Would they have made it?

[MrNylon]

I wasn't saying they weren't a great band, but my ears don't like Plant's high pitched, whiny voice.

I understand what you're saying. You may have felt differently if you were around at that time. About 42 years ago now.

[milod]

Chris...

 

There are a lot of alternatives to "making it big" and even those have variations given the individual musician and specifically guitar players.

 

Bob "Notes" Norton and his wife make a decent living playing music. How? First they have the talent and ability and secondly they treat it as a business.

 

I have a number of acquaintances who, even here where the population is very sparse, have made a living at music and raised families from the proceeds. As with Bob, they treated it as a business. In a few places there are studio jobs.

 

Secondly, even more folks see music as a "part time second job." That's in ways more difficult because there's a tendency to treat it as a hobby rather than a side business and let GAS take over the extra cash plus some of the cash from the day job.

 

There even are folks who go into the military and played as all or part of their "jobs."

 

Then there are pure hobbyists who may or may not make money at it, but simply love playing and performing.

 

Finally there are music teachers who see performing as kinda part of who and what they are. I know some of those folks too. E.g., the guy who is a prof at a nearby college also has a solid background as a recording engineer, has his Ph.D., and as an excellent guitarist added a guitar major to the school. He frequently plays in a weekend jazz guitar duo. Matt Sear on this forum is another example.

 

So... There are lots of options. At your age I wouldn't worry about which you might take, 'cuz I still have some of those options open to me and I'm "old."

 

But I think you're correct in that to be "super-big," it's a road few of us would choose. I've known some who quit the search after some major record company albums and lots of touring; I've known others who kept going with a known name but not the big draw, so they made small town county fair appearances because it was their lifestyle.

 

One fact about a forum such as this is that you young guys have the opportunity to see how older folks have handled some choices in their lives. It won't change how "you" look at things entirely, but it does offer some ideas of the challenges or rewards of various options.

 

Frankly I think that the young performers who survive the temptations of the first "big" wave, if they did find fame, are the ones who see it as a business.

 

m

[SG FAN]

I understand what you're saying. You may have felt differently if you were around at that time. About 42 years ago now.

Probably not. Don't like his voice now, wouldn't have liked it then.