JW - 4/13/12

The song list has been pared down to focus on creating a smoothly flowing four set list with a few "string break" and cushion songs in case we're running short. Some of the songs cut will be back later for variety's sake.

So the plan for this practice was to work on the first two sets, plus a few other songs here and there, and whaddaya know, that's what we did! The first set (mostly easy songs we haven't played for a while) seemed a little ragged, but after we took a break, the second set reminded me how good this band could be once we file off some rough edges. Keith and I were doing a better job of giving each other vocal room, as I decided to back off worrying about vocals and focused on my playing, singing where I could. He appeared to be doing more or less the same, and it worked.

I went in with something of a different attitude this time, thinking of myself more as a hired gun than a band member. The irony is that the result was much more what I had in mind in the first place. I think the lesson here is to shelve my own ego, focus on making the instrumental groove work, and the vocal opportunities will come.

I'm really looking forward to next week, when we play the third and fourth sets, which include most of our strongest material.