Who has kids that are in a band or have been?

Similar early experience to some posters here with an unpredictable ending. Daughter played classical piano starting at 6yo. Stayed serious throughout elementary and high school including national competitions, but in mid-teens started writing pop songs. Applied to a dozen classical college programs and one college pop program. She chose pop because she had a vision the wife and I didn’t see…and now she plays keyboards for many of the top pop acts, including 2 years/149 shows on the Taylor Swift Eras Tour. And yes, a beer and screaming for your kid performing in front of 75,000 people never gets old. It also amuses me that she does not share the same audiophile listening passion I have, though she has some cool equipment.

Making a recording is meaningless unless somehow your music is good enough to entertain people in a live setting, and your band better be ready to deliver live. The only way to beat the odds is to work your buns off on a hot live show. Then you have a slightly better chance to make some money, although that's still extremely unlikely unless you're VERY lucky. Are you ready to live in a van for years? No family, no money, eventually not so much fun. That said,  I know a woman that had a minor career for years in the "coffeehouse" scene until a recording accidentally got noticed by an established country star...put her on the map in Nashville and she crafts country hits galore for other people and can pack 'em in at her own shows. Do that! heh... Thought I'd end on an up note.

Hi, I’m Norm, I too was a “Band Dad.”

Group therapy, huh? (see what I did there?).

My son, a multiinstrumental musician - percussion, drums, bass/guitar, vibes, piano, ukulele now (more portable) put together a band and several sound projects at our house (it’s where the bands practice around the DRUMMER) when he was in high school about 15 years ago.

I worked for a music store (roadie, tech) while in HS myself (bands you probably never heard of like ELP, Spooky Tooth, Genesis, Humble Pie, Jimmy Buffet - we used to call him Boo-FAY back then - and many others would borrow gear for shows) and always liked being around live music.

I caught the “I’m going to support these guys fully” bug early, invested in a garage full of JBL sound gear, Crown amps, 32 channel mixer and for most of his HS years would haul half the band and gear (in a box trailer) around DC, Baltimore, VA, PA and back to dance parties, competitions, recording gigs and had the time of my life.

One guitarist, really nice Guatemalan kid, honoring his mom, went into Seminary, another into coffee house business and jazz club performances (with several CD’s) in Nashville, Bass player had some YUGE following on fakebook then YT and I don’t know where he is now, singer does videos for things like RIVIAN and other companies, spent a month on Easter Island making a documentary and lives in LA; keyboard guy moved to NYC “to the big time” and wound up in jail where he may still be SFAIK for some kind of theft (we don’t talk about Miguel around the house), my son went to college (BA, MS) and is involved in environmentalist issues with an NGO in DC managing the urban forest planting and planning around construction and such and plays at his house only, keeps a drum kit here he plays on weekends.

All told, they cut ONE demo CD, a video, and everyone went their way after HS.

I sold all the gear for about 50 cents on the dollar… wouldn’t change a thing if I had it to do all over again. Definitely worth the price of admission.

Good commercial pop song. The drummer playing open handed puts him into a fairly select group.

The ability to make money out of original music is in inverse proportion to its democratisation and, unfortunately that's only going to get worse with Ai.

But music is just like any other art form - you had better do it because you love it rather than to make an income from it, so kudos to any parent that supports their children's ambitions.

@normb Interesting history. Thanks for sharing.

Being a band dad was a life style for a number of years. It was fun, for sure.