Hi Scott,

It's interesting that you say this. A couple of weeks ago I was scheduled to play for a street party, which was organised fairly last-minute. The party was on a Sunday. On the Friday I get a call letting me know that a guitarist and drummer were also joining in. I didn't know who they were, but I quickly realised they were amateurs.

I had already agreed to a vocalist I hadn't heard before (never mind rehearsed with), but this was too far! I called up the organiser, and he told me to stop being such a pain, and 'just make it work'!. In the end, I didn't give in (because I've experience with these kind of arrangements, and I'ld rather keep a professional standard), so he told me he'ld get a different keyboardist, because everyone wanted a 'band'.

On the Sunday I turned up just to see whether I was right in my judgement. First off, the keyboardist could hardly play, the drummer was ok but not audible. The vocalist really saved the day, and it wasn't too bad overall (ie from a non-musical perspective), but believe me, the guitarist hadn't the slightest idea what he was doing! He was literally playing something completely different and inappropriate to the music. It sounded more like a beginner experimenting with some scales or something.

Anyway was I glad that I stuck to my guns, because although the atmosphere was great, I really don't think I would have been able to actually play with these people (I get very stressed when the music isn't perfect).

You say, "'no matter what', you keep going, and don't let unexpected glitches throw you".

That's true, but for me that's very hard, and until I can do that, I rather opt out of playing with somebody who I think will throw me off. One needs to be relaxed when performing, and if you have the option, I think it's better not to have distractions in the first place.

Seeing as you manage to keep your cool in such circumstances (although your guitarist wasn't THAT bad), maybe you could give us some tips on how to do that:-)

Also, do you think I was right to insist on playing solo?

Zalman