Originally Posted by: fretsmithBravo Rich! Great job. Whatever nerve demons you may have been fighting sure didn't show. Really nice playing, it's clear you are the glue that binds that project. Best thread in the forum - keep it coming :)

Thanks!!! :-) That means a lot...

Nerve demons have been defeated surprisingly enough. We'll see if they resurface as we play for larger audiences in different settings. I need to keep that in check because I also don't want to become complacent in my playing and it becomes routine...I can see how that can happen.

As far as me being the glue...we all play our role in the band. For instance, the guitar player next to me keeps us moving forward off the stage. We'll rehearse a song, he'll say "we all good???, OK, now what??? Nobody?...I suggest this....". Without him driving it that way, we had a tendency to flounder and it would get frustrating. He also happens to be a talented player! Getting him on board was like the missing piece to the puzzle.

However, on stage I seem to be the one that needs to sometimes drive things and keep them moving and on track. The example that jumped out at me was "Start Me Up" where I went around trying to figure out what was going on and brought us to and end...otherwise we'd probably still be playing it! I forgot that happned and it was interesting to me to watch.

As we move into our next phase, I'll probably create another thread. I'm humbled that there continues to be interest in my endeavors. This open mic performance is definitely the close of a chapter, leading right into another one.