Reminding Me Why I'm Here

[iahawk36]

Like many people here, the past couple years hit me hard, as I'm sure it did many. I lost my job in early 2020, and got lost in a depression for quite a while. Guitars sat in their cases for months, and then years...mostly forgotten as I tried to figure out what was next. Once I came out the other side, I still had no desire to touch a guitar for whatever reason. Fast forward to about 6 months ago, I got a message from my good friend Tim that he was coming stateside from down under. He was going to be in Nashville the weekend before Halloween, and wanted to know if I'd like to join him and a few other fine members here. I came up with a lot of reasons why it wouldn't work, or why I wouldn't be able to....but my wife pushed me to go, as she knew I would enjoy myself and seeing friends I hadn't seen since 2019 would mean a lot to me.

Friday afternoon I flew to Nashville, and was picked up by @crgtr @11top and @markie and the moment I saw their smiling faces pulling up to get me, I knew I had made the right decision! I was smiling from ear-to-ear the moment I hopped in the van, and didn't stop until long after I got home yesterday. Tim joined us Friday night, and we spent the weekend oogling guitars, going to the G*bson Garage, Rumbleseat Music, and then seeing a band called "Skank Banger" Saturday night. I laughed harder with these four guys than I've laughed in a long time, and great memories were once again made. If you've never had the opportunity to hear Timmy Fuggin Walls wail out some lyrics of your favorite hair metal bands in the back of a van on the way back from a Skank Banger show, you haven't lived!

I met all of these guys through the previous version of this forum, and these guys mean the world to me. It soothed my soul to see them all in person again, share laughs, raise our glasses to our friend @Boogie and make more memories. I'm still working through picking up and enjoying guitars again, but I'll get there. I was having so much fun, I didn't take a single picture this weekend....so hopefully one or more of them will share. The memories will last forever and I'm glad I'm part of this forum, and I'm infinitely thankful for the friendships I've made along the way. I'm so glad I'm here.

 

[JasonE]

A lot of your story really hits home with me, up to the point of your trip. I have not had anything like that pull me out yet. I am still trying to figure out how to have fun with music. I start something but quickly lose the desire to do it. I am hoping to find a way to make it work. I am really close to selling a bunch of stuff off because I just don't have the desire to use it anymore.

 

[bodia]

Love that post. Glad you took time to share. Really shines the light on what a great place this is.

Also, Skank Banger....Ben Eller is one of the guitarists in that band. He's a great follow on Insta, and post some really good tutorial videos on YouTube.

 

[dmatthews]

Gotta love it, nicely done!

 

[WEDGE]

Good to see you back, stay positive. Nothing is ever as bad as it seems…

 

[Kiwi]

This is a real community, in real life as well as online. Thanks for the report and I'm glad you're back among us!

=K

 

[iahawk36]

Love that post. Glad you took time to share. Really shines the light on what a great place this is.

Also, Skank Banger....Ben Eller is one of the guitarists in that band. He's a great follow on Insta, and post some really good tutorial videos on YouTube.

He was out of town Saturday, but Andy Wood is the other guitar player in the band and he is killer as well. It was a fantastic show!!

 

[iahawk36]

A lot of your story really hits home with me, up to the point of your trip. I have not had anything like that pull me out yet. I am still trying to figure out how to have fun with music. I start something but quickly lose the desire to do it. I am hoping to find a way to make it work. I am really close to selling a bunch of stuff off because I just don't have the desire to use it anymore.

JasonE - man, I know exactly what you mean. It is SO hard to overcome and honestly, I'm still not there. My only advice....don't give up, it WILL come back, and it WILL get better. Take a break when you need it, find someone who inspires you and watch them....read the article Dave Weiner recently put up about this exact same thing....he is STILL going through it, and his transparency about the struggle really spoke to me. Hang in there brother!

 

[Texas_minor_blues]

Like many people here, the past couple years hit me hard, as I'm sure it did many. I lost my job in early 2020, and got lost in a depression for quite a while. Guitars sat in their cases for months, and then years...mostly forgotten as I tried to figure out what was next. Once I came out the other side, I still had no desire to touch a guitar for whatever reason. Fast forward to about 6 months ago, I got a message from my good friend Tim that he was coming stateside from down under. He was going to be in Nashville the weekend before Halloween, and wanted to know if I'd like to join him and a few other fine members here. I came up with a lot of reasons why it wouldn't work, or why I wouldn't be able to....but my wife pushed me to go, as she knew I would enjoy myself and seeing friends I hadn't seen since 2019 would mean a lot to me.

Friday afternoon I flew to Nashville, and was picked up by @crgtr @11top and @markie and the moment I saw their smiling faces pulling up to get me, I knew I had made the right decision! I was smiling from ear-to-ear the moment I hopped in the van, and didn't stop until long after I got home yesterday. Tim joined us Friday night, and we spent the weekend oogling guitars, going to the G*bson Garage, Rumbleseat Music, and then seeing a band called "Skank Banger" Saturday night. I laughed harder with these four guys than I've laughed in a long time, and great memories were once again made. If you've never had the opportunity to hear Timmy Fuggin Walls wail out some lyrics of your favorite hair metal bands in the back of a van on the way back from a Skank Banger show, you haven't lived!

I met all of these guys through the previous version of this forum, and these guys mean the world to me. It soothed my soul to see them all in person again, share laughs, raise our glasses to our friend @Boogie and make more memories. I'm still working through picking up and enjoying guitars again, but I'll get there. I was having so much fun, I didn't take a single picture this weekend....so hopefully one or more of them will share. The memories will last forever and I'm glad I'm part of this forum, and I'm infinitely thankful for the friendships I've made along the way. I'm so glad I'm here.

Seriously thank you for this post, as others have said this post hit home for me too. I have really been trying to enjoy my guitars again and just have fun playing but it has been an uphill battle. I wish you the best in finding that joy again just know you are not alone and like @WEDGE said its never as bad as it seems

 

[sergiodeblanc]

Hey buddy! Always a pleasure to hear from you.

Yeah, I still haven’t got much juice back either. This is the longest I’ve gone without being in a band or doing something productive with music.

 

[RickP]

The world’s been a different place in the the 21st Century version of the “Roarin’ 20s” for certain. My last band also ended in ‘20 and besides a smattering of jams and pickup gigs, it’s been pretty barren band-wise. Having a guitar available has been a constant lift in an otherwise low tide for everyone, as has visiting with the good folks here. I’m thankful for both. I feel blessed, and life is good, even when it could be better. We all know it can be worse!

 

[Wyzard]

Having a guitar available has been a constant lift in an otherwise low tide for everyone...

So very true.

 

[veinbuster]

In my best Aussie accent: Good on ya mate!

 

[Mike Duncan]

Wonderful story! So good to hear!

 

[JasonE]

JasonE - man, I know exactly what you mean. It is SO hard to overcome and honestly, I'm still not there. My only advice....don't give up, it WILL come back, and it WILL get better. Take a break when you need it, find someone who inspires you and watch them....read the article Dave Weiner recently put up about this exact same thing....he is STILL going through it, and his transparency about the struggle really spoke to me. Hang in there brother!

I still have a mostly positive attitude. I get a little motivation but it doesn't stay with me. I know I need to get back to playing as much as possible. I know how much of a stress relief it is from going through something similar many years ago. When I started back up, I couldn't believe how much it relieved my stress and couldn't even remember how I fell off with it.

I have been considering a few things to try to get me moving again. I have been thinking of signing up for some sort of a class or something where I would have assigned homework that I would have to do like create a recording in a particular mode or something. It would be good to work through a structured program.

I have also thought about trying to find a composing group that I could try to get involved in that may give me a spark to get creative and put some things down.

At this point in my life, I really feel like I may be done with gigging since I don't really like staying up that late on the weekend when I work a day job during the week. I used to get about as much work as I wanted between playing and running sound. I enjoy both but feel like that may all be behind me. I am hoping to be able to use my playing and mixing skills to explore the recording part of creating things. I have done some mixes for other people in the past as well and have a lot of live mixing experience. I need to find a way to get it to stick and keep me motivated.

 

[WA Paul]

Sounds like a great time! Spending time with good folks and listening to good music is good for the soul!

 

[nac]

Well done Gents! Sounds like a good time was had by all.

 

[László]

There are times I wonder why I play guitar. But then I remember:

I play guitar because I was put on earth to be somewhat noisy and irritating. Of course, that's also why I'm here on the forum. Everyone needs someone to put on Ignore.

I went to law school before I got into the music biz. This fairly intensive training in maximizing my Irritation Quotient (I.Q.) paid off in many lovely ways.

That isn't to say I lack other uniquely unpleasant qualities that others are well within their rights to complain about. I'm multitalented!

So IA Hawk, every time you think life gets sh!tty, just remember that there are people put on this earth to specifically to make your life look utterly magical in comparison!

You can always say to yourself, "Things may be bad, but at least I'm not Les."

[insert thumbs-up emoji].

 

[Kiwi]

To all and sundry here:

It really matters to me, and to all of us, that you know that you can unpack and unload your personal situations here in our kind, funny little space.

Because we're ALL carrying loads of various sizes. We all do.

But we know that to share is to lessen the load. We're here to pick it up and help you walk a bit further.

Carry on. Love is coming. Love is coming to us all ...

=K

 

[Jo-]

A lot of your story really hits home with me, up to the point of your trip. I have not had anything like that pull me out yet. I am still trying to figure out how to have fun with music. I start something but quickly lose the desire to do it. I am hoping to find a way to make it work. I am really close to selling a bunch of stuff off because I just don't have the desire to use it anymore.

This is also the same case for me. I pick up a guitar and play it for a few minutes and I feel like I've forgotten how to play. Moving to Connecticut from Maryland 12 years ago has also helped isolate me from the PRS lovin' peeps and I don't know anyone up here, so I am not around anyone who plays. Hopefully something will come along to drag us out of the rut we get in. Meanwhile, I still enjoy looking at all the guitar porn.