I am undergoing a significant reevaluation of my current state with music and my future goals.

I am trying to learn to play some songs that I have always liked but have found too difficult or perhaps even impossible to learn. I have been exploring my underdeveloped ability to sight-read and removing some of my self-imposed limits. This has given me greater confidence that I can learn much more difficult material, but it also brings up the most perplexing question I have always had to deal with.

Now what? Great. I can now play and sing this song to an acceptable level, so what am I going to do with that? I'm sort of all dressed up and have nowhere to go.

Go play in another band? Go play at a church? Go play a gig alone? Go play in the street? Go play in the street in another country? Make another recording that a handful of people will listen to. Make another recording costing a large amount of money and promote it so that a few hundred people will listen to it? Play strictly for myself with no intent for anyone else to hear anything I am playing?
I have no need to earn more money, so the prospect of earning money does not motivate me. I most certainly don't want to become well-known or famous.

I have done all the above things in the past. Some were more rewarding than others.

I can say for sure I am tired of playing/creating music by myself. Finding other people to play with when I lived in Los Angeles, California, was easy. Here in South Florida, finding musicians with the skills and cultural background that match what would be fun for me has been very difficult.

Cheers,


Billy

“Amazing! I’ll be working with Jaco Pastorius, Charlie Parker, Art Tatum, and Buddy Rich, and you’re telling me it’s not that great of a gig?
“Well…” Saint Peter, hesitated, “God’s got this girlfriend who thinks she can sing…”