Roll Call for Musicians!

[Silverwing]

What instrument(s) do you play?

How long have you been playing?

What kind of music do you like to play?

Do you have any adjacent interests you care to share? (I.e. You're a foley artist, collect boutique studio gear, modular synths, DIY guitar pedals and amps, etc?)

 

[captpat]

Bb Trumpet and sometimes Flugelhorn

Just started again in October after a 20-year absence

Currently playing in a community band

 

[Silverwing]

I started playing drums really young, about 7 y/o. I moved on to guitar at about 12-13, and I'm 33 now so I've been playing guitar about 20 years. I play piano, banjo and bass guitar as well and I enjoy singing, but I'm definitely most accomplished at playing guitar.

I like to play really extreme metal, but I also really enjoy playing classic rock and blues. I probably spend more time playing blues than anything else. I was actually born in the town that gave the Allman Brother's song "Statesboro Blues" its namesake. Blind Willie McTell, a Statesboro native, originally wrote the song. The story goes that the Allman Brother's supposedly decided to cover it while sitting in a jail cell in our humble little town. Based on my own interactions with the SPD, I'm inclined to believe that. In fact, I have written it into a song I play on Banjo, or on guitar in an open tuning and it goes, "The SPD is much obliged, though its ways ain't justified, when it comes to what it done to all my kin."

I've been writing songs for as long as I've been playing, it's really the reason I learned to play music. I wanted to write songs. I build and repair amps and pedals in my spare time. I know my way around fuzz, distortion and overdrive pedals really well but I'm still branching out into bucket brigade delay and time based stuff like chorus and phase. I enjoy recording music as well, particularly guitars, and I've gotten decent at it over the years, but I would really like the chance to work with more studiio gear than I've gotten to. I think I could learn a lot that way.

I've never done anything you'd recognize, but I've won a few "battle of the bands" type things for songwriters. I never had the patience for promoting and dealing with finding shows and all that, so I've not done as much as I probably should have, but I've loved every minute of making music and working on gear.

Anyway, that's my story!

 

[Silverwing]

Bb Trumpet and sometimes Flugelhorn

Just started again in October after a 20-year absence

Currently playing in a community band

My first instrument that I had classical training on was Bb trumpet. I was awful at it. I had the worst embouchure in the class, probably, and a really atrociously horrible band teacher as well. She clearly thought she should be doing something besides teaching middle schoolers to play Jingle Bells. Unfortunately, no one else agreed and so she inadvertently became very adept at teaching middle schoolers to hate band instead.

 

[mikethompson]

Picked up an acoustic guitar a few years ago and fiddled with it for a while. I learnt to pluck Happy Birthday for my wife's birthday one year.

I haven't played in a while though

 

[jttnk]

Drummer. Self taught, never had the discipline to build chops or be as technically proficient as I could be. Never played in a band until I was 40 (started at 13). Now, the good news is, I have good feel and steady timing. My bandmates like that I do my part and don’t go off the rails. I play in a rock, funk, blues, eclectic band. We do covers and mash ups and don’t try to just do the song copy, but put a little twist on it.
sixfingeredmanband on YouTube.

 

[warren]

Some members think we are all pipers.

Dobro and guitar are my instruments of choice. I also have a chanter but, am a long way from actually getting a set of "war pipes" to play. Looooong way.

 

[wilblee]

Guitar and keyboards. I started both in ‘68. Last thing I was in was a band my son and I started. He passed last year and I haven’t been in a band nor played a session since then. You can hear us on Spotify/Apple Music/Pandora as Lady Zion and the Babylon Boys.

 

[Servant King]

I'm for the most part retired, but my main instrument was keyboards, which I started playing at an early age. I had a whole vintage keyboard setup back when I lived in LA; Hammond B3 (chop), Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzer, Clavinet, and I had free borrowing rights to my friend's digital mellotron (which stayed in tune far better than any OG model). Never had the dough to plop down on a minimoog to truly complete the collection, but Keith Emerson-esque soloing was never my forte--I was way more into rhythmic padding (think Tony Kaye, the original keyboardist of Yes). My secondary instruments were flute, bass, rhythm guitar and, in a pinch (and with enough booze in my bloodstream), novice level drums, chiefly picked up in my 20s. Most of that is all in the past now, but I do enjoy strumming an acoustic guitar from time to time.

I played all kinds of music, from rock to folk to blues to ambient, but now that I'm retired, 90% of what I listen to is in the ambient genre; Steve Roach, Phillip Wilkerson, Andrew Lahiff, and Thom Brennan, just to name a few. Immersion in this genre is perhaps the only adjacent interest remaining. The other 10% is mostly jazz (and within that, mostly Miles Davis!), and some assorted other randomness, but very little "rock" music anymore. The only rock bands I ever really listen to anymore are Guided By Voices and The Bevis Frond.

Perhaps one can understand why I've always referred to myself as a geriatric millennial...

 

[Cracklin' Tobaccy]

I studied music in college, majored in music theory and brass instruments. After college I taught myself bass and guitar. I've played in a few bands on bass. Mostly my work has been on bettering my guitar playing. These days I like to find and learn old songs generally from before the 1960's. My chops are respectably decent but off the beaten path and definitely not pro level. That being said, sometimes the kids want me to show them how I do something when I'm messing around at the guitar shop.

 

[jerry]

My main instrument is ukulele, and I mostly play Tin Pan Alley type tunes. I also play lap dulcimer, autoharp, recorder, and acoustic guitar. Been playing since the late 60’s. Lately, I’ve been playing around with modular synthesis, and composing weird music with GarageBand.

 

[Flatfish]

Played trumpet in primary school. Also had piano lessons for years.
Despite my parents investment in piano lessons, my current musical ability is that I can play about three cords on a ukulele. Not really a good return.

 

[ofafeather]

Music teacher here. Woodwind major. Sax, flute and clarinet. (As a music teacher I play all sorts of stuff) Main focus is jazz but love and play all sorts of stuff. Most recently acquired a bass sax. Lots of fun.

 

[Kobold]

What instrument(s) do you play?

How long have you been playing?

What kind of music do you like to play?

Do you have any adjacent interests you care to share? (I.e. You're a foley artist, collect boutique studio gear, modular synths, DIY guitar pedals and amps, etc?)

Guitar- electric and acoustic

Playing for about 30 years but I’ve always gone in spurts where I play a lot and then a stop for a while.

I used to play metal in a band but what usually comes out when I don’t try too hard is poppier fuzzed out stuff like Grandaddy or the Pixies. Lately I play shoegaze stuff because I like the reverb to cover my mistakes haha.

 

[kcghost]

I can't even play the radio worth a damn.

 

[Silverwing]

Guitar- electric and acoustic

Playing for about 30 years but I’ve always gone in spurts where I play a lot and then a stop for a while.

I used to play metal in a band but what usually comes out when I don’t try too hard is poppier fuzzed out stuff like Grandaddy or the Pixies. Lately I play shoegaze stuff because I like the reverb to cover my mistakes haha.

Haha, yeah I play some shoegaze too. I have to laugh at myself a bit when I look through the presets in my reverb pedal.

 

[DesertDan]

Bass guitar - 47 years. Started playing it at 13 and I made all or a significant part of my living from it up until my late 20's and continued to play and perform throughout my life. I have played a mix of genres over the years but primarily rock and jazz.
For the last decade or so I have focused on original and improvisational music. I do miss the stage from time to time, but I no longer have any interest in performing for an audience.
I have made some sort of musical noise for as long as I can remember. I played piano and took several years of classical piano lessons as a kid, played trumpet up through middle school and double bass in high school orchestra.

 

[Sigmund]

Guitar...started young. I really dont play much now. I played all kinds of music and studdied Jazz for a while.

Saxophone Started mid life. Not any good. I got into gear too much but it payed for my retirement as I now make my own line of handmade saxophone mouthpieces and sell them worldwide.

 

[newbroom]

My first instrument was the harmonica. My uncle Joe gave me a Honer 64 when I was 10. I learned to play a song that was on the instruction sheet inside the case. The song was; "Old Black Joe". I experimented with diatonic's soon after. Marine Band 8 holers, typically in the key of C. I play guitar for myself daily. Make up some songs, record them on my computer. No great ambition to become the next Clapton. I enjoy all types of music, but my favorites are folk rock, blues, some jazz, and who can say they are not affected by classical? My only foray into rap was when I first heard Tone Loc doing "Funky Cold Medina". I found that song to be addictive and funny too. Also, I like big butts.

 

[ThomasS]

Started Alto Saxophone in 1985, had private lessons and all. Played at church for a while, but I haven't played in years.