Warner Hodges says you can bet the person who serves you coffee is a better guitarist than anyone you have ever heard of. When he was playing with Dan Baird, he said, "Hell, I'm the second best guitarist in THIS band." Last night, I was watching some ACM country music thing on TV because I wanted to see what Brandi Carlisle sang. And holy shit...I see a dude I met at rehab, playing keyboards for Tim McGraw. He plays piano at the church service there every Sunday. Dude is INSANELY talented but has to have another job to support his desire to play when he can get a chance.
A songwriter I know from Nashville named Amy Black told me that she was supposed to play a benefit but her slot got moved so she couldn't do it. She said, "I still had the pay the guitarist who learned my songs." So, she has a gig, sends her music to a guitarist she has never met so he can play with her on a 30 minute set. Apparently, that is a benefit for a guitarist to have time to learn the stuff. A lot of the time, the dude just shows up.