Why didn't YOU make it big?

[9ball]

because i moved back to illinois/st louis missouri area and bought a house here and got stuck in this miserable worthless midwestern shithole of miserable people and poverty lol

 

[sg guy]

-#1 they stopped using refrigerant in AQUA NET, never had another good hair day-(fuck the ozone & the polar bears!!)-

-#2 stopped doing drug's-(reality fuckin sucked!!)-

-#3 refused to bend over the casting couch..

 

[stratjacket]

because I haven't reached 500 posts here yet...

 

[Viper]

oh, well that? That is a given.

Well, I don't like to reduce us to just being part of the "Seattle Sound." I'd like to think of us as expanding more. Like, we're huge in Europe right now. I mean, we've got records... uh, a big record just broke in Belgium.

 

[mrcak]

For me, playing guitar was an enjoyable hobby. Decades later, same thing. I enjoyed playing in bands thru the 70's and 80's. Flew to a Ca to play a Jimi B/Day show w/ former Jimi Woodstock band member in '92. That was fun for sure.

 

[itsme]

No stage presence. General stage fright, I get the jitters and my fingers become stiff as Lincoln Logs. I can't stay on beat with even the most solid drummer- can't even identify with it. If I screw up, I have a hard time moving on. It's a piss poor sight, fellas.

Haha...... Best response ever....

 

[Racerxrated]

Got out of the Army in 89. Started trying out for gigs and landed a spot in a 4 piece original act, we had nice 3-4 part harmonies and spent about 5K on a demo. Did some "showcase" gigs for some agents/producers in MPLS and the only thing that materialized was some nice opening gigs here and there and agents that wanted us to sign and 'tour' the midwest club scene as a cover band with 4-6 nights per week. That was the extent of my attempt to make it. Ended up signing with one of the agencies(GMA I think) and did have some fun gigging full time for a few years. As previously stated, you really do have to relocate and dedicate yourself to do it right. I was 22 back then, it's definitely a tough road.

 

[rstites]

Interesting question. My story has always been that I started at 14 and played heavily through high school. I came out of my junior year determined to either go to LA and try seriously to make it, or head off to one of the music/guitar colleges. Then the stereotypical thing happened: I met a girl, dated her my entire senior year, was in love, so followed her off to big university up the road....picked up a couple of engineering degrees and headed off into respectable, office world. Really, I pretty much stopped playing through college, figuring that I was done. I picked it up again in grad school when guys talked to me about the fun in just drinking, playing, and hanging out with buddies. After that, I never thought about "making it" but rather about getting something together locally and having fun.

The reality though is that I came out of high school with too many good opportunities to go directly to college and was too practical minded to squander them, so I went that way. I'd figured out how hard (and how much luck) it'd take to make it as a musician. The school above gave me a full ride for academics. I had that a number of places.....and had opportunities to go play college football (small college) on full scholarship too. Those were far less risky.

Still, my above story sounds better.....followed a girl to school, picked up a couple of degrees. Of course, now I've been married to her close to 30 years so that part did work out.

 

[MrDowntown]

Dad played in the sixties. Cut a record, played with some decent size/known groups around. His brother cut records in the fifties and his kid, my cousin had been on stage since he was 8 playing with his dads cowboy band. It was in my blood...so I thought.

Came my turn...took up piano at 5, could read and lay down a lot by 10. Picked up the guitar, and lessons. Learned a bunch of theory, chords and progressions, scales, got into blues pretty good. At 14 got a little band together lreaned some RNR songs of the early/mid 80's. Was loving the guitar and getting pretty good....so I thought. Invited a guy over to jam with my buddy (bass player) and me, we were 15, they were about 19. We jammed for a while. He brought a buddy of his that played drums...it was a blast. Then that fucker played eruption right In front of me....I couldn't fucking fathom what had just happened. I quit playing that day, and didn't pick up my guitar (seriously) for about 20 years.

Was also a decent athlete, so I went to college played a little baseball, met my bride, fell in love, got married, had babies. All good.

Really won't worth a damn to be honest....never wood shedded that thang.

 

[VoodooChild24]

Because I spent more time on RT buying gear than playing.

 

[thenine]

Beer!

 

[shredhead7]

I was never starving enough to make it. I once heard a person say, play guitar professionally, if that is the only thing that you can do. You have to be willing to do anything to make that your living. My parents insisted that I get a good degree, and seeing that my sister was already the family fuck up, I took on the dutiful son role. Once I graduated college, I got a decent job and bought house. That was really the point at which the dream was over. Too bad I was only 24 and still thought that I had all of the time in the world.

 

[syncrodude007]

Coke n hookers

 

[japetus]

I didn't want to swear a blood oath to Baphomet and get involved in a bunch of coked up gay sex bullshit.

 

[Bob Savage]

Hi
Seriously, DUI conviction or charges have changed the life of many people.

Thanks for reviving this ancient relic with such a profound response.

 

[MrDowntown]

Hi
Seriously, DUI conviction or charges have changed the life of many people.

Thanks for reviving this ancient relic with such a profound response.

where is Paul Harvey when ya need'him...

 

[BlackRose]

After I was able to hear and see first hand what the experiences of a musicians life is really like, and the realities of being on the road, no thanks.
I was lucky enough to spend part of my youth touring and helping my friends, bay area players Ronnie Montrose (Gamma) and Dave Meniketti (Y&T) in the late 70's.
I then met and spent time with Uli Roth and Michael Schenker, way too much drama.

 

[mdc1mdc11]

Did not want to cross dress like a chick, and could make more money in Silicon Valley software startups

 

[MYLILSS]

well...considering Rigtalk has never heard a clip from me..well....there could be a connection as to why you haven't heard a clip from me and why I didn't make it big...lol.
actually...two or three folks here have heard a clip or two from me personally...I think they keep those clips around when they need a good laugh

I always dug the clips man ! always a good listen in my opinion.

 

[V-Killer]

After I was able to hear and see first hand what the experiences of a musicians life is really like, and the realities of being on the road, no thanks.
I was lucky enough to spend part of my youth touring and helping my friends, bay area players Ronnie Montrose (Gamma) and Dave Meniketti (Y&T) in the late 70's.
I then met and spent time with Uli Roth and Michael Schenker, way too much drama.

Drama with UJR? Really?