Just wondering...

[richntiff]

It's a tough call. One thing to consider - he was the BL and pulled the rug out from multiple venues. So - I'm sure that his reputation with them isn't stellar. His presence in your reformed - well received - band may raise some eyebrows, as venue owners tend to remember being burned. In any case - I think a band with multiple vocalists taking turns on leads is generally superior to a band that has one lead singer - unless that lead is exceptionally talented. My current band - 3 of us sing lead throughout the night, and I really think it's the reason people like us. We are able to play a very wide variety of music because of the vocal ranges/styles that we have. There aren't many dedicated lead singers who have the ability to pull of multiple genres/eras/styles/keys well. So if you have a situation with multiple leads now, you may honestly be a broader appeal than having one (problematic) lead singer.

 

[mdogs]

I had a similar situation happen. BL, singer and guitarist, dissolved the band early one Sunday morning after a less than spectacular gig the night before. The female singer and he had been doing acoustic gigs for a while and he said that they would play out our commitments. Part of the reason that the gig the night before was not great was because he was calling tunes that they had been doing acoustically and we had never even talked about doing as a full band. Some had chord sheets, some had nothing more than him saying the song was in A major. Some, I had never even heard of, they were country and I avoid that. Not fun.

Anyway, he and I had not been on great terms for a while, in fact I came extremely close to walking out of a gig a couple of months before that because of something he had done or said. He was more than happy to play all the remaining shows with just her and him. But, what he failed to think about was that I had booked the majority of those shows. So, with a couple of phone calls and a couple of favors cashed in, all those shows went away. Of course, nobody told him that, from what I heard the fallout was kind of ugly.

A few years later, he and the female singer had put an entirely new band together and were playing near me. I decided I would go check them out, they were doing mostly the same stuff with a bunch more country mixed in. Lets just say that a heavy metal shredder (shredder might be too kind) and a bass player that has no sense of time is not a good combination for that style band. I could only stand to watch for about 1/2 set, then I got out of there.

Oh ya, he also lost control of the band website and facebook page.

 

[turf3]

I too had a similar situation - the band was getting tighter and better, we got a great lead singer who brought all kinds of great ideas, gigs lined up as far as you can see - and then one day the leader just flaked out and disappeared. What the heck?

About a year or two later, he formed a different band. Like an idiot I signed on with that one too - and in about three months, just as that one was getting good traction, off he went again. That time, I learned my lesson.

 

[Al T.]

When someone shows you what they are, believe them.

 

[pepj]

What he did was one thing...the way he did it was not at all good.
Since you moved on, you should have replaced him if you lack what he had vocally so you wouldn't even need to think about his recrnt overtures.

I'd keep him at arms lenght now..and certainly musically.
His actions were weird so no telling what he might be thinking so I'd make sure he couldn't affect us again.

But yep, you need to check on the other guys and what they think.
I'd be surprised and concerned if they wanted him anywhere near the band without some defined and meaningful/strong conditions at the very least.

When you move on, its good to move upwards too...

 

[Pocket Dave]

Short band meeting = good idea; Let us know how it turns out.

At the risk of getting ahead of myself, IME your former BL is probably trying to position himself for some kind of re-entry. My number-1 concern would be his attempting to reestablish the relationship he had with the venues and jeopardizing future gigs if he pulls the plug again. He may say he's willing to come back as just a band member and not a BL, but old habits and all...

I'm all about second chances, but it's not generally good HR policy to rehire someone who blew things up so thoroughly on his way out the door.

 

[One_Dude]

So here's an update. We had a short band meeting after today's gig. We played at one of our favorite venues where we would always get a good size audience. Several people came up after our show and remembered us from the former band. Everyone who talked to us was complimentary and very supportive . Some folks asked us about our former BL. We just explained that he wanted to take some time off from music, and we chose to continue under a new name. So we were well received and the venue scheduler asked when we can come back.

We have had positive experiences with each venue we have played so far, whIch is about half of our former rotation. And that helped make our decision pretty easy. No one wants to invite our former BL in to our new band. So while we haven't burned any bridges at this point, there's no way that our former BL will be joining us.

We still don't know if our former BL is looking for an invite or if he's just being friendly. And knowing him, theres no way he would join without wanting to be the BL. So at this point it's a non-issue. We have added a couple of new venues to our gig list, and will be contacting a couple more.

Thanks again for all your responses.

Thump on,

One_Dude

 

[4StringDave]

I'll try to condense a long story into a shorter form. I joined a long standing successful band almost six years ago. We had steady gigs and got lots of compliments from both audience members and venue decision makers. With several gigs scheduled, and with no notice, the BL announced via email that he was dissolving the band immediately and canceling all remaining gigs.

That was eight months ago and I've had no contact with the BL since then. He kicked all band members to the curb with the explanation that he wasn't having fun anymore. Four of us were really pissed and decided to go on together with a new band name playing mostly the same venues. We added new material while keeping some of the old, and rehearsed for three months and have now been gigging about twice a month for the last two or three months. Our band members bought a new, expensive sound system, and some additional gear that we needed. Venue decision makers are happy with what they hear from us and want to immediately schedule us for future dates.

Fast forward to today; our former BL has started to make contact with band members just being friendly. He is aware of the success of our current band, and I'm wondering if he wants back in. This may not be his intent, but at this point we don't know. Are we as good without his really strong vocals; the answer is no. At the same time, we don't want a repeat of what he did eight months ago.

So we don't know his intent, but if he wants to join our current band, there can never be the same level of trust that we previously had with him.

Has anyone here experienced a similar situation?

Thump on,

One_Dude

Sounds like a touch of jealousy that you' ve moved on. In my experience, band harmony is far more important than top vocals. Audiences can sense and feed off positive or negative vibes coming off stage. Stick with the new band/lineup.

 

[Michedelic]

I'll try to condense a long story into a shorter form. I joined a long standing successful band almost six years ago. We had steady gigs and got lots of compliments from both audience members and venue decision makers. With several gigs scheduled, and with no notice, the BL announced via email that he was dissolving the band immediately and canceling all remaining gigs.

That was eight months ago and I've had no contact with the BL since then. He kicked all band members to the curb with the explanation that he wasn't having fun anymore. Four of us were really pissed and decided to go on together with a new band name playing mostly the same venues. We added new material while keeping some of the old, and rehearsed for three months and have now been gigging about twice a month for the last two or three months. Our band members bought a new, expensive sound system, and some additional gear that we needed. Venue decision makers are happy with what they hear from us and want to immediately schedule us for future dates.

Fast forward to today; our former BL has started to make contact with band members just being friendly. He is aware of the success of our current band, and I'm wondering if he wants back in. This may not be his intent, but at this point we don't know. Are we as good without his really strong vocals; the answer is no. At the same time, we don't want a repeat of what he did eight months ago.

So we don't know his intent, but if he wants to join our current band, there can never be the same level of trust that we previously had with him.

Has anyone here experienced a similar situation?

Thump on,

One_Dude

That’s some serious ghosting/bridge burning, and if he didn’t offer up an explanation…family matters, personal crisis, gone to rehab, whatever…and cancelled gigs without a discussion or even a heads up, he’d be a major persona non grata in my book.

 

[40Hz]

Happened to me. Lead singer/BL pulled out of an all originals band and took half our originals with him and refused to let us perform them anymore despite the fact the rest if the band had made significant creative contributions in terms of lyrics, melodies, and especially arrangements to each of them. This was only a month before we were scheduled to do our first real showcase at a venue that was into booking what they considered up and coming bands. The record labels (the only real game in town back then) were known to have AR scouts at these shows. We tried auditioning and getting a new singer up to speed in time. But we ended up cancelling because it just wasn’t ready. Figured it was better to take a pass rather than show up unprepared, blow it, and never get another chance with that venue.

Our old BL joined another band with his material. A few weeks later he tried to get our drummer to jump ship and join him. His stint with this new band lasted less than a year. Shortly after that he tried getting back in touch with some of us. We were very polite but made it clear he he burnt the bridges behind him when he left the way he did, and that the “can we just be friends” option was off the table.

“Burn me once, shame on you. Burn me twice? Shame on me.” as the saying goes.

 

[Ggaa]

Happened to me. Lead singer/BL pulled out of an all originals band and took half our originals with him and refused to let us perform them anymore despite the fact the rest if the band had made significant creative contributions in terms of lyrics, melodies, and especially arrangements to each of them. This was only a month before we were scheduled to do our first real showcase at a venue that was into booking what they considered up and coming bands. The record labels (the only real game in town back then) were known to have AR scouts at these shows. We tried auditioning and getting a new singer up to speed in time. But we ended up cancelling because it just wasn’t ready. Figured it was better to take a pass rather than show up unprepared, blow it, and never get another chance with that venue.

Our old BL joined another band with his material. A few weeks later he tried to get our drummer to jump ship and join him. His stint with this new band lasted less than a year. Shortly after that he tried getting back in touch with some of us. We were very polite but made it clear he he burnt the bridges behind him when he left the way he did, and that the “can we just be friends” option was off the table.

“Burn me once, shame on you. Burn me twice? Shame on me.” as the saying goes.

He's available to the industry.

 

[40Hz]

He's available to the industry.

It was "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…”

I’ve long since ceased to care about it.