Originally Posted By: bobcflatpicker
About 10-12 years ago I started buying software and hardware to set up my home studio but my wife gave me so much grief every time I picked up the guitar that I just gave up on it. We divorced a few years later, but after a job loss I just gave up on playing because of some pretty severe depression.


Given that situation, a wife giving me grief because of my passion, the wife would go LONG before the music would.

Originally Posted By: bobcflatpicker
I’d like to get back into playing music and writing songs, but I probably won’t do that because of the continuing depression and other health issues. No health insurance means no treatment or medication for either.


Let me offer another perspective. If life has thrown you those curveballs, maybe music can be used as a way to get you OUT of the depression. Writing music is the best therapy ever. It's like how bloggers get online and vent, but with a beat and a chord structure. Remember, you are allowed to write for YOU. Tell your stories in song even if you are the only one to hear them. If your handle truly intimates that you can play good bluegrass flatpicking, music needs you. Not that many guys can do that well.

You CAN do this, Bob. Real Band is a GREAT tool. Mechanics that learn to use their tools well do the best work. A mechanic is a technician. As is a musician.

For 2015, write us a song about your ex wife, be it how she made you feel, or how you felt when you were free of her. Sad, happy, dancing like Snoopy doing his happy dance.... however you felt. Express that in song. It is better than any therapy you will ever get from a shrink. You have to leave that baggage on the platform at some point. Songwriting is a great way to do that. Remember my mantra, songs are just stories set to music. Tell us your stories.