New Years Eve Jam

We decided to get together on New Year's Eve and have a potluck dinner party and jam session with the band and aikido folks. This seemed like a fun way to ring in the New Year, as the last dinner party/jam session last January is what prompted the formation of the band, which was definitely among the highlights of 2011.

We figured that we'd play our two sets as a trio (with me on bass), then if anyone else was there who played, we could jam to our heart's content. It turned out that the other folks who play couldn't make it, so we played two sets, then settled in to eat, drink, and be merry, while watching the New Year's coverage on TV.

Darling Wife had never seen us play as a band - she was at all the pre-band jam sessions, but wasn't at any of the parties we played. She said she was impressed at how much better we'd gotten, and that we sound pretty tight. So it was a fun night.

Gear-wise, I had my bass and bass amp - and also brought the Telecaster and the new Bugera amp. I brought the guitar in case we had enough people to jam (which we didn't), and I brought the new amp to show the guys (who were suitably impressed.)

We've also talked recently about personnel. I'm happy to play bass occasionally, or as a fill-in, but I want to play guitar. If we don't have a bass player, then we need to find one. And I think we have some options. I guess it's also a matter of our goals as a band. If we want to be a real gigging band, then we should find a wiz lead guitarist, and I'll be happy to play bass. But if (as I think) we want to be serious, but not too serious, and have fun rehearsing and play occasionally for parties of our friends, then I want to play guitar. So we'll see how things develop.

Either way, I'm happy to be playing, and hope to do as much as possible in 2012.