Originally Posted by: KasperowThat's probably true. I don't really know those two guys you mention, but I'll check them out on YouTube tomorrow.

I'm not quite sure what you mean by "punk leanings", since I don't exactly listen to punk, so I don't know what to look out for there.

I must admit, though, when I first started playing a year ago, I thought it would take at least half a decade to get to where I am today. My rate of progress is better than I had even hoped it would be :)

What I meant was do they have strong punk influences. I was just curious what kind of music they are playing.

DiMeola and Gambale are worth checking out. Both played in bands led by Chick Corea. DiMeola plays a lot of flemenco acoustic and world music now, but back in the 70's and 80's he ripped it up with a Les Paul in a Marshall stack cranked to 10! He was part of the jazz/fusion movement in the 70's as a solo artist and with Return to Forever. Part of his signature sound is he palm mutes super fast runs - really cool. Gambale did a stint in Chick Corea's Elektric Band in the 80's and 90's. He also has some solo stuff. His weapon of choice is an Ibanez, just like Joe Satriani. This was jazz fusion too, but with more of an 80's style. They both did instructional videos which you might find on youtube. If you are interested, I can give you the titles of albums I think feature their best playing.

Approaching this like a job is a good idea. Nothing wrong with making some contacts at the gig. Your band probably senses that the fit isn't perfect and will expect some of this.

Keep up the good work - it sounds like you've come a good ways in a year. I think once you start gigging you'll find your playing continuing to advance.

I wish there were places around here that did jam nights and stuff. The closest thing I've seen are open mic nights for singer/songwriter type stuff. I'll stick to the basement for now :-). With 3 kids, I don't have time for a band anyway...but I can dream.