Hey Rick!
The guest who responded that you sound, what did he say, like a McD's manager, well, there is a lad who likely never had to wressle with the problems of band leadership, membership whatever. I tried to make my band a collective, however, in the States, there are so few who grew up in colective culture, so they don't understand their responcibility. The son's of bitches watched me - the whole of last winter, carry the entire PA system up and down four flights of stairs alone, with a broken rib. Their attitude was it was my band, however, as I gave them some say about everything in the band, it was their band when they objected to songs about Amadou Diallou. I agree that the problem of keeping a band together is not about musicanship - it is about the culture of our two rather sick little nations. Try as I might to get folks to discuss with their bandmates together, problems, as I did when I was a mate under sail, you still had folks getting together behind other's backs to make little aliences and crap, like an episode of Survivor. Well, I can only hope that this new collective can keep up as well as we have over the last 24 hours. Keep asprin on hand, eh Rick!
Cheers and best of luck
Larry - PS I once put one of my rowers out of the van on the highway, when I used to race Irish currachs for using the word nigger, and I would do it again, summer or winter rain or shine. Good on ya for firing the fiddler, I hope it makes a dent in his thick head.