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Well, it's certainly popular, and has been going back the baroque period.  But there are reasons for that.  It's relatively easy to play, it resolves well, and provides a simple framework for improvisation.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with mixing it up as you do.

It's a fun place to play.  Very much a hole in the wall.   We've played weeknight gigs there but this is the 1st time we'll be there on a Saturday, so we wanted to do it right.

Funny thing is, in desperation I had stuck out a craigslist add in the musicians section.  10 minutes after I posted it, my buddy calls and says he'll take the stage time.

Timing is everything.

You'll name your band through apathy.  Thats how it happened for us.  We all enjoy playing together.  We're all in it for the same reasons.  No one wants to be a rock star.  No one really cares what the name is....   until someone comes up with a name.

The rules began to fall in place as names started being proposed...

1.  Had to be thought of by a human.  We had a pretty cool one generated by a machine.  Vetoed...
2.  No "The X and the Ys"  Vetoed about a dozen options.
3.  No verbs.  "Counting Crows."  "Stabbing Westward."  That kind of thing.  Vetoed a half dozen...
4.  No "The Xs"  Took out a bunch more.
5.  Nothing making any kind of overt statement.  We didn't want to be a social movement.  We just want to play.
6.  Etc...

This went on for months.   Finally, we settled on "A Close Second."  Found about six other bands on mySpace with the same name.  We didn't care.  We figure if anyone gets big enough to afford a "Cease and Desist" lawyer, we'll change it again.  So that's what we're going with.  Because nobody cares. 

Garth puts on a show.

Now, having said that, I don't know if he killed country music (not dead as far as I can tell) but he's probably wanted for questioning in the assault.

You should feel great!  Those Korg Panda's are hot little boxes.

Regardless, if you want to improve, the best way is to figure out what you want to improve on, come up with a practice regimen to exercise that skill, and then be disciplined enough to hold too it.

Sorry for my absence.  Been traveling abroad, and working like a dog as of late.

Where to start?

Scales.  Major scale patterns.  Learn them inside and out.  They are the foundation for everything you will do as a musician.

Hah!

It may seem that way at first, but after it clicks, you'll wonder how you ever got along without it. 

Good luck!

This is pure theory.  If you know which key they are in,  and are capable of playing scales related to that key (and you are) then improvising and jamming with folks becomes easy.

Grabbing a key signature is somewhat of a guessing game until you're familiar with chords and how they relate to scales. 

A good rule of thumb is to know the I IV and V's of all keys, which isn't hard to figure out.

For example, if you see a lot of  F, C, and G, you could surmise that the song is in the key of C, as C F and G are the I IV and V of C major.

A study of common chord progressions is also useful in figuring this out.   They call this the "tonal center" of a song.

The cappo allows you to transpose and play songs with the open chord shapes.   This is particularly usefull in country and bluegrass numbers, where the guitar parts are all very similar.  You can move the key from whatever the root is and not have to do anything different.

And to second Jame's point, there are no dumb questions.

It's not all that complex.  I just got back in town and when I have myself sorted out, I'll put together a post on it.