We are now 2 weeks away from our final performance. We have our parts down for all 4 songs we are doing, we just need to solidify the song structure. I came up with a solo for Heard it Through the Grapevine that mimics the horn section from the original recording a bit. I may tweak it a little bit because it's a bit repetitive. It's a good starting point. For Long Train Running, I'm throwing in some nice long expressive bends to mimic the harmonica solo. Right up my alley!!

I seem to have dodged bass playing duties. Given the situation we are in, it only made sense. Our instructor is a good bass player, so he's more than capable and is willing.

For HITTGV, our instructor has us do this cool breakdown thing at the end where everybody but the drums and bass drop out and each band member is introduced and takes a solo. After that, we all come back in, build up a crescendo and end it. A lot of fun.

So the drummer and I have started recruiting band members to keep things rolling. The other guitar player doesn't seem to be committed since he's not practicing his parts and showed up 1/2 hour late last night with no real explanation. Not cool! When it is just the drummer and I playing, or the two of us and our instructor, it's really good and tight. When others get involved, it drags down and falls apart. So between the two of us, I think we have a good foundation to build on since we gell musically, share a common work ethic, and like to keep things organized. We have a lot of common ground in our taste in music too.

Bass players are hard to find unfortunately. To make this a reality, I may have to share bass duty with another guitar player. If it means the difference between having a band or not, it's worthwhile IMO. I won't mind when the other player is capable and the quality of the music isn't being sacrificed.

We have some nibbles, so perhaps by the middle to end of summer we'll be able to do a ~15 song set at a free "music in the park" type of event. One step at a time.

Next week we are practicing at somebody's house. The following week we will have a practice session with our teacher the day before the performance.

Till next time...