I find myself scaling back

[Larry Dering]

Peter, I'm very much a play at home with equipment set up. Keyboards, drums, bass, guitar and steel all ready there. We do a monthly jam. My son still does gigs weekly and I play at a few of his local early shows. Much like Tony, I'm not interested in a constant routine or late long distance shows. Those of you retired should attend the remaining steel shows. Oklahoma show is happening now, and goes from 9.30am till 6pm. The support is needed. Look in the Events section.

[Craig A Davidson]

Since the so called plague my mindset has changed. For instance I have a gig tonight that I would be real happy to have the phone ring and let me know it's cancelled. 2 1/2 hour drive to play and never sure what will happen on stage.

[Joe Cook]

I'm only 62, but cancer two years ago took away my desire to play gigs anymore. Can't drive too much at night as I don't see as well as I used to. Chemo fog makes me lose my place in songs and I can't remember lyrics. I still get together with buddies but I can only go about an hour or so. I guess I just don't enjoy playing before an audience anymore. I was a weekend warrior, never toured out of state, and I loved it. I really enjoy playing lap steel now for my own enjoyment. Still have my PSG but I don't play it as often as I should. My business will close down permanently in a couple of days and maybe my stamina will return and I will join a local band again. I'm hoping so!

[Dick Wood]

After 47 years playing the typical nightclub circuit, I'm calling it quits after my last New Years gig Dec 31st. I just recently sold my 3 year old MSA Legend XL SD-10 and an Amp to a fellow in New Mexico. It has been a great ride but it's just not fun anymore. I'm also having some hearing loss in my right ear so the noise has to go. Gas prices are to the point that I'm spending a little more than half what I make just to get to the gig and back and it looks as if it will only get worse.

The bands I've been getting gigs with just don't seem to know how to tune their guitars and don't understand the concept of how to not walk all over other players. Many of the lead singers will make you cringe with their horribly off key singing. Staying out late and getting home at all hours of the morning are also wearing me out. I will miss it to some degree because it's something I've done since 1975 and will take some getting used to not doing anymore.

I have tons of great memories of being able to work with people like Jonny Lee, Janie Fricke, Wynn Stewart, The Coasters and having steel greats Red Rhodes, Jimmy Day and Randy Beavers in the crowd while I was playing.

Oh well, this where the Cowboy rides away.

[Tony Prior]

Oh well, this is where the Cowboy rides away.

LOL Dick !

[Dave Campbell]

i had 100 gigs the year before covid, and maybe 10 since. for the last 6 months i've barely played. i'm 50, but with three kids under five.

i miss the friends that i played with, but i'm not sure how much of everything else i miss. during the hiatus i renewed my love of the outdoors which i think has improved my mental and physical well being a lot more than sitting in a bar behind a pedal steel telling myself i suck!

i had a rehearsal the other night and i started to get excited again and was surprised how relaxed i felt behind the steel after such a long break. i felt like i had some new ideas and approaches and the "you suck" voice was much quieter in my head.

life's a trip.

[Duane Dunard]

Dick Wood, I’m really sorry to hear you are dropping out of the Pro-music scene. It will be tough to find a replacement with your skill level.

I’m 75 and have been working a really good sit-down gig every Saturday night for the last two years, that many other musicians would love to have. We even remained open through the worst of covid. I have also been blessed with pretty good health for my age. However, I know the good job won’t last forever and I hate being the old geezer on stage, so change will come someday. When that happens, I will probably just stay home, watch “Wheel Of Fortune”, and be in bed by 9pm.

[Peter Dollard]

I played literally anything that was offered to me from $17.00 a night to 150.00 dollars and up unto 2001. After that I was goin through the motions. Then one night I noticed I could not use my third finger pick anymore and I just said that's it and i have never looked back. i had some great nights bad nights and some in between. Whatever i was trying to prove i did it. I would change nothing and i still have a few living steel friends. One highlight was interviewing Tom Brumley in Branson in 1997 he said i got him talking too much!!!

[Chris Brooks]

Interesting to hear you lads describe your musical lives.

I am 78, played music on the road for 23 years, then taught English for the next 30, retiring when COVID hit.

I play in 3 bands, one with high aspirations. Two are steel roles, the other a guitar slot. I also get called for fill-ins (played a couple of bass gigs recently) and am one of the few steelers around that do sessions. (Got one in a couple of weeks).

So far, I can carry my stuff, though a upcoming hernia op will require my bandmates to hoist equipment for a while. (Sneaky, eh?).

Rhode Island is small; my farthest gig has been in Westerly, all of an hour away. Luckily, two steady monthly jobs are at a wonderful little club right down the street from my house. Played there last night--and will walk down with my jazz guitar to a jam tomorrow.

So I am hanging in there . . . even had the chance to "explain" pedal steel to a couple of youngsters last night! You know the routine:

"I really like your slide / lap steel playing!"
"Um, it's not a slide guitar and it's not a lap steel."

Chris

[manny escobar]

Hi Chris, You left out all your worldly experiences. Perhaps you should write a book.

[Roger Rettig]

I'm having an enjoyable time contemplating (and fine-tuning) my impending D13 12-string steel.

b0b has been a great help in this endeavour, but I continue to study other players' copeds looking for ideas that might support my musical ambitions on the instrument.

What has this to do with 'scaling back'? Well, the research into this 'new' tuning occupies my considerable spare time now that working away is no longer an option.

I fear, though, that I may be turning into a theoretical player; all this is all very well on paper but the switch from D-10 to SD12 will challenge my long-used grips and that extra 6th note in the middle of the tuning will doubtless trip me up.

I don't, however, need to be at the top of my game so, in that respect, it's the perfect time to try something new (even if nobody will ever hear me play it!)

I find I'm accepting my lot with equanimity. Between the seemingly endless medical appointments and ny search for the 'perfect set-up' (I do realize I'm the 20,000th steel player to do this ), my time is satisfactorily filled.

Dialysis (started 4/21) had me a bit depressed for at least a year. Now, it's a fact of life and just a part of my days. All is good.

[Damir Besic]

for the last almost 10 years , I try to play as little as possible… my priority right now is to relax , and get as much rest and peace as possible …at this time I’m not interested at all in packing, transporting , driving , playing for hours for peanuts , dealing with bands , rehearsing etc … my days are very laid back , with very little stress … I’ve been in Europe on vacation for a month now, and still didn’t even touch my Show Pro I have here … I spend my days swimming, laying on the beach, relaxing, walking , and pretty much not doing anything … and I plan to do that again next summer, but for 3 months …

[David Rattray]

Damir you are one of the smartest anywhere....thumbs up x10....way to go man...d...

[Damir Besic]

Damir you are one of the smartest anywhere....thumbs up x10....way to go man...d...

thank you my friend , back in 2019 I was diagnosed with melanoma cancer, and needles to say, that experience changed my whole outlook on life, it was a wake up call for sure

[Larry Jamieson]

I started playing in my first band "The Mustangs" when I was 15 years old. We played rock: Beatles, Dave Clark 5, Rolling Stones, etc. Over the years I have played rock, lounge music, bluegrass, folk and county. I always worked a day job, never made music my only profession. In my last band, I started out on steel, moved to bass at one point, then to rhythm guitar and vocals when our leader passed away. One year we played 52 gigs during the year. At age 72 I decided to retire from the band. I still do an occasional single gig, guitar and vocals, and I am sitting in with the old band on 3 gigs this summer. I am enjoying having weekends free, not loading in and out tons of gear, and not driving an hour and a half to get to a gig. I did enjoy making music and have seen a lot of different places and met and worked with some amazing musicians over the years.

[Dick Wood]

You are too kind Duane.The steel players are slowly dropping off one by one around the area. The hard part will be accepting that that part of my life is over and that those years and memories will fade into the past.

I guess one of these days I will be one of those old guys that walks up to the steel player and says, I used to play steel for years around the area and that steel player kinda looks at you and says oh really, well that's nice....lol

I may get the itch and take a high paying 90 minute tribute band show now and then but the 10 hour days playing at some bar for 4 hours and peanuts is over for sure.

[Tony Prior]

LOL --All 3 of my July 4th weekend gigs got cancelled for various reasons . At first I was a bit angry , but now a few days later its like a relief ! They were each outdoors and it was miserable the evenings of the gigs.


Now ADD - my bandmate who books, got Covid so we cancelled next weeks duo gig too ! So apparently the gig gods heard I was scaling back and decided to help !

July just started and its already over ! I have a few dates booked in AUG but this is just July -- lets see if August even exists !

I'm not booking Steel gigs any longer , if I get a call to play Steel it will just depend on the gig scenario.

[Dick Wood]

I hear ya Tony. I’ve played several outside gigs lately that were at or slightly over 100. I hate them but the money has been too much to pass up but I’ll hang in there until December 31.

[Steve Spitz]

I’m 64. I guess I’ve gigged about 40 years. I have no regrets if I don’t play out much. My city is very dangerous. The hours and load in/out feel like more hassle than the pay/ fun in exchange.

I’m not done, just becoming much more selective.

The gig has to be fun, safe, and most importantly , musically satisfying.

If I don’t feel the music, it’s not worth hauling the gear.

[Peter Dollard]

In 1965 Mardi Gras i played in a New Orleans street jug band in Jackson Square... I was playing banjo but there was a lot of flak from the police who saw no value in a faux Kweskin Jug Band. We hired some very attractive hat passing groupies who for some reason liked us. On the final tuesday we got attacked and that was the end of our career...Stay safe...

[Tim Harr]

Hi Tony -

I surely don't want to feel like the exception to so many of those who are also scaling back. But, I am staying busy playing as much as I want to. Mostly with the country band I have been in for the past 7 years. It is a Central IL regional favorite, and we stay very busy. I am also answering a ton of calls for sessions (steel, dobro and guitar. Either I am at their studio or I am tracking from home and emailing my work in. I am one of few guitar players in Central IL who read standard notation music fluently, so I get tons of calls for theatre shows and the like. I am gigging quite regularly on steel..using a full rig and not really cutting back on the amount of gear I am carrying with me. I work a day gig as an Engineer at Caterpillar which has me traveling around the US through the week a few times a month. The music scene has always been something I have been immersed in. When I was in the US Army Band, I toured all the time and played a couple hundred shows a year. I retired from that gig in 2008, after 23 years.

I turn 54 yrs old next month and I am in great health. No, I don't believe I am at a place where I would rather see gigs cancelled so I can stay home and either play to tracks or sit and watch TV, etc... I still look forward to playing, at every opportunity. I am playing with some exceptional players...and that helps.

Now & again, I also play (guitar) a few jazz gigs (Real Book standards) with a combo of college professors & band directors. Planning for the future, when I do wind down from the type of stuff I am doing now, I see myself diving deeper into the Bluegrass scene in this area. I play Dobro and recently picked up a very nice Martin HD-28. I am working on my flatpicking and arranging fiddle standard tunes to play with friends at an occasional Bluegrass jam.

[Peter Dollard]

listen to Bryan Sutton he seems to have expanded the bluegrass templet. Seems like you have conquered all the rest...

[Tim Harr]

Thanks. I have been listening to a bunch of guys, including Sutton. There is so much great music out there.

[Jerry Overstreet]

Damir you are one of the smartest anywhere....thumbs up x10....way to go man...d...

thank you my friend , back in 2019 I was diagnosed with melanoma cancer, and needles to say, that experience changed my whole outlook on life, it was a wake up call for sure

Sorry to hear that Damir. Wishing you all the best.

[Tony Prior]

Hi Tony -

Hey Tim, good to hear from you, thx for the response. Its great that you are active and busy, thats a good thing !

Well, I've got a bunch of years on you ! I've been perhaps more busy than I needed to be over the past many decades, there has never been a time in my journey where I was not busy. I have been blessed , no doubt.

E sessions, in studio sessions, multiple Steel Guitar Tab programs which I produced , teaching, gigs, fill ins, all that stuff, etc.. it was non ending sometimes overwhelmed. I've been retired 7 years now and pre Covid I was playing 2x mth with one band, 1x mth with another and also playing with my regular band. Most of it was triple duty, Steel/Guitar/vocals.

Covid changed everything and also gave me the time to reflect on how much I was doing, so I scaled back. I pretty much do not play Steel on gigs anymore save a couple now and then. I just do not want to carry double duty gear anymore. I'm still active on Tele's which is where I want to be these days, B Benders...I'm still playing an average of 2x mth with my regular band , be it duos or full band gigs, but only on Tele. We bring in another Steel player for the big shows.

I was just invited to play with yet another group local to me which may bring my average to maybe 3x gigs mth and again. on Tele only. The music is across multiple genres, Country, Rock, Blues, 50's 60's 70's ,SRV, Eagles, Merle ,Skaggs, etc.. even some SOUL ! its all music I enjoy playing and I also like the PRE gig PREP work which is what keeps me fresh and interested.

These days , while money is not important, it is important to earn enough so I don't lose money ! I don't accept gigs past 10 PM generally and I don't travel more than 45 to 60 min. 3 sets is typical, 2 is even better. Obviously I really enjoy playing but I don't enjoy some of the things that come with playing. I have enough of an assortment of gear /amps etc which I use for various gigs , everything from a Boss Katana 50 to a Dr Z Maz 38. I really like the lite-weight amps .

Scaling back for me is more of setting limitations on myself , its not a bad thing. Life is changing so I am making some changes to go along . I still have to be careful as the phone is still ringing and I could find myself with a full schedule again, easily. Regarding health, its no secret that I am going thru a cancer managing process but that really has no effect, at this time, on going out and playing gigs. The scaling back or "limiting" is totally my choice.

I still love the Steel, I don't sit behind it like I used to , but the Tele, ( B Benders) are still front and center. They are an equal love to the Steel and have always been.

Anyway, thx for replying, glad you are doing well and busy ,and certainly its good to hear you are in good health !

Stay well , maybe we'll meet again one day, I hope so.

Best- tp