Conflicts have been so routine in recent years that the area’s “hot“ accordion player (good friend) died in the midst of me missing playing several jobs with them.
Another friend - who hired me for this upcoming job, next fall - said on the phone, “You can bring your tuba if you want to, but bring all of those other horns - in all those shapes and sizes - that you have, and mostly play those - because my wife will be playing bass; Maybe just do the ‘Clarinet Polka schtick’ with the tuba.”
(He himself will probably either be playing keyboard or accordion, sax, trombone, trumpet, bass trumpet, clarinet, flute, and flugelhorn.)
The drummer is the band’s singer, and the wife/bass player: her main gigs are church organist and funeral home organist.
Yes, there are only four of us, and the sheet music is either “nothing“ or “old wrinkled faded lead sheets that stay in a box”. None of us are as good at “working a room” (getting them all worked up, dancing, thirsty, and - thus - selling a lot of beer for the hall) as was the accordion player who died, but we do our best.
really struggle to live double lives as 'wiener-snippers" (or whatever that word is...) 
