A New York Times article about a new orchestra caught my eye the other day, which is surprising. I put my oboe away for good in 1997 after spending all of junior high, high school and part of college in rehearsals and occasionally performing.

I finally quit when I realized that I didn't love practicing like true musicians seemed to love practicing. Although after this article, I kind of want to rent an oboe and see what my fingers remember.

Why? This is the Really Terrible Orchestra.

Yes, the name says it all. The Really Terrible Orchestra. People who love to play, aren't good at it, but do it anyway. I appreciate that they aren't trying to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, but are being honest in name and sound. The honesty worked. The orchestra has an incredible fan-base and performs at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival every year.

"Our first concert was packed, and not just with friends and relations. People were intrigued by the sheer honesty of the orchestra’s name and came to see who we were. They were delighted. Emboldened by the rapturous applause, we held more concerts, and our loyal audience grew."

Taking this back to the Real/Fake matrix in the Authenticity book, The Really Terrible Orchestra falls into the coveted Real/Real quadrant. Is the offering true to itself? Yes. Is the offering what it says it is? Yes.

What other organizations, companies or brands do you know of that fall into this quadrant? I love the odd examples, so if competes with The Really Terrible Orchestra, I'd love to hear about it.