This past Saturday night, I played my last show (for hopefully a very long time) to a handful of family and friends at the State Theatre in St. Petersburg.
I've been in bands for well over ten years now – The Gita (1998 – 2003), Auditorium (2003 – 2008) – plying heartfelt acoustic ballads and experimental noise in my spare time. A lot of energy (physical, psychological, spiritual, etc.) goes into keeping a band together and Saturday night served as a clear reminder of why I'm putting this piece of my life down for a while.
For a decade I've performed at least twice a month (sometimes a few times a week); released 9 (or so) CDs; scheduled weekly rehearsals; produced and designed the band's recordings, merchandise and promotions; scheduled tours of the Southeast (including a 2003 showcase at South by Southwest); worried about playing too much; worried about playing too little; dealt with club owners; dealt with other bands' egos (which are always suprisingly bigger than your own) and searched high and low for the right manager or agent so that I would no longer have to deal with club owners or bands with egos larger than my own. Eventually, it takes a toll.
Hear Auditorium's Last Show in it's Entirety!
This article appears in Dec 3-9, 2008.