I don’t love statements that divide the world into two types of people, but I can’t help but wonder:
Do some people daydream about a music career as a solo artist while others dream of a music career in a band?
Speaking for myself—as a younger person, mainly, plonking away at godawful songs on my family piano—I dreamed of a solo artist life.
Why a solo artist?
Well, there was the fear, of course. The fear of playing music with other people. I don’t know where it came from, given that I played jazz trumpet in high school band, but there it was.
But my early stabs at learning piano (unsuccessful) and my later attempt to learn guitar (more successful!) were marked by a real dread of playing with other people.
So, whenever I daydreamed myself a solo career, it was always just me in the spotlight,
It only occurred to me years later—having (mostly!) ceased such daydreaming—that I might equally have dreamed of being in a band, and—having since attended my share of jam nights—that the fear is something you get over.
Taylor Coe 