What happened to musicians who stopped playing?

I heard he became an EMT

 

"...assistant crack whore"

 

Peter Garrett - Midnight Oil



Peter Garrett - Politician

 

Bob Mosley of Moby Grape became a Marine.

 

The Vapors:
David Fenton became a solicitor who specialises in music law, frontman Fenton has apparently retired from his days as a music creator and performer to concentrate on legal aspects of the music industry.
Howard Smith now runs People Independent Records in Guildford, the band's home town
Edward Bazalgette became a TV director.

 

Kerry Minnear and David Cross went into teaching.

Derek Shulman went on to become records executive/manager.

Neil Gust of Heatmiser is in the design sphere, but he put out 3 tracks on SoundCloud recently so he obviously plays to a certain extent.

 

Joe Leeway from Thompson Twins became a hypnotherapist:

https://hypnosis.edu/hypnotherapists/joe-leeway/

 

Marty Balin also paints- had a show in a gallery in St Augustine a few months ago. Schmoozed the fatcats to buy his stuff, then picked up an acoustic and did his thing right there in the gallery.

Greg Hawkes (The cars) did some teaching at Berklee in Boston if I recall correctly.

 

I thought he became a paramedic.

 

It kind of blows my mind and makes me a bit ill to know that folks who can play instruments really well just flat out walk away and gave it all up completely. Just chucked it all.

I can see leaving the business for something else, but to just drop it all? Never play your instrument(s) again?

I've never played professionally beyond a several year wedding band gig, and I have taken a few hiatus's from guitar/drums/percussion/keyboard, but for over 40 years I've always came back after a break and enjoyed playing, recording, composing.

I've been digging into my archives lately and listening to tapes I've made as old as over 40 years ago recently and I have a greater appreciation for them now more than ever.

I realize my skills were sorely lacking back then, but I'm enjoying listening to the stuff I recorded back then now more than ever. What I lacked in skills I made up for in passion, in the beginning for example I was using 3 or 4 cheap tape players to bounce and dub when I was dirt poor and couldn't afford a multi track unit. Listening now I'm shocked I pulled off as good of sound as I did. And it's amazing the tapes are still playable.

I'll be making music until I die or my body does not allow me to.

Those that totally threw in the towel, well I guess you lost the passion, what a waste.

So pardon me, but I hear my 1939 Gibson L50 arch top guitar calling me to caress her strings.

 

Right. As I recall the story, for many years in the 80's and 90's, he was researching the latest technology available to better produce and perform music. That technology, ended up having a cross-over application to missile defense for the military.

With the increase threat of terrorism in the 90's and beyond, the military and the CIA, determined that they needed to think outside-the-box, when developing a terrorism strategy, since terrorist tactics are so unconventional. They started consulting with more creative thinkers, like musicians. The combination of Skunk Baxter's technical knowledge and his musical creativity fit perfectly.

I heard him tell a story of an early experience, when he was sent to one of the big defense contractors, to be briefed on the latest project. Now Skunk Baxter is a very recognizable character. Most any fan of '70's rock knows who he is. So when he first walked in to the contractors offices to be briefed, the personnel didn't take him too seriously, and planned on glossing over the outline. ("Skunk Baxter, rock 'n' roll star guitarist from Steely Dan and The Doobie Brothers' is here to discuss the technical details of missile defense... ? Riiiiight!") But once he got into it, they could tell he was for real, and they got down to business.

 

That is so bizarre.

 

Allan Clarke was the lead singer of The Hollies on their big hits and will always be known as the main voice of the group. He and Graham Nash were childhood friends and to this day, both remain very close. They were both present at the 2010 induction to the Rock Hall Of Fame. I remember around 2000 when Clarke retired from the band, the public statement was that he needed to care for his wife who was sick at the time. Some very harsh Hollies fans on the UK fan group claimed the true reason was because Clarke's voice was not up to par. You be the judge. Here is a more recent performance where Clarke joins Graham Nash and David Crosby to perform The Hollies' hit song 'Bus Stop.'

 

The two worst words a musician knows: "day job"

 

My cousin became friends with Arthur Brown while attending university. Not sure what his major was, I believe hers was psychology. I've hung out with Arthur a few times, most recently in Winter 2014. There's a guy who doesn't seem to age. He is working with a new band and apparently still has his house in Austin, but is based out of UK due to his touring schedule.

 

Tony Villanueva, former lead singer of The Derailers left the group about 10 years ago to work in ministry at a small church in Oregon. After touring with big names such as The Mavericks, releasing 2 albums for Sire and working with Dave Alvin, The Derailers made 2 albums for Sony. Upon hearing the news of Villanueva's departure, the group was dropped from Sony. The guitar player Brian continues to tour and record using the name, mostly on a regional level.

 

Here is Tony Villanueva formerly of The Derailers nowadays, playing a spiritual with the worship team at his church.

 

Did anyone mention Sonny Bono...?

"In the 1960s, Sonny Bono achieved massive success as a musician alongside his then-wife Cher. But it wasn't until the 1980s that he decided to enter politics, after getting frustrated by local government bureaucracy when he tried to open a restaurant in Palm Springs, California. He ran for, and was elected, Republican Mayor of Palm Springs. He made it into the United States Congress in 1994, a position he still held when he died in 1998 following a skiing accident."​

 

guy kyser , lead singer of thin white rope (one of the great neglected band of the eighties) went to university
and is now specialist on the Department of Plant Sciences on UCLA

 

Yes, the multi-instrumentalist Greg has also done some workshops and continues to do work for record labels. Very much an in-demand guy.

 

Dennis Keller, lead singer of cult 1960s rock group Fever Tree left the music business for many years. Other members of the group performed under the name Fever Tree on various occasions, but the whereabouts of Keller remained a mystery until he resurfaced with a new band using the monker Fever Tree Rising in 2008. Keller aged well and does justice to the Fever Tree catalog.

 

So, what you are saying is that you would rather her be out doing that song than painting?

 

Wrong. We don't know those words. They never quite make it to the brain intact. You can print them or say them in any font or accent you want, they still will not compute.

 

Brinsley Schwarz is a renowned, top-shelf guitar/amplifier/sound gear repairman in the UK.

 

Clarke was having trouble with his voice going back to the early 1990's.