Band Dilemma! Need a new lead vocalist.

mettec · #1 11-07-2007, 11:47 AM

I play in a fairly known local hard rock cover group. We are in the process of finding a new lead singer because of complaints from club owners and managers regarding his singing and stage presence. We have put out several Ad's in the local musician classifieds only to get a couple prospects and lots of yahoos. If the band were to put an Ad out with our band name on it we would probably get a greater response since people know the name but also risk our lead singer finding out that he is about to be replaced and might quit with several gigs still booked. That's the first dilemma. Along with that, we have lost several rooms because of his vocals already and don't want to loose anymore with upcoming shows. Of the clubs that we have already played, the agents, club owners, managers love the band musically and would book us back as long as we have a different singer. Why did we hire him in the first place you might ask. Well he has gotten worse as time went bye and does not do anything to correct his singing or fronting. So my question is: Should we let him know that we are replacing him and give the option to finish the remaining gigs, keep him and risk loosing more rooms till we find someone, or just keep replacing him a secret until we find someone else and start fresh with a new singer? I also want to add the fact that we were getting lots of gigs on our own and by agents at the beginning of the year but now we don't even have a single booking for 2008. What is your take on this?

cutthroatmolloy · #2 11-07-2007, 01:20 PM

id let him know that youre not happy with his performance, and that you think you will have to find someone else.

rfclef · #3 11-07-2007, 01:39 PM

My suggestion (no experience here but...): Be upfront... tell him what the gig-givers have said, and maybe he will change it... Tell "later" him if he doesn't

mettec · #4 11-07-2007, 01:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cutthroatmolloy

id let him know that youre not happy with his performance, and that you think you will have to find someone else.

The bottom line to all of this is that I had to convince 3 other members that our singer is hurting the band. This started 4-5 months ago and after many club owners and agents complaining I finally got the attention of the other members that we need to do something or the band will be finished. Our singer has been told numerous times to practice at home, do warm ups before each performance, memorize his lyrics in a timely manner, and don't be afraid to interact with the crowd. This being said he still to this day does not do any of these things that will help him as well as the band. So now we want to take this to the next level and he is not at our caliper anymore.

casualmadness · #5 11-07-2007, 02:00 PM

If you sneak around behind his back looking for another singer just so you can one day lower the boom on him without any warning, then...well, that's a sh****y thing to do. If you aren't happy with him, tell him. Don't jerk him around and lead him on. That really sucks, regardless of whether or not he is dropping the ball. Tell him and if you lose a few gigs, then so be it. But don't be a d**k by making him think that there is no problem and then just tossing him one day. That really sucks.

El-Bob · #6 11-07-2007, 02:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by casualmadness

If you sneak around behind his back looking for another singer just so you can one day lower the boom on him without any warning, then...well, that's a sh****y thing to do. If you aren't happy with him, tell him. Don't jerk him around and lead him on. That really sucks, regardless of whether or not he is dropping the ball. Tell him and if you lose a few gigs, then so be it. But don't be a d**k by making him think that there is no problem and then just tossing him one day. That really sucks.

+1, put yourself in his position for a few minutes and get a different perspective on the situation at hand.

**Thor** · #7 11-07-2007, 03:52 PM

I think candor and honesty here is a good thing. Like
any other relationship, (like a g/f) waiting to 'lower the
boom' until you get a replacement is pretty bad.

If he quits, and you can't replace him right away, at least
you can tell the club owners that you were taking steps to
improve the shows. That may give you the chance to rebook later.

And if he agrees to finish the commitments, you can advertise
using your band name. No hard feelings.

mettec · #8 11-07-2007, 06:36 PM

Well I had a talk with my guitarist and he said that we should talk to the other members about it and make a firm decision after this weekend to either let him go with the option to continue till we have someone worked in or finish the remainder of our shows for 2007. We have 2 potential singers wanting to audition but will let the singer know that is happening before we actually audition them next week.

I guess that is the best we can do and hope he doesn't take this to roughly and realize that we had to make this move. I know that he knows he has problems and his days were numbered just by how many times we have talked to him about it. So this should not be too much of a shock to him. All I can tell him is to take lessons or read stuff on line, buy books, etc... and he might become a good singer in the future.

Thanks everyone for your input. I feel a little better now about this.

El-Bob · #9 11-07-2007, 07:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mettec

Well I had a talk with my guitarist and he said that we should talk to the other members about it and make a firm decision after this weekend to either let him go with the option to continue till we have someone worked in or finish the remainder of our shows for 2007. We have 2 potential singers wanting to audition but will let the singer know that is happening before we actually audition them next week.

I guess that is the best we can do and hope he doesn't take this to roughly and realize that we had to make this move. I know that he knows he has problems and his days were numbered just by how many times we have talked to him about it. So this should not be too much of a shock to him. All I can tell him is to take lessons or read stuff on line, buy books, etc... and he might become a good singer in the future.

Thanks everyone for your input. I feel a little better now about this.

good to hear that you're getting it sorted out

**Mickey Shane** · #10 11-09-2007, 02:13 PM

It's not so bad really. I got fired from 2 bands in '05. I filled in a gig for one of them a little later.

I went auditioning and Bingo! I found a great band that plays the style that I like. I hope that your singer can understand that you don't burn bridges in your musical world. You just don't.

It's a small, small, world.

Silas Martinez · #11 11-09-2007, 07:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thor

I think candor and honesty here is a good thing. Like
any other relationship, (like a g/f) waiting to 'lower the
boom' until you get a replacement is pretty bad.

If he quits, and you can't replace him right away, at least
you can tell the club owners that you were taking steps to
improve the shows. That may give you the chance to rebook later.

And if he agrees to finish the commitments, you can advertise
using your band name. No hard feelings.

+1

And I'd like to add, nothing motivates like the prospect of losing something you desire. Let him know that without improvement in a specific time frame (could be 'next gig', whatever makes sense - if he is that bad, even a little effort should be apparent), then you will be replacing him. Then its all on the up and up, and you are giving him a chance without jeapordizing a lot more.

troy2003 · #12 11-10-2007, 10:27 AM

Was there something you liked about him in the beginning?Or was it just a put together band with whoever wanted to play and it got serious?If it was the first-I would tell him "dude,you're hurting us,we've got a lot of comments on this and something needs to be done.You either seriously need to evaluate if you want to put the time,energy,and comittment into this band or we will have to replace you."He might say your right,I just enjoy the hang but dont want to put that comittment into it,or it might be a kick in the pants that works.Personally I think it is dirty to just line it all up and then hit him with a cheap shot.It will cause a lot of resentment on his part,guilt on your part.If you are up front,friendship can be salvaged.Just my .02