Whats up Wacco!
I am sending a plea to fun loving musicians to start a Roma-ish band with me! the instruments we're looking for ARE:
Set drummer
Hand percussionist
Bass guitarist - FOUND!
Acoustic guitarist
Sax - found! That's me!
Trumpet
Trombone
Accordian

Ok, so. Here's the lowdown, I've been wanting to start a band for a long time, and haven't managed to get anything off the ground, except for a sax quartet at school. Oh yeah, I'm 16. So yeah!
What I'm looking for:
musicality, really. If you've only been playing for a year or two, this probably isn't for you. I'm looking for confidence! Yeah! You'll need to know how to read music, understand some basic chord structure, not be afraid to solo, and how to groove with the band, instead of hiding or overpowering (trumpets and drummer, that's lookin at you! :), and all that good stuff! Also any experience in eastern european music, gypsy sounding stuff, is a big plus.
availability: Even if you're the best drummer/trombonist/whatever in the world, your availability is going to determine if you can play with us at all. if your life is full with 5 hours of homework a night, or a busy job with rare vacations, this isn't for you. we're lookin' for people that could practice at least once, preferably twice, a week.
transportation: I imagine, at least at first, that we will be practicing at my home in the jc district of santa rosa. Which means you need to be able to drive/get a ride here, or wherever we're going.
fun: This is perhaps the most important factor. You must be able to have fun with music! Be able to jump around the melody, dance on stage (not really a requirement). We want to play FUN music, and that can be weird if everyone is standing straight studying sheet music! You get what I mean...

other questions you might have:
how will you decide who gets in the band?
by looking at a combination of the above. if you're an available musician that can practice twice a week, and you got music in your soul, and have some knowledge of the music you'll be playing, you're in.

are there any artists I should check out to understand a bit better what kind of music we'll be playing?
Check out MarchFourth, Balkan Beat Box, the Gotan Project, the song "Yo pumpkin head" by the seatbelts is a good one too. and !DelaDap. Basically fast, uptempo, dance-able music. We might do some slower stuff, it all depends on who we get composed of!

is there a preferable age for the group?
I and the bassist are 16, and in high school. high school aged people therefor might feel more comfortable, but this is really all ages. Because age doesn't always determine your musicality, availability etc.

what will be supplied at the place of rehearsal?
I have a fretless bass and amp, a cheapo drumset, and I'll have someone bring a guitar amp and an acoustic pickup guitar if you don't have one.

What do you mean by Roma-ish?
Before the edit, this was titled "looking for members to start a gypsy band". However, "gypsy" is derogatory apparently, so the politically correct way to say Gypsy is Roma. However, I do not want to limit this band to plying only Romanian music, we must keep our horizons wide!
Other:
the accordian might have to be amplified somehow...

OK! I think I got what I wanted to get down, down. If you're interested, drop me an email at [email protected] or a call (or text) me on my cell (707) 332-8856.

Peace
Jesse