We got together as a full band for the first time since our drummer (John Bennett) went into the hospital/rehab center/nursing home/hospice home. The last time we got together to play was in June of 2005, and that time we got together without Bill, our lead guitarist. At the time, John was, we thought, on the road to recovery. His chemotherapy seemed to be working, shrinking the nodes in his lungs, and though he had some neuropathy in his legs and was having some difficulty walking, he played for probably two sets of maybe 45 minutes to an hour each. We were certainly planning on moving ahead with our little project. Our plans were never too grandiose - we simply wanted to play music, and if we ever played out, it was a bonus.

In July of 2005, John went into the hospital, and he never came home. It always felt like he'd be back at some point, and we certainly weren't going to "replace" him while he was recovering. At some point, however, it became obvious to us, and to John, that even when he recovered, he would never play drums again. Still, it sort of felt odd to ask another drummer to come in.

We still haven't asked another drummer. Mike, our bass player, was a drummer first, before he learned to play bass, and he preferred to move over to drums. I still have John's drums in my basement, it's a wonderful Ludwig set that is basically the same, except for color, as Ringo Starr's set. Last Sunday, Mike played drums.

Our rhythm player, Steve, moved over to bass. He's playing bass guitar in a Christian rock band called Joshua's Choice, and he has the chops to play the instrument. Steve was also our second lead vocalist, sharing those duties in about a 50/50 ratio with yours truly.

Bill was there as our lead player, and I covered a lot more rhythm guitar, while still playing keyboards on a bunch of songs and singing lead and backing vocals.

It went well, for the most part, but though Mike is a competent drummer, he is nowhere near as rock solid as John was. Sometimes it seemed John had a built in metronome in his head. His tempo was as steady as any drummer I've ever played with. And he never came in late on a fill or from a break. He wasn't flashy, heck, some times *I'm* a flashier drummer than he is (I was probably better with my bass drum foot) but he was the backbone of a lot of pretty decent bands, including three or four that we were in together.

Eventually his drums will go to his daughter, when she decides to make the effort to come get them. I'd love to buy them from her. But she wants them because they were her dad's prized possession. (That's the main reason I'd love to have them.) Until she calls me and sets up a time to take possession of them, I have them in my makeshift studio in the basement.

I think we need one more member. We need either a solid bass player, or a really good second guitarist. Steve wasn't the best at playing leads, but he is/was a good rhythm player with an excellent sense of how these tunes go. I can't carry the vocals, second guitar AND keyboards. So we'll see what happens.

Till next time...