I'm sitting here post-gig tired out of my mind. I've been waiting for it to hit. Being 43 and going to school during the insanely demanding summer sessions is brutal. They're 3 week sessions and the workload is like 5 hours a day. I'm looking forward to the Fall semester because although I'll be going full-time I wont "appear" to be as busy. Add this 60 day never-ending cycle of 11 gigs in 14 days thing that happened and it was bound to catch up. I knew I was overbooking when I was taking the gigs in Jan-Feb but, it's tough to turn down any date that doesn't have something written in it in my book. Not all is lost though...I play Friday and two Saturday and then were taking an overnight excursion to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. Which is funny because it's about 12 minutes from my house and the actual "Falls" is not really our destination. The kids want to eat at Rain Forest Cafe and get ice cream from the Hershey store What are you going to school for and why? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Potts Posted July 23, 2012 Author Members Share Posted July 23, 2012 What are you going to school for and why? I worked in the collections industry for 12 years. It sucked, but I got into upper management and it turned into a career and I couldn't get out because of the money- it just happened. I was miserable for the past 5 years. I mean really miserable and depressed. I lost my job in March and the first thing my wife said was, "Go back to school and get your Bachelor's and do want you want to do." So I am. I love it. I love the learning environment. The summer session is sick but I've earned 9 credits in a short 7 weeks. Today starts the last session- it's a 2.5 hour course at 8am...ughh! Then the Fall Semester starts in about a month. I'll have my degree in Public Communications in about 16 months. I'l keep playing music full time and get my Masters I think. I want to teach at the college level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members FitchFY Posted July 23, 2012 Members Share Posted July 23, 2012 Good on you for being back at school, man - education is clutch. And I hear you on the "It's hard to say no to a gig when the calendar is clear." I did that in my earlier gigging days - just have me play a lot and lets do it! Then the fatigue kicks in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members musicmanmu Posted July 23, 2012 Members Share Posted July 23, 2012 I can relate to you for sure - I work full time at a university and I'm working on my Ph.D. in education leadership. I have two summer classes right now and it's just about killing me! I've definitely had to slow down my gigging some to accommodate for school, but I'm still trying to play 3-4 times a month. It is hard to turn down a gig when you have a free date, but know that you really need to write that damn paper. And I'm only 33, with no kids, so you are a true rockstar! Best of luck balancing everything! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Howie22 Posted July 23, 2012 Members Share Posted July 23, 2012 it turned into a career and I couldn't get out because of the money- it just happened. I was miserable for the past 5 years. I mean really miserable and depressed. Sounds like my life. I would like to move/change careers, but I'm the bread winner and have to support the family. Sometimes I feel like I should just bite the bullet and do something else, but I'm not sure that my family could handle a huge cut in pay right now. Then there's the whole issue of paying for my house that I now wish we hadn't bought (I guess no one could have predicted the economic meltdown). I heard someone say a while back "The more stuff you have, the less freedom you have." I think that's true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jayare Posted July 23, 2012 Members Share Posted July 23, 2012 Ive heard it as:"The more things you own,the more things own you." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Potts Posted July 23, 2012 Author Members Share Posted July 23, 2012 Sounds like my life. I would like to move/change careers, but I'm the bread winner and have to support the family. Sometimes I feel like I should just bite the bullet and do something else, but I'm not sure that my family could handle a huge cut in pay right now. Then there's the whole issue of paying for my house that I now wish we hadn't bought (I guess no one could have predicted the economic meltdown). I heard someone say a while back "The more stuff you have, the less freedom you have." I think that's true. Hang in there man! I know how {censored}ty it can get when you're doing something you hate to support your family. The best thing that ever happened was losing my job. Isn't that crazy? We had no idea what we were going to do and we're doing alright now. Although we have a modest little home, we sometimes wish we didn't have a mortgage. We're tied to the house and all the trappings too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Howie22 Posted July 24, 2012 Members Share Posted July 24, 2012 Hang in there man! I know how {censored}ty it can get when you're doing something you hate to support your family. The best thing that ever happened was losing my job. Isn't that crazy? We had no idea what we were going to do and we're doing alright now. Although we have a modest little home, we sometimes wish we didn't have a mortgage. We're tied to the house and all the trappings too. I don't mean to sound as though I'm miserable. I do like my job, or at least parts of it. It's actually a pretty good job with a lot of cool perks. It's something I wanted for a long time and fought a long fight to get into. Unfortunately, I've discovered over the years that I really just don't care about it - no passion for it. When I'm doing my own thing, booking gigs, playing music, that's something I'm excited about. I guess I just don't like the idea of working for someone else anymore, particularly in this economy. Some accountant in a corner office at the corporate headquarters decides one day that we have to trim the budget by X number of dollars, and then BAM, goodbye job. I don't like that hanging over my head. I figured it up once, and even if I played 30 bar gigs a month, I couldn't even get close to my current day job salary. Plus, no health insurance, 401k, etc. So, I press on! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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