Maybe I need to explain more of the history...

First off, I'm the only one doing this full time...

Secondly, it was the guys in the band who informed me 3-4 years ago that they didn't want to travel to various existing clients anymore because it was too far away for them. I had a choice to either walk away from the account and find some way to replace the revenue or negotiate a new rate for a solo act. I also warned them that if they left certain gigs, word would spread what I could do on my own and were they prepared for that? They said yes...word got out how I sounded on own and pretty soon clubs just wanted me back...not the band because of the financial savings but also due to the fact that I held the same sized crowd.

I begged the guys to rehearse, but they would not. They felt we were plenty good enough to hit charts cold and play the tunes just fine. We tried it that way but the new stuff we put in sounded a lot like what we'd taken out. For two years I tried different ways of communicating new tunes. Sending out sheet music, audio files for reference, etc. without any success. It bothered me more and more...I asked them for ideas. They said if its not broken why fix it?

Diki-Out of almost a dozen former band accounts...One...ONE...hasn't kept me. Because they want a band. If I hired 3 people who could barely play, they'd have kept me.

They had every opportunity over the last few years to work with me on quality. They basically refused to across the board. They showed up, played the same tunes we usually did, got their money and left. They either didn't notice or didn't care the crowds at most clubs were slowly dying off. If we'd been able to rehearse a few times a month, it could've made the difference.

They are welcome to stay together, replace me and continue making music. Problem is they've already tried this but no one seems to want to hire them. There was a night last August where I couldn't be there and they hired a replacement. I tried to help them organize the night so it would be a success. I was told "don't worry about it, we'll be fine." So I backed off. Within 72 hours after the gig I'd had 3 phone calls from clients and one from the club complaining.

They'd told me it went just fine...

I think it has to do with pride, professionalism and quality. I work my ass off to keep my shows fresh, with new tunes on a constant basis, etc. While they're all great guys, they're not that motivated or organised to put together a new project.

The client who insists on using band btw, told one of my former bandmates they had no interest in using them unless I was involved.

If they took it as seriously as I do, worked as hard as I have and were as critical of themselves as I am-then I'm sure they could put together a terrific project and work on a regular basis.