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Drummer as Lead Singer / Frontman?

#21
My first semi-pro band had a lead singing drummer. He was AWESOME. Hit like a hammer. He played so hard that I would leave every show with saw dust on my shoulder from his drum sticks. Sang with a HUGE voice.

Anyway, to your point. You will be a club band and doing some parties. It will be fine either way. In those situations it is much more important which songs you play than anything else about the band. Hell, you don't even have to play them all that well if they are the right songs. (I realize you will play them well. That's not the point)

The point is, don't worry about it. If he's a pro, and you guys can put out a quality product and get along (not to mention make some dough), then go for it. Three piece bands can be a lot of fun to play in. Less drama and more room for each player. Have fun!
 
#24
Gil Moore of Triumph:

Drummer for the Romantics sang lead on "What I Like About You".

It can be done, but you probably should put the drummer on a riser so that people realize he's the one singing. :D
 
#28
I wish my drummer could sing and play at the same time. We are in two bands in one: Band A is a trio and the guitarist and I do the singing. Band B is the same 3 guys plus a different drummer, and the drummer from Band A sings, and he's awesome. We're encouraging him to learn to sing and drum at the same time, we'll try to get him to do backing vocals to get his confidence up. He really is great at both jobs but he's also young and a really nice guy without much experience.

Funny thing about engaging the audience, look at this video of early Rush; Geddy does all the singing but John Rutsey was the one talking up the crowd!
 
#30
::::BASSIST:::: said:
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.
Click to expand...

My bar band in the late 80's had a drummer who sang lead a lot. We set up with the drums stage right ala Night Ranger. That way when he sang (his mic was high-hat side) he looked at the audience. It worked well. He would also jump out front and when whenever we had any friends who were drummers get up and jam with us.
 
#34
Yeah I think it is more common than people expect, but still one of those things that will make people remember your band. One of my all time favorite bands has the drummer doing the majority of the vocals(from autumn to ashes) and he is probably my favorite vocalist.
 
#35
I am in a cover band where the lead singer plays percussion / congos and bongos.....but also plays drums. The drummer sings and plays a mean harmonica. We have the drummer come up front and play harmonica and the lead singers plays drums for a few tunes. This works really well but i would not want the drummer to be singing lead full time behind the kit. The problem is the visual....tough to make any eye contact or engage the audience when the drums are the back of the stage. Night Ranger used to put the drummer on the side of the stage up front with the bass drum turned to the side facing the band. The drummer / lead singer would be facing the audience making eye contact over his high hat.
 
#40
I did just that for a while in couple different bands. One was a classic rock cover band, and the other was a swing band. I agree with moving the drum kit further forward. Another thing I did was angle the set about 45 degrees to my right. This left me less obscured, as the only piece of hardware that was directly between me and the front of the stage was the Hi Hat.

Also, Karen Carpenter was quite a drummer.
 

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