Drummer as Lead Singer / Frontman?

[::::BASSIST::::]

I have been considering putting a 3 piece together of drums/guitar/bass. I know a great drummer who is an excellent singer with a great 'rock' voice and I know a guitar player who is very talented at guitar but can barely croak out some background vocals. I have zero interest in being a lead singer.

This band would be mainly be playing average sized bars and the odd private party. Musically, I know the band would be really good, but my main concern is how the audience will react to a singer who is stuck behind a drum kit.

Can it work? Thoughts?

 

[SactoBass]

I have been considering putting a 3 piece together of drums/guitar/bass. I know a great drummer who is an excellent singer with a great 'rock' voice and I know a guitar player who is very talented at guitar but can barely croak out some background vocals. I have zero interest in being a lead singer.

This band would be mainly be playing average sized bars and the odd private party. Musically, I know the band would be really good, but my main concern is how the audience will react to a singer who is stuck behind a drum kit.

Can it work? Thoughts?

I actually think it would be a plus (compared to the usual front position of a singer). I say that because everyone I have ever talked to regarding a band with a lead singing drummer, they have always said how cool it was for the drummer to be singing lead.

My wife and I saw a Chicago tribute band about a year ago, and the drummer sang lead. The crowd dug it!

By the way, Don Henley seemed to be rather successful at it.

 

[IAmTheWalrus]

There's the band Deep Kick, their drummer sings lead



The audience seems to dig it in the video from what I can tell

 

[JumboJack]

Night Ranger, Phil Collins, Peter Criss, Roger Taylor, Levon Helm and Mickey Dolenez come to mind

 

[rust_preacher]

Nuff said

 

[ma4rk]

Check out Kram from Spiderbait on Youtube

 

[Themthafqnman]

I was at a show once where there was a sweet metal band playing, there singer was the drummer and no one acted any different to them. I say do what you want, if the music is good and you have fun, it will work out just fine.

 

[lunarpollen]

If the drummer can play well and sing well simultaneously, and can engage the crowd in between songs, then there is nothing wrong with the drummer being the lead singer.

 

[Corbeau]

I second Spiderbait as an example, and I think it adds a different element when the drummer is the vocalist as well. It's worth trying it, and I think you'd get a good response because it's different from the usual "frontperson vocalist" thing you see with most bands. At the least, you're going to have people talking about your band.

 

[AuntieBeeb]

lunarpollen has pretty much said it - the difficult bit is whether the drummer can engage the crowd. Still, our drummer does sing lead occasionally. And it worked for Grand Funk Railroad.

 

[Betrayer_Bass]

Wow, am I the only person that feels really uncomfortable when the drummer is the singer?

 

[MegaSwing]

It can work. The main problem is the vocalist is pretty much chained to the drum kit, which can make for some fairly static visuals. In a similar vein, it is counter-intuitive for a band's singer to sit behind the other players OR for the drummer to be at the front. It's just a Catch-22 situation all around. Sound-wise, there is no problem at all.

Some really excellent singers have started out as drummers. If your drummer can sing, let him.

 

[Winfred]

If the drummer can play well, and sing well, let him.

Plus, playing and singing keeps drummers from doing too much stupid stuff with their sticks. It does not, however, prevent them from saying stupid things with their mouths.

Watch him closely, as all drummers should be watched...

 

[Atshen]

I have been considering putting a 3 piece together of drums/guitar/bass. I know a great drummer who is an excellent singer with a great 'rock' voice and I know a guitar player who is very talented at guitar but can barely croak out some background vocals. I have zero interest in being a lead singer.

This band would be mainly be playing average sized bars and the odd private party. Musically, I know the band would be really good, but my main concern is how the audience will react to a singer who is stuck behind a drum kit.

Can it work? Thoughts?

That's exactly my main band here. Except that the drummer sings lead on something like 50% of the songs, I do around 30%, and the guitarist does the rest. It works well, the drummer knows how to speak to the audience and how to get them up and dance. Good luck!

 

[Bassbubble11]

One of my all time favorite bands frontman is
also the drummer. Check out this live video.

 

[::::BASSIST::::]

He sings well, his drumming is excellent (but on the loud side) and he does engage the audience very well. I have been in a band with him before when we had a 'dedicated' lead singer.

One idea is to have some sort of spotlight on him to increase his visual presence.

 

[john_g]

My drummer sings 98% of the songs and we have good response from the crowd. They only thing is he can speed up/down a little depending on some songs. Its usually not noticeable from a crowd standpoint. If he can do it, dont worry. We just make sure we dont cover him up either and people can see him.

 

[DerTeufel]

In my band, we all sing, but the drummer handles 60% of the vocal duties.

 

[Rob Martinez]

Why not? The best singer should be the singer. No matter what they play. Before Paul McCartney, bass players were supposed to be in the background, play and not sing. McCartney changed that.

 

[klokker]

Our drummer is lead singer/frontman/crowd BSer etc. Probably sings about 75% of our songs.

It's pretty common isn't it?