It is the dream of every aspiring musician to blow up to the mainstream. Every up and coming musician hopes that their works or songs gets to the right audience. First you get into a band, enjoy the friendship, and play with famous musicians. Things appear to be improving. But soon you’re playing the same places over and over again, caught in a rut. Consoling yourself, you think that real success is not far off and has already surpassed many of your contemporaries. Then, a crucial member leaves, causing the group’s cohesiveness to fall apart.
The surviving members, left on their own, consider simpler ways to make a living. Without a band, you pass the time indulging in vices and hoping that more seasoned performers will beckon you. When you reach out, independent bands are all you get back. You know your enthusiasm will diminish and it will take years for them to get to the level of your last band. Rejecting offers with grace when none are extended to you.
Your day job prospers in the midst of all of this. You’re getting a raise, a big one. All of a sudden, you’re able to picture yourself paying for your auto payments and renting a place of your own, free of roommates. You tell yourself that this is only a short diversion. You will eventually find music again in your life.
But it’s fate that steps in through your employment. You meet a woman and begin to feel something for her. She doesn’t have any interest in your artistic endeavors and doesn’t know you from before. Her goals tend to center around starting a family, which is something you also want.
After a few years, you find yourself married and with kids. That chapter feels so far away, even though you still consider yourself a musician. Every now and again a band you used to play live graces the airwaves. When you tell your kids stories from your past, they react with sighs of frustration and rolling of their eyes, thinking you’re just another boring parent. Their instruments sit in their beds collecting dust; they don’t try to be the next Jimmy Page or some other icon. Their aspirations revolve around creating the upcoming revolutionary video game in a separate universe.
Go back fifteen years. You find up in a small studio apartment with your kids every other weekend after your marriage implodes. Loneliness and boredom creep into your daily life. Then, out of the blue, you receive an email from your old drummer inviting you to a get-together jam session in his man cave with your old bandmates. You agree, intrigued. You get a familiar exhilaration while the music plays. You agree to meet once a week, with a scheduled performance at the end. You feel that your career is past its prime, yet you are excited about the prospect. You gladly accept the compromise of covers being added to the repertoire in order to satisfy venue demands. You’re following your passion and accepting life’s constant change, after all.