Let me peep in. A good friend of mine, Kenny Crawford may he rest well, engineered on mostly ep / cd orientated projects in his Pascagoula,MS recording studio. He had played live for many years before I met him, we played for some years after I met him.

He engineered and tracked many a song, playing on many as well, over the 15 years I knew him. He tracked the up and coming 3dd for their debut demo and he still played. Last time I saw him, 2005, we set in the control room listening to some tracks from another up and comer, lookin4juice, he was punching in some licks with his Strat.

I don't know if he gave up after losing everything to Hurricane Katrina or if he could no longer battle mesothelioma.

I told you that to tell you this:
It's not a question you ask a crowd or even yourself. If it is in you, you quit doing it when you cannot physically do it anymore.

Of course you can do both, lots of people hold multiple jobs in music either because they just love doing it or they want the money.