I have the opportunity to join a band with a couple of old friends of mine. One is a lead guitarist who, actually, I have been jamming with for a couple years now, but with a different group of guys. The other is a multi-instrumentalist/vocalist with whom I went to high school. He started out as mostly a keyboardist but is a good guitarist and can also play bass, and would in fact probably be handling most of the bass guitar duties if this goes anywhere. Terry (the vocalist's name) actually replaced me in a band I was in, in high school, they kicked me out and hired him.

He's grown a lot as a musician. I've seen him play in cover bands around the area several years ago and I was not surprised to see that he was able to do things on keyboards and vocals that I could only wish I could do. I've grown a lot, musically, since high school, too. I'm a fair vocalist on certain styles. And I too added guitar (and drums) to my list of instruments played. (I consider myself primarily a keyboardist.)

The band would be an '80's cover band. Terry has a female singer who he wants to work with. We still need a drummer, though I have one in mind.

I've never been big on girl singers. Unless they can play an instrument and play it well, or sing 90% of the material, I think they're sort of a waste of a position in the band. The other two issues are that I've been playing with a group of guys for about 7 years now, off and on, and since our drummer passed away, we haven't played together. But I don't know if I want to abandon them. And the other issue is time. It sounds like Terry's very serious about getting this thing off the ground, and that means a time committment that I'm not sure I can make. That may make my decision for me. I am 46 and have two small kids, and a fairly busy dental practice that keeps me hopping and keeps my wife and I both busy 6 days a week on many weeks. Sundays would be the only day available for practices every week, and I cannot commit every Sunday to such a project.

So I'm thinking. Do I even waste my time beyond the initial meeting? Or do I just say, this isn't for me, and go back to doing the once-in-a-blue-moon jam sessions we've been doing?

We're supposed to meet on Thursday evening. Perhaps that will give me the information I need to make a decision. Till then...