Or Brown Eyed Ho...

Playing in a band can be a very good thing, or not.
 
Pro: nothing's better for keeping your chops up than the motivation of a live audience.
Con: it takes away your weekends that you probably now spend recording
 
Pro: your singing voice will strengthen, even if you're just doing backup
Con: you may need a lot of lemon tea to get you through the first few gigs
 
Pro: the camaraderie of a band can remind you how to be social again
Con: your bandmates are almost guaranteed to get on your nerves sometimes
 
Pro: even playing covers can help generate ideas for original music, even Mustang Sally
Con: playing the same songs over and over gets really, really tedious after awhile
 
Pro: you can use this as an excuse to gear up with a new axe or some stompboxes
Con: it could easily cost you more than you earn if you buy a new axe or need a bigger amp
 
Pro: it's good to get out of the house once in awhile
Con: once in awhile you'll wish that getting out meant somewhere other than a bar
 

All valid points.
 
 

So I went to jam with the boys in the band.   Ummmmm...OK?????
 
 
.... for a group that has been together as long as they reportedly have been, there's a bunch of way too loose stuff going on. In one section of a song where there was a unique chord change progression, there were 4 different "interpretations" of it.   Seriously?  I mostly kept my mouth shut and asked the keys and such things..... but....When questioned by me on one occasion, they kinda laughed it off. Not the answer I was hoping to hear. How about maybe go back and work it up and nail it down one way or the other?  But no......
 
Vocal harmonies that were the vocal equivalent in some places in a song of fingernails on the chalkboard. Oh yeah, some of them were good, but others???? ... and running through a song, with obvious mistakes and saying, "that was good" when it really wasn't and then moving on to the next tune.  The set list was standard old top 40 classic and stuff that was kinda hokey but...... they said people loved the songs and I can believe them knowing from my own experiences in bands that the crowd's musical tastes are generally not as discriminating as mine. Gotta keep the paying customers happy...right?
 
I'm seriously thinking I will pass on this group. I hate to say that because they were a really nice bunch of guys..... laid back, got along fine, seemed to enjoy what they were doing.... I might off to fill in for a time until they can find another picker if their existing picker is interested in retiring ASAP. He's had a few strokes and some other medical issues... All that aside, I did have fun picking and jamming with them but I don't think this is something I want to get tied up with for the long term.

So the idyllic positive vibes went sort of out the door, replaced with the reality of the situation and some negative reality.
 
In other words, who really wants to spend the time to make it better?
 
You could record maybe though.
 
 

spacealf
...... the reality of the situation .....In other words, who really wants to spend the time to make it better?
 

 
Well I had actually considered that for a brief fleeting moment.... kinda join up and whip them into shape in some twisted sick sorta fantasy... make a tight band outta them.
 
BUT.....  I figured that would probably not work out too well. After all, they have been playing for a very long time..... as teens and young 20 somethings and then again as adults after raising kids..... and if they are still just slogging through songs any way possible and not really caring about how tight something is, the question becomes, would me joining and trying to work on tightening  up the music really succeed or would I be looked upon as an outsider coming in and causing strife and making demands?   My thoughts tend to go towards the latter. After all, if they are not working on song details like beginnings and endings now....what hope is there that they would easily change and start to do this on their entire set list?  Is it my job or responsibility to get them into shape musically or should they have been working on that 5 years ago? If the band was tight, then yes, I would   be willing to take the time to learn the songs the way they perform them,  but it's not.
 
Am I being too picky? Too strict? Expecting too much?   Perhaps,  but....going back to my own past...when I gigged for fun and profit,  when I played in a house band for 2 and a half years, we took the time to work out every thing in the songs, from start to finish and every tiny detail in between.  Nothing was left to guess work or chance.  We had the room to free style the solo's and we could al-lib in the music but the structure was set. We knew how the song would start, who played the solo's and when and how it was to end.  I got used to that level of performance. It continues now in my recording. I pay attention to details and to jump into a band that doesn't just frosts my whatever.....
 
I have not discussed or even mentioned money with any of the folks in the band. If I was to play again in a band it would be for the music and the camaraderie not the money.
 
So for that reason primarily (tightness of the band, or lack thereof), and some others of a secondary nature..... I think I will pass on joining the band at this time.

I'm in total agreement Guitarhacker. I can't stand being part of something that is substandard. If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right.

Mustang Sally can still be fun. When I have to sing it subbing in my buddies band I do it in pig Latin...plus I morph it into "I'm Big In Japan" by Tom Waits. Both the band and the audience seem to like. Why, I could not say.

I don't know but I think you will regret it if you join. If they were going to ever be a tight band they would be tight by now. I think that is important to you and will bother you when they show no interest in improving, but Inagaddadavida baby...
 
J