How to find relevance as an older musician?

[colder]

Originally Posted by KevWind

Getting older has pluses and minuses, one big plus for me is no longer being concerned with being "relevant" . I just play what I like and thus I like what play. One thing all audiences relate well to, is if the performance feels "authentic" which in my opinion is always relevant

Right... that's the best policy.

If music is an organic thing the only relevancy needed is that of the engagement of the audience who's around on a given night. Being relevant to them is a realistic and admirable goal.

There's probably no 'making it' at an old age, just as there's probably no 'making it' at a young age either, if you consider that making the big time and being famous and such. It's not an age thing.

This would probably be like dreaming of becoming a movie star. Sure, some people do make it, but very very few, and it's as much down to your luck and looks as it is your talent.

It's certainly possible to 'make it' into the life of a typical full time musician - that being trying to cobble together a living through bar gigs, teaching lessons, playing styles you don't care for, playing in cover bands, asking people for tips, trying to find any work as a sideman, and generally doing whatever someone might pay for in this era where most people think music should be free.

[1Charlie]

I am 61, and still write a lot of new material to express myself musically.

There is so much going on in the world today that is relevant to people of all ages. The key is to find words, rhythm and melody that express what a lot of people are feeling, without being preachy.

I do play a good mix of covers I like as well. Audiences like to hear songs they know.

[Methos1979]

This is an interesting thought. At 56/57 my wife and I are relatively new to this game (playing out with our acoustic duo) and in getting there we discovered a few things about ourselves and the general community of players and listeners:

- First, getting gigs was difficult. There's a ton of people doing in it, some great, some good, some not-so-much, across all age types. Everyone's playing the same covers on the same circuit. The young people just starting out have a ton of energy and are willing to play anywhere and devote incredible amounts of time and energy to building their following. We don't have that energy.

- Another problem for us is we don't have 'the look'. You can be an 'old rocker/musician' but it seems to help if you have the long hair, funky clothes and look like you've slept in your car for most of your life, including last night. We're an average everyday looking middle-aged white couple. We don't look 'cool'. So when people see us playing I think the thought by many is, 'Oh great, another old white couple that decided they want to be rock stars...' and we're dismissed as such. We seem to get this attitude even more so from our fellow performers who have 'paid their dues' by choosing to live a life of having nothing but their art. But because we worked hard, raised our kids and sent them to college and have a 401k we're somehow less than they are. I don't judge them for their life choices so I'm annoyed they judge us for ours.

- We very quickly came to realize that the late night, 3-hour, 3-set Pub/Bar grind was not for us. Playing loud venues where we're just background noise that no one is listening to anyway was just not for us. So we shifted our focus to shorter, 2-hour or less shows at places like coffee shops, brunch spots, farmer's markets and art shows and similar types of places. This has been much more fun and re-invigorated us.

- We play covers of songs WE love. This runs the gamut from songs we grew up with to songs that are just great classics regardless of whether they were written 60 years ago or last week. There are artists whose material we are drawn to but we try to have something for everyone but in the end for the most part it has to be a song WE like to play. While we certainly play many of the classics (along with just about everyone else) we also get a kick out of playing great songs that no one else plays, long forgotten one hit wonders. It's always great to see someone's face light up and start singing along. It's even better when people come up to you after the fact and say, "OMG - I LOVE that song. I haven't heard that in forever."

- That said, we are quickly tiring of just playing covers. We love the music but we want to at least take a stab at being an all-original band so our plan is to take the winter months off and write our butts off and see how it goes. Come spring we'll keep the current cover duo thing going for the places we are regulars at but we'll also rebrand (new name) for an all-original act and start the no-doubt slow process of trying to build a following and see how far it goes. The thought of being good enough to go into a place and play for an hour and a half to a quiet, captive audience is probably our biggest desire.

Right from the beginning when my wife and I started this I said to her that I'd be happy if we only ever played in our living room just for ourselves and that's still true. Everything after that is gravy. We don't need the money, thankfully, so we do it because we love it and we'll continue to do it until we no longer can, even if it's just in our living room for ourselves.

[Laughingboy68]

I’m in my 50s. My setlist can contain everything from songbook standards that are decades older than I am, to modern pop songs with everything between. Genre-wise it ranges from jazz to folk to rock to funk to pop to grunge. For me, if I hear a song and I love it - I try to work up an arrangement that works for me.

I think where one runs into trouble is when you try to play music you don’t care about. If you try to play something new because you think it’s expected, it might not come off well.

I like to follow up The Inkspots with MGMT or Radiohead with a little Stevie Wonder and Jason Isbell thrown in and finish up with Johnny Cash or David Bowie. If you’re committed the audience will buy in.

YMMV.

[6L6]

After 55 years of playing, now (at 73) my performing is reduced to two Open Mics/wk and the very occasional paid solo gig.

You know what? I'm loving every minute of the O/M's! I do strictly covers and really enjoy the weekly get togethers with fellow musicians.

BTW, the majority of folks who play at my Open Mics are on Medicare. Face it folks, learning to play the guitar is something sought out by my generation and we're the most prevalent players out there.

One place I play when I'm in town is a club frequented by young locals in their 20's and 30's. I'm here to tell you that despite my very gray hair the young'uns really enjoy the tunes of Neil Young, Buddy Holly, Simon & Garfunkle, Beach Boys, James Taylor, John Denver, Buffalo Springfield, etc. There's a reason those artists sold millions of records and it carries over to the younger generation very well indeed.

If you want to stay vertical I suggest you grab that guitar and hit every O/M you can find. A moving target is always harder to hit...

[dwasifar]

Originally Posted by Methos1979

This is an interesting thought. At 56/57 my wife and I are relatively new to this game (playing out with our acoustic duo) ...

Man, I wish I could do this with my wife.

She was identified as having musical talent when she was a kid, and offered free piano lessons, but because her family was poor and couldn't afford an instrument, she never developed it. I think she could play guitar, because she has a good ear and tough, strong fingers, but she doesn't want to try.

I guess I understand it. She never learned to coordinate her hands in the way an instrument demands. (Slow typist, too, and I think that's the same kind of skill.) So her role is just to be my pet critic when I'm working on a song, and the push that keeps me interested in playing out.

[Glennwillow]

I don't have any illusions of becoming a rock star at age 71, but I would like to keep my hand in making music on a regular basis. I do that by making videos for my YouTube channel. I have a few originals on my channel, but mostly I am doing covers of songs I like and songs my subscribers ask me to consider doing.

Is my music relevant? I guess... at least to the people subscribing to my channel. I think most of my subscribers watch my videos because they are interested to see how I play songs they'd like to play. I also have a fair number of "how-to-play" videos on my channel, and those videos receive, by far, the most number of views.

So, I think my channel is somewhat relevant to people who like the music I am playing and who want to learn how to play it. I think I am providing some benefit to people, though in the scheme of things in this universe, my efforts have a pretty small impact. Still, a person reaches out to others one person at a time.

- Glenn

[Kitkatjoe]

Play your music and forget about the age thing. If your good people will want to hear you.🤗

[davidbeinct]

Originally Posted by Rudy4

I dunno. This "older" gentleman seems to have found the audience agreeable with that formula.

https://youtu.be/V4WGsMplGxU

Lol that’s exactly who I thought of! Of course he’s covering Brittany Spears who is practically ancient by pop music standards.

[lodi_55]

I love to play, either at home or at one of my gigs. Excited to be playing an event at the Ritz Carlton near my house tonight. I don't feel that a solo spanish guitarist "needs" to be a certain age.

[roylor4]

Originally Posted by mercy

I dont get the op's question but I love classic rock. I have dismissed that as a possibility as I am 73. An old guy rocking out is a funny image. So I play fingerstyle. Somehow that makes sense.

Keith Richards would disagree , but then again, he is a funny image in any setting.

[roylor4]

Originally Posted by Methos1979

This is an interesting thought. At 56/57 my wife and I are relatively new to this game (playing out with our acoustic duo) and in getting there we discovered a few things about ourselves and the general community of players and listeners:

- First, getting gigs was difficult. There's a ton of people doing in it, some great, some good, some not-so-much, across all age types. Everyone's playing the same covers on the same circuit. The young people just starting out have a ton of energy and are willing to play anywhere and devote incredible amounts of time and energy to building their following. We don't have that energy.

- Another problem for us is we don't have 'the look'. You can be an 'old rocker/musician' but it seems to help if you have the long hair, funky clothes and look like you've slept in your car for most of your life, including last night. We're an average everyday looking middle-aged white couple. We don't look 'cool'. So when people see us playing I think the thought by many is, 'Oh great, another old white couple that decided they want to be rock stars...' and we're dismissed as such. We seem to get this attitude even more so from our fellow performers who have 'paid their dues' by choosing to live a life of having nothing but their art. But because we worked hard, raised our kids and sent them to college and have a 401k we're somehow less than they are. I don't judge them for their life choices so I'm annoyed they judge us for ours.

- We very quickly came to realize that the late night, 3-hour, 3-set Pub/Bar grind was not for us. Playing loud venues where we're just background noise that no one is listening to anyway was just not for us. So we shifted our focus to shorter, 2-hour or less shows at places like coffee shops, brunch spots, farmer's markets and art shows and similar types of places. This has been much more fun and re-invigorated us.

- We play covers of songs WE love. This runs the gamut from songs we grew up with to songs that are just great classics regardless of whether they were written 60 years ago or last week. There are artists whose material we are drawn to but we try to have something for everyone but in the end for the most part it has to be a song WE like to play. While we certainly play many of the classics (along with just about everyone else) we also get a kick out of playing great songs that no one else plays, long forgotten one hit wonders. It's always great to see someone's face light up and start singing along. It's even better when people come up to you after the fact and say, "OMG - I LOVE that song. I haven't heard that in forever."

- That said, we are quickly tiring of just playing covers. We love the music but we want to at least take a stab at being an all-original band so our plan is to take the winter months off and write our butts off and see how it goes. Come spring we'll keep the current cover duo thing going for the places we are regulars at but we'll also rebrand (new name) for an all-original act and start the no-doubt slow process of trying to build a following and see how far it goes. The thought of being good enough to go into a place and play for an hour and a half to a quiet, captive audience is probably our biggest desire.

Right from the beginning when my wife and I started this I said to her that I'd be happy if we only ever played in our living room just for ourselves and that's still true. Everything after that is gravy. We don't need the money, thankfully, so we do it because we love it and we'll continue to do it until we no longer can, even if it's just in our living room for ourselves.

I don't have the "It" factor either, but I'm not going to let it stop me. Short, heavy-set and mostly bald sporting a Hawaiian shirt ain't gonna win me any cool contests, but like you, I have achieved things in other areas of life.

I joked at our last bar gig that we were working hard to make it small-time in show biz. It got a chuckle.

It's my wife and I also. Don't let judgy people bug you - the worlds full of arm-chair critics. Keep on keepin' on, brother.

[AuntieDiluvian]

Well, as a proud member of the "has-been/almost-was" club, I just simply play whatever and wherever people show up to see live entertainment. That means that I do a lot of musical theater, festivals, and an occasional club gig.

The club scene is effectively dead now, with there being no middle ground in pay. The bigger venues will pay the charge for a name touring group and sell tickets, but then pay next to nothing for the local acts that play the nights in between. Meanwhile, the smaller local venues have largely gone away from live entertainment entirely, or perhaps an open mic night (read: no pay) once a week. This leaves no place in the middle for up-and-coming performers to get a start and build their audience.

I guess the real question is this: How can you create or find an audience that sees enough value in your performance to put you into a good venue?

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by AuntieDiluvian

Well, as a proud member of the "has-been/almost-was" club, I just simply play whatever and wherever people show up to see live entertainment. That means that I do a lot of musical theater, festivals, and an occasional club gig.

The club scene is effectively dead now, with there being no middle ground in pay. The bigger venues will pay the charge for a name touring group and sell tickets, but then pay next to nothing for the local acts that play the nights in between. Meanwhile, the smaller local venues have largely gone away from live entertainment entirely, or perhaps an open mic night (read: no pay) once a week. This leaves no place in the middle for up-and-coming performers to get a start and build their audience.

I guess the real question is this: How can you create or find an audience that sees enough value in your performance to put you into a good venue?

This is a very good question for younger performers, in particular. You might start a new thread on just this question.

By the way, I don't know the answer to your question. YouTube is one avenue, but you are going to be a needle in a haystack there. Another answer is to go (that is, pick up and move to) where the action is, where there are venues that pay for up and coming musicians.

No matter how you go about pursuing success making music, it's going to be a tough road. For myself, I opted to become an engineer and make music on the side. I did do some pro-level touring for a while in my late 30s, early 40s, but decided it was not my ideal life, so I went back to full time engineering.

- Glenn

[Nama Ensou]

Just keep gigging and playing as if it really matters. We'll only be here so long and life is too short to phone in performances.