I'm old af

[Sasquatch]

i joined HC around late 2003/early 2004. good times. actually learned how to maximize the tone of my amps. the speed with which that forum moved was like crack. you'd make a thread, refresh 20 seconds later and it would be at the bottom of the page.

[draelyc]

Turning 44 today. Don't feel but that damn calendar says otherwise. But hey on the bright side, I've got less power tubes to buy!!

Welcome to your mid-forties. If you do not already have an inexplicable pain in some part of your body for no reason, one will be assigned to you shortly.

(I’m 47, which means my favorite line from the movie Still Crazy is “I’M NOT FIFTY!!!”)

[draelyc]

Double post

[draelyc]

The real question is, how old were all of us when we were posting on HCAF? I think I was 28 or 29 and here I am sitting at 40 lol

I started posting on HC early 2000s-ish,.... so 27, 28?

Jesus. Time flies.

Was thinking about this the other day. It was early 2002, I think, when I stopped lurking at HCAF & registered so I could start posting. That would put me at 30 or 31, then.

Lots of years, but also lots of miles. Was single and teaching part time back then. During my forum years, I bought my first new car, bought my first house, got married, had two kids, and went through a major midlife career change. Indiana Jones was right: it’s not the years — it’s the mileage.

[Sasquatch]

Indiana Jones was right: it’s not the years — it’s the mileage.

depends on the mileage. some mileage keeps you young. don't compare yourself to a generation before you; a 50 year-old in 1970 looked worse than 75 year-old people now.

[linthat22]

i joined HC around late 2003/early 2004. good times. actually learned how to maximize the tone of my amps. the speed with which that forum moved was like crack. you'd make a thread, refresh 20 seconds later and it would be at the bottom of the page.

Dude, in the easier days, every Friday, the wife and I would settle into our little hobbies. She'd scrap book with a glass of wine and I was trolling/contributing on the HC forums with my favorite drink.

That was before the dark times, before Jive and kids (in the voice of Obi Wan Kenobi)

[ajaxlepinski]

Kids..... that's a four letter word.

[Sasquatch]

i joined HC around late 2003/early 2004. good times. actually learned how to maximize the tone of my amps. the speed with which that forum moved was like crack. you'd make a thread, refresh 20 seconds later and it would be at the bottom of the page.

Dude, in the easier days, every Friday, the wife and I would settle into our little hobbies. She'd scrap book with a glass of wine and I was trolling/contributing on the HC forums with my favorite drink.

That was before the dark times, before Jive and kids (in the voice of Obi Wan Kenobi)

Kids are awesome but yeah, they take every bit of energy you have and then some. I “retired” from live music about 3 a go to concentrate on family. I just write and record these days. I just embrace it bc if I try to put even 1/4th the amount of time into music as I used to, I will blow a gasket.

[draelyc]

Indiana Jones was right: it’s not the years — it’s the mileage.

depends on the mileage. some mileage keeps you young. don't compare yourself to a generation before you; a 50 year-old in 1970 looked worse than 75 year-old people now.

[draelyc]

i joined HC around late 2003/early 2004. good times. actually learned how to maximize the tone of my amps. the speed with which that forum moved was like crack. you'd make a thread, refresh 20 seconds later and it would be at the bottom of the page.

Dude, in the easier days, every Friday, the wife and I would settle into our little hobbies. She'd scrap book with a glass of wine and I was trolling/contributing on the HC forums with my favorite drink.

That was before the dark times, before Jive and kids (in the voice of Obi Wan Kenobi)

Kids are awesome but yeah, they take every bit of energy you have and then some. I “retired” from live music about 3 a go to concentrate on family. I just write and record these days. I just embrace it bc if I try to put even 1/4th the amount of time into music as I used to, I will blow a gasket.

I’m trying to embrace it, because life is basically forcing the issue. But man, there are times when I really miss live performing. Like, a lot.

[Sasquatch]

i joined HC around late 2003/early 2004. good times. actually learned how to maximize the tone of my amps. the speed with which that forum moved was like crack. you'd make a thread, refresh 20 seconds later and it would be at the bottom of the page.

Dude, in the easier days, every Friday, the wife and I would settle into our little hobbies. She'd scrap book with a glass of wine and I was trolling/contributing on the HC forums with my favorite drink.

That was before the dark times, before Jive and kids (in the voice of Obi Wan Kenobi)

Kids are awesome but yeah, they take every bit of energy you have and then some. I “retired” from live music about 3 a go to concentrate on family. I just write and record these days. I just embrace it bc if I try to put even 1/4th the amount of time into music as I used to, I will blow a gasket.

I’m trying to embrace it, because life is basically forcing the issue. But man, there are times when I really miss live performing. Like, a lot.

oh yeah. I loved it. I miss having a few hundred people show up to hear us play all original music, how I never had to buy a drink, feeling and bouncing the energy from the stage to the crowd, being able to get any girls we wanted from the crowd to get on stage with us, walking out of the venue with decent money in my pocket. the energy and the comradery among the band is what I miss the most.

don’t miss getting home after daybreak, spending 3 hours setting up, passing out in my own urine in the bathroom mid-song and being woken back up and dragged back on stage during the same song, pissing my pants on stage, falling asleep while driving, cramming a half-stack into the back of a 1998 camaro.... ok, I sort of miss all that stuff too, lol.

I’ve thought about having me and the other person I write/record songs with, putting on a live stream show on Facebook or similar. It isn’t the same but you could put on a show and people could watch that same show and nobody has to even leave their living room.

[draelyc]

Werd on all counts.

I’ve also thought about doing streamed or video shows — Billy gave me the idea from the show he did with his woman, actually. I ain’t to proud to try to copy that with Mrs. Draelyc.

[GuitarBilly]

i joined HC around late 2003/early 2004. good times. actually learned how to maximize the tone of my amps. the speed with which that forum moved was like crack. you'd make a thread, refresh 20 seconds later and it would be at the bottom of the page.

Dude, in the easier days, every Friday, the wife and I would settle into our little hobbies. She'd scrap book with a glass of wine and I was trolling/contributing on the HC forums with my favorite drink.

That was before the dark times, before Jive and kids (in the voice of Obi Wan Kenobi)

Kids are awesome but yeah, they take every bit of energy you have and then some. I “retired” from live music about 3 a go to concentrate on family. I just write and record these days. I just embrace it bc if I try to put even 1/4th the amount of time into music as I used to, I will blow a gasket.

I’m trying to embrace it, because life is basically forcing the issue. But man, there are times when I really miss live performing. Like, a lot.

oh yeah. I loved it. I miss having a few hundred people show up to hear us play all original music, how I never had to buy a drink, feeling and bouncing the energy from the stage to the crowd, being able to get any girls we wanted from the crowd to get on stage with us, walking out of the venue with decent money in my pocket. the energy and the comradery among the band is what I miss the most.

don’t miss getting home after daybreak, spending 3 hours setting up, passing out in my own urine in the bathroom mid-song and being woken back up and dragged back on stage during the same song, pissing my pants on stage, falling asleep while driving, cramming a half-stack into the back of a 1998 camaro.... ok, I sort of miss all that stuff too, lol.

I’ve thought about having me and the other person I write/record songs with, putting on a live stream show on Facebook or similar. It isn’t the same but you could put on a show and people could watch that same show and nobody has to even leave their living room.

The pros you listed come 100% from performing.

The cons come mostly from a lifestyle.

We quit drinking last year so these days we play a gig, have ton of fun and we're back at home in about an hour after we play the last note.

The gigs and partying can go together, but they really don't have to. We figured out we enjoyed one while being tired of the other and it's fine.

That said, live streams are great, we did one a few months ago that ended up getting over 1000 views. That's better than the average audience and we did not even leave the house. We'll be doing another soon.

[newholland]

happy birthday a coupla days late!

yeah.. 47 here.. ain't so bad. what you trade in full bore you hopefully gain in stability and non-stupid.. these things i appreciate

[Sasquatch]

i joined HC around late 2003/early 2004. good times. actually learned how to maximize the tone of my amps. the speed with which that forum moved was like crack. you'd make a thread, refresh 20 seconds later and it would be at the bottom of the page.

Dude, in the easier days, every Friday, the wife and I would settle into our little hobbies. She'd scrap book with a glass of wine and I was trolling/contributing on the HC forums with my favorite drink.

That was before the dark times, before Jive and kids (in the voice of Obi Wan Kenobi)

Kids are awesome but yeah, they take every bit of energy you have and then some. I “retired” from live music about 3 a go to concentrate on family. I just write and record these days. I just embrace it bc if I try to put even 1/4th the amount of time into music as I used to, I will blow a gasket.

I’m trying to embrace it, because life is basically forcing the issue. But man, there are times when I really miss live performing. Like, a lot.

oh yeah. I loved it. I miss having a few hundred people show up to hear us play all original music, how I never had to buy a drink, feeling and bouncing the energy from the stage to the crowd, being able to get any girls we wanted from the crowd to get on stage with us, walking out of the venue with decent money in my pocket. the energy and the comradery among the band is what I miss the most.

don’t miss getting home after daybreak, spending 3 hours setting up, passing out in my own urine in the bathroom mid-song and being woken back up and dragged back on stage during the same song, pissing my pants on stage, falling asleep while driving, cramming a half-stack into the back of a 1998 camaro.... ok, I sort of miss all that stuff too, lol.

I’ve thought about having me and the other person I write/record songs with, putting on a live stream show on Facebook or similar. It isn’t the same but you could put on a show and people could watch that same show and nobody has to even leave their living room.

The pros you listed come 100% from performing.

The cons come mostly from a lifestyle.

We quit drinking last year so these days we play a gig, have ton of fun and we're back at home in about an hour after we play the last note.

The gigs and partying can go together, but they really don't have to. We figured out we enjoyed one while being tired of the other and it's fine.

That said, live streams are great, we did one a few months ago that ended up getting over 1000 views. That's better than the average audience and we did not even leave the house. We'll be doing another soon.

100%

most of the over-the-top partying occurred during the earlier days of playing shows where i used it as a crutch to overcome anxiety and to lose inhibitions so as to be the consummate "rock star" on stage. after some number of shows you start getting comfortable and for me i would only have 2 or 3 beers, just enough to loosen up. still, every now and then it would hit me and i'd want to just get ripped AF. eventually i quit drinking all together.

right now i'm happy just writing/recording/teaching kids music. i plan on doing live streams or live recordings in the very near future but am probably another 15 months or so out from that. also plan on getting back out into the live scene, playing instrumental jazz/bossa nova in the local restaurant circuit. free food, make money for gear and have those 7-9 hours for muh dadLyfe.