Originally Posted by: maggiorYou packin' this stuff in a van :-). Are you sure you don't need more picks? ;-)

Kidding aside, I like to over-prepare as well. I pack an extension chord, an extra guitar cord, extra batteries for my audio recorder. When somebody says "crap, I forgot my chord" I got 'em covered.

I've made plenty of riffs and solos "my own". In another forum, I posted a recording I made of "China Grove" by the Doobie Brothers. When I was learning this song for the band, I ran out of time to learn the entire solo, so I "faked" the last phrase. The rest I have down note for note. My faked part fits and it's easy for me to play. I challenged people listening to the recording to identify a part that I "made my own". Nobody did, so I say mission accomplished! I did the same thing with "Hard to Handle"...nobody can tell.

As long as you capture the spirit of the original part, nobody will even notice. Unless you want to learn it for your own personal satisfaction, there's no reason not to fake it if you find that easier to do.

Good luck tomorrow night...don't let the nerves get to you, it's all fun. Be chilled and relaxed and don't expect miracles.[/QUOTE]
Nah, I think I have enough picks. I couldn't be bothered to take a few out of my pick-bowl, so I just bring all of them. At least I won't run out, and even if that happens, I have a few old credit cards and other such plastic cards lying around, waiting to be turned into picks :)

Thanks, man. I'll try and relax. It's usually a lot easier when we get started. The problem is playing that first riff to get it started, which is why I've made it part of my start-up routine to actually noodle around with my amp on while warming up my fingers. Works well enough to break the nerves down and get some music going.

[QUOTE=Steve Barrow]Hey Kasperow - I'll fly over if you need a roadie! But seriously, best of luck with the practice tomorrow - sounds like you've got the start of a good setlist there. Yours, Steve

Is that an offer? If so, I'll try and keep it in mind once we go to the States :) Seriously, though, thank you for the encouragement. I think we have some great songs already, at least for starters. Eventually, they'll be replaced with original songs, but right now, we just need some songs to rehearse. We don't even know for sure if this is gonna be the start of the next huge thing or not. But, I'm pretty positive about this.