This is been brewing for a while now, and as of last week I resigned and left the band Ovrevolt. This was a real hard decision for me. The energy and adreniline associated with the band was intense, and I will surely miss the excitement of live performances. At my ripe old age, I can honestly say, no band has been as much fun to play with. The reasons I left were just building up and I knew it was time to part. Things like dynamics were not utilized and it was always over the top loud. Loud is ok, with when you sacrifice balance and drown out other instruments and vocals are lost, it is not a good thing. I felt pressured when we didn't have gigs on the books, so I took on all the responsability of making sure the band had gigs myself. This caused a great deal of stress on me as well. I felt like a 100 pound weight had been lifted from my back when I left, knowing I would not have to deal with club owners anymore, and getting rejected because we didn't do covers. I was tired of the headache of what original bands go through trying to get decent gigs. I'm proud of the fact we opened for REO last year, however those gigs come around once in a life time.
Now its time to move on. I was thinking of getting into a cover band, one that has gigs on the books, and has a decent track record of bookings. I plan on taking some time off to think, and reflect. Wife and I are heading down to the PanHandle this Friday. Kind of a R&R time for us. When I get back I'll start a new search, but at 60, I don't see too much hope for me getting into a situation I wil like. I'm not ready to switch to a cocktail kit and do Polka music. I still like to hit em hard, and play with feeling, and rock down. But most of the good bands are looking for younger drummers, lets face it.
I'm not going to beat myself over it, I guess I'll just see whats out there when return. Leaving a band it almost like getting divorced.
