What Say You?

Here's the dilemma - Brady's band, Just Maybe, signed up to audition for a Youth Charity Jam. It was an ambitious move, a decision made after a bit of prompting from me and a bit of "it's a few months off" type reasoning. Well, now it's here - the audition is less than a week away.



There've been several changes. Ben went from lead vocals to bass. Max has come on board as vocalist and keyboardist but has only rehearsed with the band once and doesn't know the music yet. They wrote their own music so there are no cover songs to fall back on. And it's difficult getting 4 non-driving band members together on a regular basis for rehearsals. They've done remarkably well, though.



And now that the audition is just around the corner, they wonder if they've got what it takes to pull this off. Brady asked me to call the organizers to cancel, but the woman I spoke with said, "No no no they can still do this!"


And then, when I opened the morning paper today, there was this on page 2 of the Events section:




Hear Youth Bands
GO.RRSTAR.COM STAFF REPORTS
RAMI 2008 Youth Charity Jam Auditions will be from 7 to 10 p.m. Friday, Feb. 22, at Emmanuel Lutheran Church, 920 Third Ave., Rockford, and the public is invited. Bands will audition for a place at the 2008 Youth Charity Jam, which will be March 28. The winner will be invited to perform at the 17th Annual RAMI Awards Ceremony on April 10 at Tebala Shrine Temple in Rockford. Bands auditioning are Groove Company, Just Maybe, Hope Despite, The Silent Debut, The Son The Anchor, Fall Asleep Sober and Imaginary Heroes. Cost is $3.


I don't know if seeing their name in the paper made them more excited or more nervous, but for the time-being, they're still 'on' for their first-ever gig.



They need a little chin-up, though. A little rah-rah from the peanut gallery. A little nudge-nudge that all will be well. I told them to look at it as a great experience and not worry about the whole competition thing. Some of these bands are likely to have played for much longer, but it's good to get a feel for playing in front of others.


So what do you say, peanut gallery? Should they audition? Should they throw caution to the wind and give 'er a go?


Should they go to this gig and find that maybe, Just Maybe, they'll rock the house and be oh-so-happy they did it?


What say you?