yes no yes no
Bards are essential, if you have access to PL toon/friends getting 50 is easy, even solo its not that bad nowadays. Quite a few Euro guilds on Ywain as a whole, but not sure who is recruiting atm. Templating is easy, it's practically freeshard now.
Depends really on what you're doing and what you're guild need, I personally prefer 47/43/16, but know some people that like 43/43/25, dropping last instamez for better heals.
If you play in small groups (with 0 or 1 druid) then higher regrowth will probably be better, if you run 2 druids in 8man then higher 47 music might work for you. Best you can do is try it out once you're 50 and see what suits you and your group.