What a Difference 10 Years Make

In college, I was at the top of my musical game - I was a sought-after bass player - jazz groups, orchestras, big bands, country groups and rock bands wanted me to play with them. It's not vanity - it was a limited pool of musicians (each of which could play many musical styles) combined with the particular venues those musical groups performed in. When I was in college, I was in gigging heaven.

I was so much in demand that during my junior year, I was playing in so many groups, that I developed carpal tunnel syndrome in both wrists and tennis elbow in one arm. The resulting physical therapy was excruciatingly painful, and I was forced to re-assess how many bands I was physically able to perform in. Thinking about how to pay my rent bills, I prioritized my gigs on how much money I could make. A few of the "hardcore" jazz musicians took offense at my attempt at fiscal responsibility, giving me jabs like, "I guess you don't like to play {music}" and "I guess the music doesn't matter to you anymore." There musicians, however, did not play in as many groups as I did, nor did they suffer from the physical maladies my enthusiastic efforts rewarded me with. Read: while painfully trying to pick up my bass bow or trying to work my way through a chart in my college music classes, my peers told me I turned down their gig offer because I was a "snob". Jerks.

More than ten years later, I've been tempted to catch up with some of the musicians who actually treated me with the respect I gave them, as well as some of those who snubbed me once I was unable to accomodate their "gigging" wishes. My search for my old compadres has, so far, been odd...

Many of the brass instrument players, guitarists, drummers, woodwind players and others who I played with in college - most of which told me I was a jerk for not playing in their band while I was undergoing physical therapy - are now underpaid teachers, playing in punk bands, or have pursued "civilian" jobs, like acountancy for the Boeing Company. The funniest thing about this is that those "hardcore" musicians who "dissed" me back then aren't returning my e-mail attempts to simply say "Hi" and see how they are doing these days. What a difference 10 years make...