One thing about being "the new boy" was that gigs had been booked out pretty far in advance. The promoters and venues already had the group's promo materials, including the then-current group photo and bio, and sometimes a video for TV ads. It took several months for the new promo to get out ahead of us. So for awhile there was always a discrepancy between the ads and the actual personnel on stage. People would say - "where's Roger?" and then in 1999, "where's Nick?"
The "do you remember when?" questions from audience members always blind-side me. I don't know whether to lie and say "yes" or explain that "that was before my time." I guess I'm old enough now and the years have blurred enough to where I can lie about remembering something I never did and get away with it. It is heartening when somebody asks the question of a gig that you did actually play.
A lot of people don't have a clue about the individual members of our groups. Sometimes when I meet somebody and they find out about my career, they assume that I was an original member. The problem with informing them otherwise is that they often seem disappointed that I'm not a "real" Kingston Trio or Brothers Four guy. So I just let them believe that I was an original and usually that makes their day.
Here's a funny story about a personnel change that went un-noticed for over 20 years. The Kingston Trio was playing at a State Fair someplace - I don't recall where. We were on one of the smaller stages out in the grounds, but Alabama was playing the main stage.
We had just finished a show and I was standing outside our dressing-trailer when Randy Owen (lead singer for Alabama) came walking up to me asking to talk to John Stewart. He was really disappointed with I told him that John had left the group in 1967. He didn't even say "thanks" or "good-bye" - he just turned around and left.