So I heard from another band, a Skynyrd tribute band. I told them I liked Skynyrd okay, but I'm not crazy enough about them to want to join a tribute band. If I'm gonna play, I need more variety and stuff. But I thanked them for the note and wished them luck in their search.
The band with the 12 videos and nine of them I'd never even heard of the songs, they followed up with another list of tunes (at my request) and they're mostly different, but still in the same vein. Trower, Clapton, Doors, and it occurred to me that this is a band of all guys, because no way a girl's singing those songs. Plus, other than The Doors, a lot of their songs don't even have keys. ZZ Top, Cream. The videos were all from three years ago and they don't do any of those songs anymore. They have a different lineup now; it was really just to give me an idea. In other words, we don't have the hot babe singer any more. So I told them hey I'm sorry but I'm gonna pull out of this. I used those words because it amused me. But I thanked them and wished them luck in their search.
But this other band, the one with a song list that's kinda cool, I'm still gonna jam with them next Tuesday. The leader is a woman named Carol who is the same age as me (56) but looks like she keeps in shape. Once we got serious and exchanged song lists via email, I had her last name, so I stalked her out on Facebook and checked her out. I'm still planning on going to her house to jam with three other dudes (guitar, bass, drums) so this could be cool. She picked "Don't Stop" by Fleetwood Mac, "Born to be Wild", "Margaritaville", and "Come Sail Away". She told me to pick two songs from her list to be my "showcase" for them.
SidebarI think it's amusing how, throughout all of this, neither I nor any of the bands/persons I've communicated with have used the word "audition". We've talked about getting together to jam, see if we have any chemistry, see if it's a good fit, but never used the "A" word. And now that I think about it, I'm the only one who's really talked about chemistry and fit; they're just looking for a keyboard player, and I'm musically promiscuous.
End SidebarSo anyway, I picked "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey because I learned it recently and want to play it, and "Never Been Any Reason" by Head East. Synth and B-3 all up in that bitch. I would've picked "Come Sail Away" as one of my showcase tunes, but Carol had already picked it, because she wants to see what I can do with it anyway. I hope she's prepared to have her britches blown off, in a not necessarily gentle fashion.
So two bands still on the hook right now. I'm jamming with Carol and her band next Tuesday, and this other band still wants me to get back to them. I'd told them already that the holidays get pretty crazy for me, but if they're okay waiting until after new year's, maybe we can do something then. The guy got back to me and asked if Jan 7 worked. It's a Monday. Oh yeah, this is the band that practices Thursdays, which I thought ruled them out, but they're willing to do a Monday night. Fuck. They're like 45 minutes south of me, the opposite direction from work from my house. I'd be driving over an hour to get there after work on a Monday night. I'll give him credit: he's pushing, but not quite pushing too hard. It just confirms my theory that I'm in control here. I don't need them; they want me, or at least want to check me out.
I find this whole process to be very enlightening, and entertaining. Win-win.