WHO ARE YOU - Questions that need answers at the onset

 WHO ARE YOU

• You'll need a place to practice - that is most often going to be someone's living room, basement, or garage.  If you have the dough, you can rent a space somewhere but that's going to eat into your profits.  It's best understood that the person who provides the place to play is going to feel the strongest kinship and loyalty to the band.
  
  
• Take me to your leader:  Who is your leader.  Even Lennon and McCartney imploded, with George on the side saying "What About MY Songs."  Most often the leader of the band is A) The person whose place you use as practice space B) The best or most experienced musician  C) The LEAD SINGER -   Now, yes, sometimes A,B,and C are the same person.  But in the event that A, B, and C are all different, you best watch out for flying microphones and drumsticks at some point.   It's not necessarily a democracy per se, but  inability to know whose direction to follow has brought down many a garage group before they get started.  There are so many great individual musicians in the E-Street Band, but they all know who the boss is.
  
   
• What do you want this band to be.  There are many avenues to persue, and you aren't limited to one. Most often, the path to rock stardom goes through the bar band route.  You'll need no less than three sets of covers and /or originals, practiced to perfection, with some stage presence so as to not bore the patrons.  Another path is to concentrate on your originals, focus on making crisp recordings of them, and submitting them for discovery by the record companies to get a recording contract.   Yet another path, one many still pursuing the rock star dream into their 30's, 40's, and 50's is the lawn party, civic event, county fair, corporate get together group.  The advantage of these groups is that they pay very well, while not being required to break down equipment at 2am while the bartender yells "drink em up and go home."
  
  
• Your configuration:  Probably dictated by the people you are bringing into the band, be aware that there are variations on the classic rock and roll configuration, but at the core you will need a drummer, a bassist, and at least one good guitar player.  Someone has to be the lead singer, who is most often one of the musicians, but can be a stand alone individual. Most common additions to this start with another guitarist, a keyboardist or organist, and another percussionist. Beyond that you can add a sax or another brass instrument or two, even a flute isn't out of the question, and background singers.
  
  
  While the answers to some of these questions can be garnered organically as, perhaps jam sessions become practices and become a band, if you are really determined to see the Rock Band road to success, YOU ought to know these answers, and THEY ought to know the answers going in.  Each of these things is fluid and can have more than one answer, but the best way to start is for everyone to start on the same page.