Hey, it's Alan, and I just wanted to let you know that you can now listen to the ongoing

history of new music early and ad-free on Amazon music, included with Prime.

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Building and maintaining a successful band is a lot like building and maintaining a sports team.

You struggle and wheel and deal and trade and sometimes steal to put together just the right lineup.

And it's not just about sound and talent. It's chemistry,

its leadership, stamina, all those intangible things that go into making the whole greater than

the sum of its parts. The perils are the same, too. Your star quarterback goes down. That guy on the

second line has tons of talent, but he's a cancer in the dressing

room. The person you thought was healthy and strong turns out to have some kind of issue that's

just getting worse and worse, or somebody just might die on you. And when everything goes

pear-shaped, you have two choices. Give it all up, call it a day, or you rebuild. With a sports team, there are enough

players out there that you can find a replacement, a trade, some cash, a draft pick, a free agent,

and you're back in business. Or maybe someone on the team steps up and unexpectedly fills that

hole with talent and leadership. The same kind of thing can happen with a band, too, but not always.

When a star departs, especially a lead singer and front person,

...