Quote Originally Posted by Tom Haywood View Post
Mentioned a couple of times, I think. It is really difficult to lead the chord progression and lead a song with a mandolin in a setting with several instruments. Other players just can't hear it well enough, even if mics are used. People who don't know the songs or the style will need to hear a strong rhythm. A good rhythm guitar player and a bass player make things a lot easier. If they are committed to be there each time, then you're pretty well set.
Also people can "read" guitar chords much easier than mandolin chords. I've been playing mandolin over 15 years and I still can't tell (visually) what chords another mandolin player is playing across the circle, but it's easy to ID the guitar chords. And a lot more players play guitar than mandolin.