Haven't touched a steel in 3 months

Clyde Mattocks · Post by **Clyde Mattocks** » 24 Dec 2020 1:19 pm

After things came to a screeching halt in March, I only played a couple of outdoor parties in the summer. For a while I lost interest and wouldn't practice. Lately, I've started sitting down to it if it's only twenty minutes. I think of more things I want to learn like great fiddle solos on the steel and I find it has opened some doors to new voicings. Don't know if I'll ever get to put this stuff in practice, but it has helped keep my interest up.

Larry Dering · Post by **Larry Dering** » 24 Dec 2020 5:47 pm

I'm happy to have a hobby and a place to use it. Music is my escape and the pedal steel keeps me working at it. At 71 I don't want to quit while I'm still able to play.

Ron Shalita · Post by **Ron Shalita** » 24 Dec 2020 6:32 pm

I get up at 3 AM every morning and play my PSG and guitar .. thanks to YouTube it keeps my interest .. but must admit lately I end up watching docs .. but I do get a couple of hours in just jamming .. I never sit down to learn songs .. no interest in that anymore ..this pandemic has been good and bad for me... but must admit I am looking forward to ending !

Mitch Ellis · Post by **Mitch Ellis** » 24 Dec 2020 9:58 pm

Al Evans wrote: I've always been taught that if you don't enjoy woodshedding, you're not doing it right.

Now that's something to think about. Maybe that's why I don't practice as much as I should. Thank's for the tip.

Mitch

Steve Spitz · Post by **Steve Spitz** » 25 Dec 2020 6:00 pm

Itâ€™s still a great joy to play, but Itâ€™s easy to lose some of the passion as the immediate future looks difficult for my local scene .

I do know that while player â€œAâ€ sits unmotivated and depressed, and player â€œBâ€ spends his time keeping sharp, getting better, well.....thereâ€™s that.

It wonâ€™t kill me to get better even if, by choice, I donâ€™t pursue gigging when things return to the new normal. The gigs will have to be musically rewarding, but I was thinking that way pre-COVID. I like to play good gigs, not desperate to play.

Still , at times itâ€™s a challenge to stay motivated to woodshed as much as I think I should.

I recently gave some lessons. I enjoyed giving the gift of music, and that alone was its own reward. Keeps the flame burning.

Good luck, stay motivated if you can .

Ron Shalita · Post by **Ron Shalita** » 25 Dec 2020 7:59 pm

Steve itâ€™s tough on all of us Iâ€™m sure that Iâ€™m not the only one that feels like maybe this time music is just not coming back.. seemed like a lot has happened over the years to kill it, but hey we all have each other to share with .. I know itâ€™s kinda a down thought but that is what I was faced with this morning..

Chris Schlotzhauer · Post by **Chris Schlotzhauer** » 26 Dec 2020 8:16 am

Bill Terry wrote:Seems like I'm not alone. I've been playing on average 75 to 100 gigs a year for nearly 20 years, and all of a sudden, other than a few online sessions, not a gig since March. A large part of my musical activity was prepping for gigs, learning songs, putting charts together, etc. That's gone, and like some above have mentioned, I'm sort of played out when it comes to just playing for my own enjoyment.

I'm actually wondering when/if the gigs do come back, will I be all that excited about it? I have to say I don't miss all the miles, getting home at 3AM, etc. I'm not 25 anymore, heck I'm not even 50 anymore..

I'm hoping if I go out and play a couple I'll get re-energized. There's nothing quite as much fun as a tight band on a good night, maybe I've just forgotten how good that is. I hope.

I hear you....if this pandemic has taught me anything is, I hate playing by myself, for myself.
I have did a couple of gigs at NFR but they were duets (female singer and myself on steel)but I didn't have to practice. It was fun and felt good to get out, but that's not what satisfies me. I guess my (our) days of working with an artist as their steel guy, rehearsing, jumping in a van and doing several shows a week are over.
If I am going to continue playing music, it will have to be just me sitting on a stool with a guitar singing to patrons of a restaurant or bar. Although my body fights me playing guitar due to shoulders/arthritis/neuropathy, etc.
I have been learning other people's original songs for decades, and that's what has kept me very busy. Now I'm not interested in learning anymore new songs. I've learned a million cover songs that I still know. I will be concentrating on the past from here on out musically

Ron Shalita · Post by **Ron Shalita** » 26 Dec 2020 7:49 pm

Steve itâ€™s tough on all of us Iâ€™m sure that Iâ€™m not the only one that feels like maybe this time music is just not coming back.. seemed like a lot has happened over the years to kill it, but hey we all have each other to share with .. I know itâ€™s kinda a down thought but that is what I was faced with this morning..

Bill Terry · Post by **Bill Terry** » 27 Dec 2020 6:58 am

Chris wrote:...my body fights me playing guitar due to shoulders/arthritis/neuropathy, etc.

Yeah, the health part is becoming more of an issue for me all the time as well. My left hand (on guitar) is just not able to do stuff I used to be able to do effortlessly. I'm trying to work on it more, thinking maybe I'm just 'out of playing shape', and that's helped some, but I can see that some of that dexterity just isn't going to come back. Getting old sucks doesn't it?

Hey Chris, if you see this, we're planning a Bruce Music Co. employee/friends/customer Zoom call/reunion sometime after the first of the year, you interested?

Bo Borland · Post by **Bo Borland** » 27 Dec 2020 9:19 am

I've been taking advantage of the lock down and lack of gigs an practicing, studying and playing non stop.
While most gigs have been cancelled since mid March, I have done 4 or 5 outdoor gigs with full bands and a new duo project had done 5 or 6. All while practicing stay safe protocols.