Guitar Player Lifestyle
A guitar player’s lifestyle can be summed up as a person doing what they absolutely love to do. Living a dream.
My granddaughter once asked me at a family dinner, “Grandpa, what was your favorite gig?” The question threw me off a bit because I had never really given it much thought. At the time, I told her it was one of my early gigs playing with an all original band. I was in my early 20’s at the time and and the band progressive rock. Loved the people, loved the music, loved the era.
A few weeks later, I got to thinking about my granddaughters question. I realized that it had nothing to do with the “gig”, but rather it had to do with the lifestyle. I sat down and wrote her a letter. My granddaughter was then in her early 20’s. I explained to her that it wasn’t the gig but the lifestyle, and I gave her this example.
It’s about traveling caravan style down the road to your next gig. You are in an extended panel van which is packed with band equipment. You have the woman you love riding next to you and she is a hippy at heart.
Your drummer, is a guy named Stash and he is driving an old beat up Chevy which is trailing along in front of you. He’s a character. He has two big dice hanging from his rear view mirror. We would to pull over every 30 or 40 miles so Stash could put more oil in his car. To me, that reality was precious. It is about the moment. Where you are, who you are with, what your goals are, and what you are doing. I got a kick out of it. It felt right.
The life experience was what it was all about. Those kind of lifestyle experience associated with the gig, the people, the clubs, the towns, the music, and much more, is priceless. The whole lifestyle “experience” is the best gig.
Every individual guitarist is going to have different stories because they are starting their journey from different spots, different styles, different skills, different financial stability, different peers, different opportunities, and different expertise from professional help. Even so, a consistency that runs through most players is that there is a passion for what they are doing. There is an excitement in what they are doing, and there is a fellowship with those that they are doing it with.
Questions and Answers about Guitar Player Lifestyles
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