Crud, someone moved above the line and I couldn't find it.

As was suggested, I've given this some thought, and I understand what terrorizes me about the idea. I am very much a "research it thoroughly and be full prepared" kind of guy. And this situation is the very antithesis of that. Nothing was ever said of planning, practice, etc. Just get up there and go. That kind of spontenaity in and of itself pushes me *way* out of my comfort zone. Leaving the spontenaity aside, I'm not a musician. I've never played with anyone. When I play - by myself - I don't have to worry about variations in tempo, being in tune, making mistakes, etc. Being on stage, playing along with people for the first time, playing songs the band doesn't know, is too much uncertainty for me to live with.

The thoughts of playing with other people scares me. As it is right now, e.g. playing solo, if I make a mistake I can restart that line. If I forget how a verse starts or start the wrong verse, I stop and do it over. If I've got five other guys following along, I can't do that. Which means I have to go thru an entire song flawlessly. Or at least pick up from a flub without stopping - which I can't do right now, or at least have never had a reason to try.

Now I know that two of the guys are good enough that they could pick up on any song I play. In fact Moon, their rhythm guitarist, started accompanying me that night, just by watching my chord changes. And when they've performed I've seen Moon start a song they've never done, sing two verses, during which the lead player figures out the melody, and then he does a lead break. So I know even if I screwed up so bad that I had to quit playing that they could keep it going.
Two other guys, on bass and banjar, are bad enough it wouldn't matter if they knew the song or not. The last guy's guitar isn't plugged in, so you never hear him anyway. He's primarily there for vocals (but was the one doing most of the persuading the other night). I don't know if they'd intended an impromptu spot, but from the way they were talking it seemed that way.

On the upside, the audience is very casual. Family and friends for the most part, everyone knows one another. The band doesn't get paid, they just play for fun. They'd be playing at home anyway, but going to the Depot gives them a place to do it where people can listen. There's a lot of joking around between the band members and between the band and the audience. The band doesn't start together - usually one guy starts to sing and play while the others are horsing around, then the others catch up. They don't always end together. The general feeling is more of everyone hanging out and having fun rather than a formal performance. So I supposed my fear of needing to perform flawlessly is unfounded.

I've wanted to get a semi-decent guitar for a while, and I've kinda been using this as an excuse to get off my duff and go look at the store. The downside of course being that if I use this excuse, I have to fulfill the commitment.

Do I have some secret desire to perform? No, not that I know of. I've never cared to be the center of attention, and large groups (say, more than 6 people) make me nervous. I've always just played for my own enjoyment. It's not that I'm against performing, I just have no desire to do so. Ambivalent, I guess. On the other hand, I definitely do *not* want to perform on a regular basis. If for no other reason, I don't want to commit to becoming that good of a musician, nor do I want to commit the time. It'd become too much like a job to me.

Yeah, being under the lights and mics should probably only come after informal session or song cirlces or whatever, but I've never participated in any of those, and the guys in the band are ready now. It comes back to having no ambition to share/perform. If I did have a desire to be under the lights, I would certainly work my way up. But again, taking it step by step would make it seem too much like work to me.

When I first started writing this response, I was still pretty adamant about not doing this, even tho three of the band guys and the club owner were all pretty forceful in their attempts at persuasion. I wanted to mention that another complication is that I've done artistic photo portraits of the members in the band and have a permanent display in the gallery there. Last Friday we walked in (between songs), about 20 minutes after the start and Moon stopped what he was saying in order to introduce me, recommend everyone look at the prints during the break, and give a plug to our portrait studio. When someone gives me an unsolicited plug like that, I'm uncomfortable denying something as seemingly simple as, "Hey, come up and play a song with us."
But having written this, explaining, proofreading, etc. I think I've come to the conclusion that I will probably do this, provided I get a chance to practice with them a time or two. I think my two biggest fears are the uncertainty, which can be remedied, and a flawed performance, which is not necessary.

Geez, I can't believe I've talked myself into this.