1, 2, 3, 4, should I add just one more?

Had a gig Saturday night. It went OK by my standards. Actually, a little to the low end of the OK side. Missed a few chord changes, muffed a harmony or two. Had one good moment there for about 20 seconds when I hit that feeling like you're not really playing, you're watching your fingers move but you're not controlling them. Sort of an "out of body" experience? Maybe that's a bit too melodramatic. But all in all, a sub par night. But you'll have to excuse me one bad night, I did have to learn 21 songs in about 10 days with one practice backing up a singer that I met an hour before the gig. Oh yea, and did I mention that this is my 4th band?

See, up until now, I bet you thought "The Guitarman" was some mighty honor I had bestowed upon myself, not knowing if I was a guy who sat around in my underwear strumming some beat up hand-me-down with 5 strings, or indeed a true lunatic who can't seem to find enough things to clog up his time with, touring the dredges of northern Illinois every other weekend in some vain attempt to achieve musical notoriety. Of the latter I am guilty, to the point of insanity.

Stayin' Late, my main band if you will (and I only concede that because we have been together the longest...6, 7 years?), gets regular gigs, we have a blast playing, we make decent money, we all get along, no egos, no expectations, we just mesh together well. I wanted to play out more, ergo make more money, so I joined a great bunch of guys in Axe. We are tight, have a great guitar player Ron, and again have a lot of fun. One Friday morning I get a call from a bar owner desperate for a band for the next night. Stayin' Late guys are busy, Axe didn't have enough tunes yet, so 3 phone calls later, Mule Train was born. Without a practice, we jammed hard and rocked the joint full of bikers at a birthday party. Bar owner loved us, and the band lives on. And finally, a good friend offered me a chance to be a part of a new band that is up and coming, and hopes to make a big splash on the bigger stages. Great lead singer, solid group of musicians, Sinners and Saints has a chance to really take off.

But, running diatribe on my life aside, I beg the question to you, the loyal reader. Am I insane? I mean, as a guitar player and a singer, I believe a lifetimes pursuit of becoming an entertainer should be more than just a hobby. If I can make a few bucks to actually call it a second "job", does it justify all the lugging of equipment, the weekend nights out 'til 1 or 2, driving to hell and gone for a gig? But 4 bands? It really isn't as bad as it sounds, though. Stayin' Late might practice before a gig. Mule Train will play its second gig this week without having a practice yet. Axe has, for the most part, got it's set list down and needn't go every week. Sinner and Saints is new and I need to put the time in until we get tighter. So it's not like I am out every day of the week. But I really need to know. Am I insane? I mean really, am I?