20 Years in the Same Band!

#41
Congratulations to all you 20+ year band members. That's quite an accomplishment.
Rarely is any drama involved but 4 years seems to be the natural wrapping up point for me in almost all the groups I've spent more than a year with .
 
#42
14 years for me and my main band. Congrats to you on 20.
It becomes very easy after some time because everyone knows what do to during load-in/setup. We don't really practice any more. We will get together once in a while to add new tunes. Drama is long behind us for the most part and we put up with each others shortcomings.

Aging out is the issue. Drummer is 73 and still does a great job but doesn't have the stamina he used to have. I'm 63 and to be honest, I would retire at any time if the others wanted to fold up the tent. My wife and I are looking at moving closer to the grandkids in the next couple years so it WILL end at some point.
 
#43
STRMan said:
I am pushing 39 years in the same band, sort of. We formed in 85 and became a successful local gigging band on Long Island in NY. I joined the Coast Guard in 1989, and for a while another bassist took my place, but the band just fizzled after I left. We had a unique dynamic. The lead singer was the band leader, booking most of our gigs. Our keyboardist, a Berklee grad with perfect pitch, pretty much handled orchestrating the harmonies, but I was the musical director. At that time, I played guitar better than either of our guitarists, so I was able to teach them parts. Also, while we only did covers, I wrote segways between songs. So the music almost never stopped. We created 4-5 song blocks, so the music kept rolling, and the girls kept dancing.

After the Coast Guard, I moved to Florida. Whenever I came to NY to visit my family, I'd call the guys together and we'd jam. It was as if we never stopped playing together. I began flying up to NY for a few jams every year, and we started doing a gig every year, packing a bar, or someone's backyard BBQ. This has been going on for decades now. I've been in other bands, but this will always be THE BAND for me. I'm heading up to NY again in September for another jam with the guys.
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This sounds a bit like my friend's musical journey. We were co-workers for years, and we're both retired now. We're both bassists. He was in a band in NY in I believe the late 70s. He moved to Florida, and still lives here. He still gets together with the rest of the band once a year in his hometown in New York, and they do a show in the local park.
 
#44
51PRI said:
Yesterday was the 20th anniversary of the band I'm in. I was hired as a keyboard player (I owned a keyboard) then when a guitar player quit I was asked to play guitar AND keys. Then the guitar player came back. Then the bass player got fired and I was asked to play back, and we would be a four piece and make more money. Most of that 20 years I have also been in other bands, as many as 5 at one time.

Saturday night we had maybe the best gig we've had in quite a while. Pretty decent crowd and, something different for a change, DANCERS!
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54 years in my current band. It’s amazing we still can stand each other. We have gone through a boatload of contributors over the decades however most have been above the line players, and decent folks that were a good hang.

We still draw around 200 to 400 on most gigs, but we play less than 10 gigs a year, this year eight. And that is a good thing since I’m 600 miles away for where the gigs are. The next gig is at the Hard Rock in Pittsburgh the first week of September. In the meanwhile, back in the woodshed practicing keeping the chops sharp for the gig and cutting tracks on two new songs, one for my current band, and one for a band of former members than are no longer interested in performing live and only want to record.
 
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