I'm trying to learn from this experience. As a soloist, we all fall into little "traps" and they can create big problems if we don't check into reality once in a while.

The idea of playing totaly live music with no electronics is very exciting to me, however -I AM spoiled by the tight rhythm and controlled tone that my machine gives me. Still, there is merit in having a human element to play off of. I want to try and make the best of this, but I don't know if it's really possible. Given the chance to play with live drums or the machine is not the comparison. I prefer live ANY day, as long as it's quality, but the real chalenge in this case is playing with THIS particular drummer instead of the machine. It may prove to be too frustrating, but I'm going to give it a real shot. My vocals are strong, my bass lines are strong ... the third priority is the drums, and if he gets that all together - I can sell it. The vocal harmonies work OK - we do Righeous Bros and Everly Bros tunes just fine. I'll take it week to week, but he IS going to have to set up and use his own PA. My gear is set up as as solo rig. Tough nuggies.