Then we flirted with Gail and she came all the way up from Irvine to play uke and sing with us and I invited Marla who could really always play the piano. And thus we went on for a while and did some open mics and ate Chinese food over and over a my house. We did a pancake breakfast and the guy with the beard acted as if he was dropping out, so I recruited a guitar player, a dad in the scout troop that we did the pancake breakfast for, and a lady I met in a class who I thought was a mandolin player- it turned out she mostly played fiddle. And it turned out that Marla played fiddle as well. And then Gail dropped out because it was too far to commute and the guy in the band she was interested in wasn't going to have his way with her. So here we are kinda going forward with a couple of more people, if they show up.
Basic rules for keeping a band going:
1. Tell them they are wonderful every chance you get.
2. Let them think they are calling the shots.
3. Make it democratic and they all get votes, even though some of them don't even bother to vote.
4. Tell them they are brilliant every chance you get.
5. Tell them how much they are needed.
6. Give them a place to perform.
7. Get gigs.
8. Tell them they are god's gift to music every chance you get.
9. Be patient.
10. Pretend they are all competent musicians, even though they aren't a lot of the time.
11. Be happily surprised when they actually show up.
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