I think there's a difference between an audition for a gig, and an audition for a band.

I won't play an audition night for a club... My demo package and word of mouth in my small area is sufficient, and if it isn't, you can be assured it's simply the club trying to get something for nothing. If they have that attitude BEFORE you work for them, you can be assured they will have that attitude once you start!

But I WILL audition for a band, either at rehearsal, or I'll sit in for a set on a gig, but ONLY if it's someone I REALLY want to play with The rest of the time, well, I only get the call if they are after me, anyway!

But, most of the time, I LOVE to go out jamming, and have probably played at one time or another with most of the musicians in my local area, so I'm known for being able to get up at a moment's notice and do my best to make what I play 'fit in' with whoever else is playing. I jam every opportunity I get... I sometimes think my greatest musical pleasure is playing songs I don't know, on gear I don't know (if they have a rig to play on!), with guys I don't know...

Nothing else forces you to be on your toes as much, to be in the moment, as it were. So, I approach an audition with a band as just another opportunity to jam, and one with maybe a paycheck at the end of it! But after all these years of jamming, sadly, there are hardly any players left that don't know me well enough (in my little area) to actually need an audition. Hell, it's hard enough to even get some of them to a rehearsal, these days!