Points well taken. We don't make a living off music but I still try to put on a good performance and be professional. I'd hoped the whistle player would improve and should have spoken up sooner when it just wasn't happening. But I didn't want to be too direct for fear of hurting somebody's feelings. I did tried to hint around but never came out and said anything flat out - such as "If you don't show some improvement you're out of the band". It didn't help that the melodeon player has something of a crush on the whistle player and always tells her how great she is. In retrospect, I should have bitten the bullet and made my concerns known. This incident has caused me to rethink the entire concept of the band, which is what I should have done a long time ago.   I don't know what I was thinking, having someone who was only acceptable as long as somebody played louder than her to cover up the mistakes. It really hit me when I thought about playing an entire three set gig with an off key whistle and occasional shaky vocals distracting me in the background. A melodeon can cover up a lot of this...