How would you handle this situation?

[Alexander]

Okay, I've been working on starting a band and we had our first get together this past weekend. Musically speaking, this band is the most closely aligned to the type of music I want\love to play (southern rock\blues\country - ala Allman Borthers, etc). Living in Seattle, I've found it to be very tough to find players who want (and actually can) play this type of music. Overall, things went okay - though we clearly didn't have our act together there was some really good potential I heard there and I think we can tighten things up. We never met each other prior to this band, but here are my observations about the group:

Lead singer - sings very well and also plays acoustic, electric guitars and keys which all really help in this genre. Seems to be a nice enough guy, but a bit quirky. He thinks we should try out another drummer and had a run in with lead guitar guy #1 during the practice - thinks there might be problems with him down the road.

Lead guitar #1 - Very good with lots of experience. But very opinionated\close minded in terms of music he is willing to play. Has tension with lead singer.

Lead guitar #2 - Also very good (the guitar players have unusually good chemistry, musically speaking) and owns the practice space. He can and is willing to play anything. Very nice, easy going guy - can't say one bad thing about him.

Drums - Decent guy and an okay (but not great) player. His musical interests are clearly outside that of the band, but he is willing to go with the flow. I don't think he's played with a group that has the chops and experience some of these players have. He's willing to learn songs and those he in fact does learn, he plays very well. Those he doesn't he just plays along with the band as opposed to driving it.

Female singer - Didn't join us for the first practice, but seems like she will be good. Would be nice to have the harmonies covered and have her take some lead as well. Also plays percussion.

My question is how folks would go forward from here. I'm thinking we do one more practice before making any changes at all (coming up this weekend). Based off the above, who would you keep\release and how do you recommend going about it? Should I just circle back with the "keepers" after this next practice with my recommendations, get their buy-in then release\replace the others?

[DaftCat]

You formed the band, you lay down the law.

I would arrange a meeting with the Lead singer and Guitar #1 and get them to put their opinions of each other on the table. You know what the meeting agenda will be already.

From there you can decide if they can work together or if one has to go.

My .02 worth.

PS: This should be under Band Management thread, BTW.

[txbasschik]

Originally Posted by Alexander

Okay, I've been working on starting a band and we had our first get together this past weekend. Musically speaking, this band is the most closely aligned to the type of music I want\love to play (southern rock\blues\country - ala Allman Borthers, etc). Living in Seattle, I've found it to be very tough to find players who want (and actually can) play this type of music. Overall, things went okay - though we clearly didn't have our act together there was some really good potential I heard there and I think we can tighten things up. We never met each other prior to this band, but here are my observations about the group:

Lead singer - sings very well and also plays acoustic, electric guitars and keys which all really help in this genre. Seems to be a nice enough guy, but a bit quirky. He thinks we should try out another drummer and had a run in with lead guitar guy #1 during the practice - thinks there might be problems with him down the road.

Lead guitar #1 - Very good with lots of experience. But very opinionated\close minded in terms of music he is willing to play. Has tension with lead singer.

Lead guitar #2 - Also very good (the guitar players have unusually good chemistry, musically speaking) and owns the practice space. He can and is willing to play anything. Very nice, easy going guy - can't say one bad thing about him.

Drums - Decent guy and an okay (but not great) player. His musical interests are clearly outside that of the band, but he is willing to go with the flow. I don't think he's played with a group that has the chops and experience some of these players have. He's willing to learn songs and those he in fact does learn, he plays very well. Those he doesn't he just plays along with the band as opposed to driving it.

Female singer - Didn't join us for the first practice, but seems like she will be good. Would be nice to have the harmonies covered and have her take some lead as well. Also plays percussion.

My question is how folks would go forward from here. I'm thinking we do one more practice before making any changes at all (coming up this weekend). Based off the above, who would you keep\release and how do you recommend going about it? Should I just circle back with the "keepers" after this next practice with my recommendations, get their buy-in then release\replace the others?

I would try out another Lead Guitar #1, if you can find one. A close-minded person who is not willing to experiment can really hold a band back.

Don't burn any bridges until you find the right fit, since it is hard, indeed, to find Southern rockers up there. But don't keep the narrow-minded guitarist unless you have to.

What about this "quirky" singer? Did he pick a fight with Narrow-Minded Guitar, or did NMG bristle at something Quirky said?

Cherie

[tZer]

Originally Posted by DaftCat

You formed the band, you lay down the law.

I couldn't agree more. When you have a vision and you assemble the parts, it is in your best interest to convey a leadership vibe that is clear. This also means you need to provide clear direction and move things forward in a way that everyone sees. They need to be confident that you are not just 'trying this and that' - but that you really do have an idea.

Being a strong leader helps to eliminate any question about who is calling the shots. It does not necessarily mean being a stone-headed dictator, but starting rehearsals with a game plan and set of goals for each rehearsal that progress toward bigger goals of perfoming and recording is essential.

As for personel - make sure that if you have not solidified the roster that you make that clear too - that you have not decided yet what the line-up is. That way everyone knows that personel changes are possible.

[morf]

Yep. Impose opinions, its your band. You've already got nicknames for the members so I think it'll work out fine

[Alexander]

Originally Posted by txbasschik

I would try out another Lead Guitar #1, if you can find one. A close-minded person who is not willing to experiment can really hold a band back.

Don't burn any bridges until you find the right fit, since it is hard, indeed, to find Southern rockers up there. But don't keep the narrow-minded guitarist unless you have to.

What about this "quirky" singer? Did he pick a fight with Narrow-Minded Guitar, or did NMG bristle at something Quirky said?

Cherie

So NMG 's point of view is that he doesn't want to play "cover band hell" (his words) types of songs - he classifies this as I guess everything you see a cover band typically play. For example - though Skynyrd is a big southern rock band to cover, he's completely against doing anything folks out there typically recognize (Sweet Home, Gimme Three Steps, Freebird) but some of the more obscure stuff is okay (Tuesday's Gone, for example). Nor does he want to venture into Classic Rock (Zeppelin, CCR, Hendrix, etc.) Actually, it's not all bad - I agree with many of his points, which is good. But I've dealt with this in previous bands and it gets painful quick...

And for Quirky? Harps on how old he is, how much experience he has, rambles around. Doesn't know all of the lyrics, even to the songs he added to the list. Wants to can the drummer right off the bat. Talks a lot about smoking, drinking, pot - I'm not a teetotaller or anything, but didn't think some of his comments were appropriate especially considering we had never met until then.

Both play guitar extremely well, though - I have not been in a band with as much chemistry (musically speaking) than these guys. And Quirky has similar musical interest to mine and sings really well, too. Actually, Quirky bristled at something NMG said (though I haven't talked to NMG about it - perhaps he was equally offended).

Should I can one\both of them? My gut tells me to replace Quirky, but want to give him one more shot...