@Bierbasstard I have some bootlegs of theirs a friend gave me years ago. I will need to listen to them again. I have many of their original albums, including their first

@Bierbasstard I agree, it has been years since I heard the bootlegs, I need to find those. Original albums also always sound better

@Bierbasstard Thanks. Brought back memories of one of my favorite bands my brother and l had. We mainly did and still do mostly originals, but we always sprinkle in a few covers.

@Bierbasstard We have plenty of venues in Central Texas, but we have way too many bands.

@Bierbasstard Around Austin you have every age group playing, but a band playing 80's stuff is rare. Even the younger guys tend to go for r&b, blues, and r&b influenced rock. There are bands like us that do a little of everything. My brother writes in different styles. We do r&b, country, rock, reggae, whatever he writes, and we pick our cover stuff to fit us. When we do cover tunes, we do it the way we would do it if we wrote it. We believe it is better to do a good version of the way you would do it opposed to a nearly good or bad version of the original. We do a reggae version of Twist and Shout, and people love it.

@Bierbasstard Exactly. I play for me essentially. I want to play music the way l feel it not the way Ringo or Steve Gadd or hover played it. The audience doesn't listen to it like we do. They just want to hear some music. I have this belief that the audience doesn't always know when they are listening to a band that isn't very good, but they do know when they hear a band that is good.

@Bierbasstard Never overestimate the musical knowledge of your audience. I hope you get to play. I'm 70 and still love it. In some ways l think l am playing better than ever. I don't have the speed but l think l think better and listen better. To me the most important thing you can do when you are playing is really listen to each other. I can hear when a band does that and l can hear when they don't.

@Bierbasstard Exactly. Dynamics are important also. We like to exaggerate our dynamics. Think Count Basie if you are familiar with his band. Bring the verses down so you have some place to go when you need to give it more punch in the chorus or bridge.

@Sticks48 I love that part in a song when every member of the group gets to do a little bit of their own thing too!

@SukiSue I had never heard it until one of our guys in a band we had just put together brought it up. My brother would ask audiences if they new who did and they never did.

@Bierbasstard Yes, it is good for your soul, if we have one.☺ It will help you stay and feel a little younger than your friends.