Band front person change dilemmas

[BassAdder60]

Our female fronted rock covers band is facing a dilemma and a challenge to find a new singer for 2024.

Many auditions later and we have yet to find anyone remotely close. 
 

We have discussed the affect of having a female singer who will be compared to the original singer and unless they are as good or better they will always be seen as a “lesser” performer.

 

Based on that we are thinking about a male singer and re-inventing the band 

 

A male singer wouldn’t be compared as much I feel to the outgoing female and of course opens up for other song opportunities.

 

We have had around 10 female applicants, 6 who made it to audition stage and not one was suitable. 
 

This is our dilemma and one we need to solve by end 2023 

[diskwave]

Good female rock singers are rarer than hens teeth.. but as you know the great thing about them is they reach those high notes that our heroes could only achieve as young sprogs.

From experience if I remember rightly its also a good idea too if said female has a female friend to keep her company. All male rock outfits are a just a tad intimidating. Anyway, keep looking if thats what u really need.

[NoRhino]

1 hour ago, BassAdder60 said:

6 who made it to audition stage and not one was suitable.

What was it that made you decide against these applicants?  Were any of them close?  In which case perhaps invite them back and really work with them.  On the plus side you have four months to get the best of them up to speed.  

[BassAdder60]

21 minutes ago, NoRhino said:

What was it that made you decide against these applicants?  Were any of them close?  In which case perhaps invite them back and really work with them.  On the plus side you have four months to get the best of them up to speed.  

Sadly not one of those invited could actually sing well enough to front a rock covers band. 
Well there was one but she wanted to earn a living from singing so that wasn’t going to happen with us ! 

[Dan Dare]

1 hour ago, greavesbass said:

Good female rock singers are rarer than hens teeth..

 

This, I'm afraid. Those without issues/baggage (also applies to the male of the species) are even rarer, ime.

 

2 hours ago, BassAdder60 said:

We have discussed the affect of having a female singer who will be compared to the original singer and unless they are as good or better they will always be seen as a “lesser” performer.

 

Memories are short. People may say "She's not as good as your previous singer" a couple of times, but that will soon end. The sensible answer, of course, is "She's finding her feet. Rome wasn't built in a day", etc.

 

You are unlikely to find someone who can spring, fully formed, into the job immediately, unless yours is a pro' band that can offer all the perks. In your shoes, I'd look to find someone with the right attributes - voice quality, appearance, attitude, etc - and work with them to grow into the role. It's either that or re-invent the band, which would probably involve just as much work.

 

 

[BassAdder60]

6 minutes ago, Dan Dare said:

 

This, I'm afraid. Those without issues/baggage (also applies to the male of the species) are even rarer, ime.

 

 

Memories are short. People may say "She's not as good as your previous singer" a couple of times, but that will soon end. The sensible answer, of course, is "She's finding her feet. Rome wasn't built in a day", etc.

 

You are unlikely to find someone who can spring, fully formed, into the job immediately, unless yours is a pro' band that can offer all the perks. In your shoes, I'd look to find someone with the right attributes - voice quality, appearance, attitude, etc - and work with them to grow into the role. It's either that or re-invent the band, which would probably involve just as much work.

 

 

All good advice .. some applicants ( female ) are even reluctant to send you clips or a pic !! 
As you say a good female rock singer are very rare. Our singer can go from tenor to mezzo soprano and looks hot too !! You can see the problem we have ! 
The set is 80% male bands material so this is also a challenge for many females. The right guy and a tweak to the set and a quick re-brand and off we go which seems the more likely option at the moment 

[Geek99]

Why not one each gender ? Or two not so good females, then they won’t feel so exposed 

[BassAdder60]

14 minutes ago, Geek99 said:

Why not one each gender ? Or two not so good females, then they won’t feel so exposed 

Yep that’s being considered too 

In fact we will have a handover period where new singer can co sing with the current singer 

[itu]

One band that my friend has been seeing since they started has a music teacher as a singer. Friend told me that she was a chore when they started two years ago, and now she's the star! If you get someone who can sing, the charisma will follow.

[chris_b]

Why is your current singer leaving?

[BassAdder60]

6 minutes ago, chris_b said:

Why is your current singer leaving?

Her hubby is in the USAF and they will be posted to new location 

Our singer is American 

[chris_b]

Any more singers on the base?

[BassAdder60]

4 minutes ago, chris_b said:

Any more singers on the base?

We thought about that but ideally we don’t want to go through this again ( they tend to be here for 3 yrs max ) although for the right singer we would consider it perhaps 

[Acebassmusic]

2 hours ago, BassAdder60 said:

We thought about that but ideally we don’t want to go through this again ( they tend to be here for 3 yrs max ) although for the right singer we would consider it perhaps 

I can understand not wanting to go through the change of personnel too often. It's a bit of a pain and inconvenience, however:

How many bands stay together for 3 years?

Can all the current band members guarantee that they will still be in the band in 3 years time?

If the band can't guarantee the above points 100% then why expect it from anyone joining the band?

 

If you find a great singer and they're only going to be around for 1 year then I would go with it. It gives you 1 more year of active gigging and 1 year to find a replacement and get them up to speed. If your band already has a name that's known in your area I wouldn't "rebrand" due to changing 1 member as it will take time for people to become familiar with the new band name etc.

It sounds to me as if you've been blessed with a great front person who can really sing. Not always easy to replace but some of the singers I took into my band took a little time to settle in, open up and then they really shone with a bit of patience and support. Good luck

 

Edited August 13, 2023 by Acebassmusic
Spilling mistace

[BigRedX]

IME unless your singer is also the main songwriter for the band they matter less than they (or the rest of the band) would like to think, and especially for a covers band.

 

In one of the covers bands I have been in they had at various times 2 different male and 2 different female singers, no-one in the audience ever seemed to mind who was actually fronting the band. The only time it has caused a problem is when I foolishly said I would come back on bass for one gig so long as they did a set full of songs that I already knew. When said set actually materialised it for male singer who had been in the band when I first joined and not the female singer from when I last played with them (who was taking a break from the band and the male singer had stepped in, like me, to help out for one gig), and while I had played all the songs in the set before, there were a good number that I had only played a couple of times and not for about 4 years!

[martin8708]

I suppose you will be judging all new applicants against your existing singer , who sounds fantastic, so you’re probably setting yourself up for disappointment if you’re looking for a direct replacement . As others have mentioned , perhaps try nurturing a less fantastic singer who may surprise you a little further down the line .

Talking from personal experience , I’m a middle of the road bass player who has stepped into far bigger shoes than I deserve, but I offer other skills such as backing vocals / PA supply and set up , band promotion /getting gigs which previous bass players did not offer .

[Geek99]

True and a good point.
Maybe you can find a less amazing singer who can also play violin or harmonica or some-such, an additional string to his/her bow that takes you in a new direction 

Edited August 13, 2023 by Geek99

[thebrig]

On 13/08/2023 at 09:46, BassAdder60 said:

We have had around 10 female applicants, 6 who made it to audition stage and not one was suitable.

Where on earth do you find TEN applicants? 🤔

 

We've been looking for a decent vocalist for the past three years, there just don't seem to be any out there around my area. 😟

[Phil Starr]

I feel your pain. Replacing your singer is the most disruptive thing that can happen to a band. Any decent guitarist, bassist or keys player is going to be able to bang out most or all of your set. The human voice is just not that adaptable and your singer is inevitably your front person. If the songs don’t suit you will have to drop and replace them. That’s just reality, they have to sell the song not just sing the notes. It’s hugely disruptive and not really the singers fault.

 

I really think you’ve answered your own question 80% of your songs are ‘male’. Look for a singer male or female but if 80% of your songs were written for male voices you have to be realistic about what the most likely outcome is.

 

[BassAdder60]

24 minutes ago, Phil Starr said:

I feel your pain. Replacing your singer is the most disruptive thing that can happen to a band. Any decent guitarist, bassist or keys player is going to be able to bang out most or all of your set. The human voice is just not that adaptable and your singer is inevitably your front person. If the songs don’t suit you will have to drop and replace them. That’s just reality, they have to sell the song not just sing the notes. It’s hugely disruptive and not really the singers fault.

 

I really think you’ve answered your own question 80% of your songs are ‘male’. Look for a singer male or female but if 80% of your songs were written for male voices you have to be realistic about what the most likely outcome is.

 

Wise words .. thank you 

Yes it’s looking unlikely a female replacement is going to be found and we need the new singer onboard by Dec latest 

A male singer is more likely to be found around our parts so we will see what the next few months produce 

[Lozz196]

The one problem in rock is that although many songs are recorded by male artists they were young when they did this so had the range, getting more mature people to hit those notes can be difficult - Axl/Elton/McCartney to name a few.
 

Of course if Elton does audition you should take him, he might be worth the publicity…..

[BassAdder60]

47 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

The one problem in rock is that although many songs are recorded by male artists they were young when they did this so had the range, getting more mature people to hit those notes can be difficult - Axl/Elton/McCartney to name a few.
 

Of course if Elton does audition you should take him, he might be worth the publicity…..

Yes that’s so true and valid. Elton hasn’t enquired but there is still time !

 

I think location is playing a part too 

 

We are in a great location to find a tractor driver or farmer but the Wurzels etc isn’t our aim !! 
 

We will find someone but it’s definitely harder these days for these old bloke bands ! 

[Phil Starr]

1 hour ago, BassAdder60 said:

Wise words .. thank you 

Yes it’s looking unlikely a female replacement is going to be found and we need the new singer onboard by Dec latest 

A male singer is more likely to be found around our parts so we will see what the next few months produce 

Good luck

[jezzaboy]

Here is what happened to us in a similar situation.

 

Our female singer in our acdc tribute band gave us notice she was leaving. She was a decent singer, popular with the punters but boy was she hard work. Anyway, we tried out a few but the one who seemed the best vocally wasn`t really a big fan of the band and had trouble remembering the words and song structures for a good while but was a super nice person so she joined.

 

Then everything went on hold for you know what. After everything got back to normal and we all got together again, our singer had learned the songs and had turned into a great front person for the band. Punters who have seen both versions of the band told us that they liked our new singer better and she was a much nicer person.

 

So taking a chance on someone worked out for us in the end and we couldn`t be happier. 

[Phil Starr]

It's always a tough one isn't it? We lost our singer and drummer during "you know what" We took a punt on a singer who had sung in choirs and acapella groups but never with a band and our drummer is an old pro who was better than the old drummer even at the audition. She's moved the band on a mile and so far so good with the singer. Both are great to work with too. Having to re-build is a pain though.