Relevance. It is a weird word. I play for myself first, because I love it and because I need to. That's about as relevant as I need, really. But I suppose I've also wanted someone else to enjoy my work as well. Now, my career has been in music and audio. I'm a recording engineer/producer and sound designer. I started out my professional career in 1981 as a recording engineer, when a guitarist couldn't get a-
rrested, much less a job. The MIDI explosion had arrive and the music business was in its first big recession. I always looked to find a way to plug-in my guitar playing, though. Somewhere along the line someone discovered that I had studied music composition and said, "Can you come up with a score for my work?" I said, "Yes," hoping I really could and they put me to use creating soundtracks for video and film.
Someone else brought me a song they'd paid a bunch of money to have a composer create and record in Nashville. The arranging, recording, and mixing were a mess. They said, "Can you make it work?" I said, "Yes," hoping I was right. I composed new drum parts, replaced the bass, added guitar parts, added synths, and filled dead spaces with guitar solos. Then I mixed the product with an up-to-date mix. They loved it. More work came. The next thing you know I was a producer, as well as an engineer, as well as a studio musician. Hurrah! They pay me to do this.. They vote with their wallet. I suppose that is marginally relevant. So, those activities are probably my biggest musical outlets these days.
But i still love to play for me.
Bob