You’re almost too old to make it in music…
It was 2007, and I was talking to a booking agent who needed acoustic acts for a local bar. He asked how old I was.
“I’m in my mid 20s,” I said.
“Better do it now. You are almost too old to make it in music,” he replied.
His statement haunted me for the rest of my 20s.
I was one month away from 30 birthday when I left teaching to dedicate 100% of my professional time to music.
I turn 32 years old today, and my birthday remains a marker of how long I’ve been driving around the state, and parts of the country, with an acoustic guitar in the passenger seat.
That agent’s statement doesn’t haunt me anymore. No one gets to tell you that your age will prevent you completely from success, especially when it comes to music.
It’s not that age doesn’t change the decisions we make. When I’m 64, I won’t be carrying around the 72 lb Fender Vibroking amp or the 51 lb Mackie PA I currently use. But that doesn’t mean a 64-year-old can’t make different decisions and play music.
I believe this is a new Renaissance for music, an era where the teen sensations of pop music are outnumbered by the more niches of musical styles floating around Bandcamp; an era where more people are teaching themselves to play an instrument, probably with Youtube videos; an era where more musicians are getting in their cars and sharing their songs to small audiences across the country.
Plus, those who have aged, those with experience of marriage, heartache, and loss, have more to say about love and life than 17-year-old.
Age is just a number. “Making it” is an abstract idea. And music is wonderfully all around us. Let’s blow out some candles together, and keep making that wish.
Birthday tip: If you are in Ann Arbor, go to Zingerman's Roadhouse and get a free birthday donut! It's the best, made to order donut you will ever taste.
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