Are we gonna let the band die? No Way Jose!

I will have music in my life regardless of what we do as a group.
But being able to make music with all of you is a rare pleasure and honor.
It makes me want to practice very hard so that I can pull my weight and the group can put forth it's collective best effort.

The fact that a large portion of our effort can be geared towards Relay For Life and the fight against cancer is also very humbling and inspiring.

Isaiah's got soccer practice, so the earliest I can be there is looking like noon... so let's say we'll have practice from noon to 3pm.
Oh yeah, I spoke to Ryan and he said it was still okay to practice at his place.

I also spoke to J and he said that he thought we should brainstorm song ideas, figure out a process for picking songs, and maybe go over some older songs we'd like to keep around.

I spoke to Rob and Dana also just now and they both said they were still interested in participating. I emphasized the fact to them that if they want to feel involved and ownership over the group, they will need to assert themselves to carve out their own niche, and find the holes and fill the roles. I feel like that needed to be said because none of us really have the band background or mastery of their own instrument to work on their own responsibilities as well as give direction and responsibility to someone else.

So actually it's the same with all of us, we get out of this, whatever we put in.

It's also important I think to not get frustrated or lose patience. This endeavor should be fun and rewarding, but we have many years to learn about each other and how we work best together, so if things aren't going exactly how we envisioned, I'd encourage us to just stay with it, and eventually over time, the roles, responsibilities, and feeling of ownership will manifest.

Right now, it'd probably be best for all of us to brainstorm song ideas mostly geared toward the Relay For Life event or possibly even a fundraiser Relay For Life concert. I would also like to put it out there that as we move forward, we're shaping the lives of the babies that are watching us. I've spoken it over with Gary, and we can't be on board if the songs we choose have lyrics that are morally compromising or too sexual in nature. Unfortuneately, this cuts out about 85% of every rock song written... but as I listen to each song over and over in the car with Isaiah and Ethan listening and memorizing every word, I just can't expose them too much to adult concepts and mature phrases or they'll get confused. Much more confused that is than they already are. I know it's a potentially debilitating restriction, but I think if we all put in the effort to root out the perfect songs for the group, then we'll have a product that will be positive and that many families would be willing to get behind and support. So please keep all that in mind as we brainstorm.

A note on timing:
We are at the beginning of September. I've been cleared to practice with the group once every three weeks for 3 hours. May sounds far away, but it's not.
That puts our practice dates at: 9/12/09, 10/3/09, 10/24/09, 11/14/09, 12/5/09, 12/26/09, 1/16/10, 2/6/10, 2/27/10, 3/20/10, 4/10/10, 5/1/10, 5/22/10

That's 13 group practices before the end of May when we'll probably have to perform at Relay.

Last year's Relay For Life setlist looked like this:
1. Fight For Your Right
2. Hard to Handle
3. In Bloom
4. Creep
5. Wherever You Will Go
6. Big Me
7. Accidentally in Love
8. Talk Dirty To Me
9. Hey Jealousy
10. Hit Me With Your Best Shot
11. Basketcase
encore - Lose Yourself

J's Concert consisted of 20 songs broken up into 3 three sets.
7 songs in the first set, 7 in the second, 6 in the last.
They looked like this:
Set 1
1. Fight For Your Right
2. In Bloom
3. Big Me
4. Hey Jealousy
5. Wherever You Will Go
6. All I Want
7. Hit Me With Your Best Shot

Set 2
1. In The End
2. Creep
3. Hard to Handle
4. The Way I Am
5. Accidentally In Love
6. Lose Yourself
7. Chasing Cars

Set 3
1. Living On A Prayer
2. Talk Dirty To Me
3. Summer of '69
4. Kiss Me
5. Home
6. Basketcase

So again, 13 group practices to have approximately 20 songs memorized and mastered is no small feat. Again, a lot of individual work will need to be done on our own. Collective brainpower will need to be put in before each group practice to make sure we're maximizing the efficiency of our time and still having lots of fun.
The best way to get a lot of work done and decisions made while we're away from each other is over email. That way we have written record and history of our decisions and thought processes. So, please try and sound enthusiastic and stay engaged over email. Another tool we'll be using is the Google Spreadsheet. Both email and the Google Spreadsheet were extremely valuable in keeping Gary engaged and involved. You all know how much Gary brings to the table, so even if there is a remote chance of having him for Relay or the fundraiser concert, we should utilize email and Google Spreadsheet to give us a chance to stay organized and keep Gary in the loop.

Okay... I'm definitely looking forward to seeing all of you on Saturday at noon.... please reply to all and tell everyone that you received the email and your availability on Saturday...
love you guys....
e

below is a song suggestions email I fashioned shortly after last years Relay...
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We probably want an acoustic set to somehow play during the Relay.
We should probably brainstorm on how to get more All In team members involved.
For the most part, I’m picking high tempo songs that people will know with maybe some mid tempo songs interspersed. I think for Relay unless necessary we should avoid low tempo songs.
We should also think about slow to mid tempo songs we can do faster and rock out ie. Limp Bizkit - Faith
Or maybe put together a fun little game of Name That Tune for the crowd.
I’m also assuming Roby or Arvn will be available to work the mixing board when they’re not on stage.
We should also change the words whenever possible to customize it to the Troy Relay For Life.

Songs Dana mentioned she could sing:
Barracuda - ?
Warrior - ?
Don’t Stop Believing – Dana

Slow Songs I think we can rock out:
What’s Love Got to Do With It – Tina Turner
One Fine Day – Natalie Merchant
Madonna Songs
Michael Jackson Songs
Stevie Wonder Songs

I’m Gonna Be – The Proclaimers
Regret – Erasure?
Black Sheep
Friday I’m In Love – The Cure
Just Like Heaven – The Cure
Hey Ya! – Outkast
Let’s Go Crazy – Prince
It’s The End of the World – REM
Whip It – Devo
Senorita/Maria Maria –
Bizarre Love Triangle – New Order
You Give Love A Bad Name – Bon Jovi
Jessie’s Girl
Mony Mony – Billie Idol
Brown Eyed Girl
I Wanna Rock & Roll All Night

Slower Songs I Like
Rock With You? – Heavy D and Brandy
Stayin’ Alive – Bee Gees – Refugee All Stars
Rhythm of the Night
Bust-A-Move
Relax
Caribbean Queen
I Still Haven’t Found What I’m What I’m Looking For – U2
Vanilla Ice
Under The Bridge - RHCP

First attempt at a Feel Good, Rock Out, people dancing and singing along pump up set to get people excited about fighting cancer.

1. I’m Gonna Be
2. I Wanna Rock & Roll All Night
3. Give It Away
4. Let’s Go Crazy
5. Friday I’m In Love
6. In The End
7. Barracuda
8. Talk Dirty To Me
9. It’s the End of the World
10. Mony Mony
11. You Give Love a Bad Name
12. Hit Me With Your Best Shot
13. Bust A Move
14. Black Sheep
15. Hey Ya!
16. Warrior
17. Vanilla Ice
18. Don’t Stop Believing
19. Brown Eyed Girl
20. I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For