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06-05-2010, 05:44 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Wausau, WI | | | New singer...Wow!
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We used to be a 5 piece band and all of us sing both lead vocals and backup. The lead singer (for the majority of our songs) left us a few months back and we went back to 4 piece. Of course, a lot of the real high vocals went with him so we had to shelve a lot of the songs he sang lead on that were some of our favorites.
Well, we just tried out a new singer/guitarist. We're all in our 40's-50's but we still play classic rock tunes. This kid we tried out is 23 but is looking for exactly the kind of band we are.
Every time you try someone out, you never really know what you are getting (unless you've heard them with another band, which we hadn't) so we thought we'd just throw some of our shelved songs at him.
First song..."Jane" by Starship. The kid nailed Mickey Thomas better than Mickey Thomas...without even straining. We threw a bunch of Kansas, Styx and Bon Jovi at him and he nailed them all like he was their lead singer. The kid's a pretty damned good guitar player too, although he's only doing rhythm.
He's really excited to be in the band as he's never been in a band where everybody sings. We are so stoked to be able to pull out our favorite songs again and have a guy with pipes straight from heaven. All I can say is "Wow!" I'm still saying wow even days later. What a find.
Sorry, just had to share. 
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06-05-2010, 05:48 PM
|  | Will work for groove | | Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Middletown, OH | | | Congrats! Sounds like you've got a keeper! It's hard to find singers who can do the high vocals well. I usually get stuck with them since I'm female, but some songs just need a male voice to sound right.
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Clubs:
Ohio Bassist #6 | Sadowsky - #181 | Gallien-Krueger #369 | Avatar #61 | DR Strings #9 | Classic-Vibe #1 | Blue Bass #57 |
06-05-2010, 05:59 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Wausau, WI | | Quote:
Originally Posted by EagleMoon  Congrats! Sounds like you've got a keeper! It's hard to find singers who can do the high vocals well. I usually get stuck with them since I'm female, but some songs just need a male voice to sound right. | Thanks. We have a female singer (keyboardist) that does lead and backup and she's handled all the high stuff as a four piece but this kid sings even higher than her. And some songs the lyrics don't fit with a woman singing, but she's been the good bandmate and sang 'em anyway. This kid has a VERY strong voice. He belts it out with ease.
We all sing though so it's not like he has to sing every song...maybe 2/3 of the set list (once we get it back to where we want it). We pride ourselves on being a strong vocal band because most bands around here have one singer and that's it. But finding this guy was like heaven dropping him in the band. Just...wow.
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fEARful...that's about as good as it gets.
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06-05-2010, 06:14 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: St. Louis | | | Awesome. I am jealous.
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06-05-2010, 06:24 PM
| | Will work for groove | | Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Middletown, OH | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Sundogue Thanks. We have a female singer (keyboardist) that does lead and backup and she's handled all the high stuff as a four piece but this kid sings even higher than her. And some songs the lyrics don't fit with a woman singing, but she's been the good bandmate and sang 'em anyway. This kid has a VERY strong voice. He belts it out with ease.
We all sing though so it's not like he has to sing every song...maybe 2/3 of the set list (once we get it back to where we want it). We pride ourselves on being a strong vocal band because most bands around here have one singer and that's it. But finding this guy was like heaven dropping him in the band. Just...wow. | After recently going through many auditions looking for lead vocalists, I understand how fortunate you are. Keep him humble though. 
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Clubs:
Ohio Bassist #6 | Sadowsky - #181 | Gallien-Krueger #369 | Avatar #61 | DR Strings #9 | Classic-Vibe #1 | Blue Bass #57 |
06-05-2010, 06:59 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Wausau, WI | | Quote:
Originally Posted by EagleMoon After recently going through many auditions looking for lead vocalists, I understand how fortunate you are. Keep him humble though. | The funny thing is he is relatively new to playing gigs (he's been playing/singing in bands for about 4 years) and we've been doing it for 30+. We have experience and he has the God given voice. We want to mentor him and get him more polished. We know some day he'll move on (deservedly so) but we get an awesome singer and he gets basically a killer backup band he'd never find around here playing with anyone his own age (not a knock on youth...just the situation around here).
I'd love nothing more than to be backing him up as both a bass player and a backup vocalist to him. He makes me smile with every song he sings. This kid has all the talent in the world to do great things someday. I'm really hoping he gets a taste of professionalism and how to play this "band game" from us and in return we get a front man that can really turn some heads. As talented as he is, he has no big ego. He is a very humble and nice guy.
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fEARful...that's about as good as it gets.
Last edited by Sundogue : 06-05-2010 at 07:05 PM.
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06-05-2010, 07:06 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Wausau, WI | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Floyd Eye Awesome. I am jealous. | Hey, at least you are in a major metro area. This area has about 100,000 people, which makes finding him even more remarkable.
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fEARful...that's about as good as it gets.
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06-05-2010, 07:16 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: St. Louis | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Sundogue Hey, at least you are in a major metro area. This area has about 100,000 people, which makes finding him even more remarkable. | Absolutely. It's a rare find anywhere, especially in the middle of nowhere.
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06-05-2010, 07:25 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Wausau, WI | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Floyd Eye Absolutely. It's a rare find anywhere, especially in the middle of nowhere. | Yeah, it's like finding a Mickey Thomas or a Steve Walsh before anyone knew who they were. Some of the songs we threw at him at his tryout we gave him lyric sheets for, as he never sang them before. You never would have known it though as he sang them like he wrote them, for cryin' out loud.
In all my years of playing I've never been so blown away by anyone first time out.
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06-05-2010, 08:06 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: St. Louis | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Sundogue Yeah, it's like finding a Mickey Thomas or a Steve Walsh before anyone knew who they were. Some of the songs we threw at him at his tryout we gave him lyric sheets for, as he never sang them before. You never would have known it though as he sang them like he wrote them, for cryin' out loud.
In all my years of playing I've never been so blown away by anyone first time out. |
Alright, now you're just rubbing it in. 
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06-05-2010, 09:06 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Wausau, WI | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Floyd Eye Alright, now you're just rubbing it in. |  
Sorry...can't help it. 
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06-05-2010, 09:07 PM
| | Will work for groove | | Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Middletown, OH | | Oh and you know the rules. No pics, no new singer.
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Ohio Bassist #6 | Sadowsky - #181 | Gallien-Krueger #369 | Avatar #61 | DR Strings #9 | Classic-Vibe #1 | Blue Bass #57 |
06-06-2010, 06:45 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Wausau, WI | | Quote:
Originally Posted by EagleMoon Oh and you know the rules. No pics, no new singer. | We'll have to get some at our first gig with him this coming weekend.
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fEARful...that's about as good as it gets.
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06-06-2010, 03:32 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Los Angeles | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Sundogue We'll have to get some at our first gig with him this coming weekend. | Video? Audio? pics only go so far.
I was dropped into two bands that had vocalists with awesome voices/ranges. We(the band) knew we'd be one the best around because of their talent. We always did our best to be the supporting band that they needed. One of the singers sang at my wedding singing Smokey Robinson with no problems. Beautiful stuff.
Unfortunately, one died at 19 and the other at 42. R.I.P. 
Good luck with your "new" band. Creating memories to last a lifetime! Cool.
Last edited by Stumbo : 06-06-2010 at 03:37 PM.
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06-07-2010, 11:46 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Neenah, WI | | | Hey Sundogue-
My plans for the weekend just fell through... where are you playing at? (I'm in Appleton)
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06-07-2010, 11:50 AM
|  | Groovin' Eskrimador
Lark in the Morning Instructional Videos; Audix Microphones | | Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Santa Cruz Mtns, California | | | Nice, Sundogue! A good singer just makes things that much cooler.
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Zon, Genz Benz, BFM and LDS
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06-07-2010, 12:11 PM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: College Station, Texas | | | lucky! |
06-07-2010, 12:31 PM
|  | Yeah, I've got the moves like Jagger. | | Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: G.R. MI | | | Watch for the early warning signs of Lead Singers Disease.
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Originally Posted by hover He's got the Moo OO OO OO OO OO OO OObs like Jagger.... | |
06-07-2010, 12:42 PM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Austin TX | | Quote:
Originally Posted by EagleMoon Oh and you know the rules. No pics, no new singer. | that rule only applies to basses and girlfriends, sorry!
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06-07-2010, 04:04 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Wausau, WI | | Quote:
Originally Posted by kesslari Nice, Sundogue! A good singer just makes things that much cooler. | All of us can and do sing lead and backup, but having a front man with his pipes just opens so many possibilities. Between the instruments we cover and now the vocals, there are NO limitations to our setlist. We can do any song we want now, and do it well.
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fEARful...that's about as good as it gets.
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