Nick,
+1 to everything you mentioned regarding the aspects of singing, but the singer is also fronting the band so I think you also need some one who can interact with the audience maybe entertain them if we have a small malfuntion and need to kill some time. Now I may be pushing to expect to find someone that can do all that so I'll settle for a decent singer of any gender.
Also I'd like to have someone with a bit of attitude/showmanship if you know what I mean. I never liked seeing bands where everyone just stands there like a bunch of trees that never move.
"It's all about stickin it to the man!"
It's a long way to the top if you want to rock n roll!
I never liked seeing bands where everyone just stands there like a bunch of trees that never move.
That's gotta be a real challenge for gigging bands. I've seen lots of them crammed into little corners. One wrong step and a chord gets unplugged or amp gets kicked.
I read once where the Stones had a recurring gig in a small space and Mick had to learn his moves up and down instead of side to side. Probably why he does so many of those wierd wiggles today.
Roy
"I wonder if a composer ever intentionally composed a piece that was physically impossible to play and stuck it away to be found years later after his death, knowing it would forever drive perfectionist musicians crazy." - George Carlin
Roy,
Yea that is true I wouldn't expect is to be playing big venues so I guess I'll settle for a bit of showmanship and hold off on the rock n roll moves but the band needs to look like they are having fun, it's contagious and even we don't sound good we can pretend we sound good!
"It's all about stickin it to the man!"
It's a long way to the top if you want to rock n roll!
we had a local band with a female singer back in the late 70's to about 1982. The lead guitar and drummer were very good but the singer packed them in. She did bodacious version of "Highway to Hell" :twisted:
Well another update to this singer saga:
Well after a lot of waiting and rescheduling the female did not show up Friday night even though she was given directions. etc. She played phone tag with the drummer and bassist and mysteriously couldn't find her way even with directions.
Don't know what the story is and if she plans on coming back but I thik she has some stage fright and might not be up to it.
We were supposed to re-audition the other guy who came by last week since he now supposedly worked on several songs, but his daughter was ill and he didn't show up either so we will see what happens with that.
"It's all about stickin it to the man!"
It's a long way to the top if you want to rock n roll!
Have you discussed this with Wes? Are you and he seeing the same singers?
ha no haven't talked to Wes about it but I know they've been looking for a singer as well. We are 40 minutes apart so it would really be a one in a million chance of finding the same people.
But the more I get involved in this music stuff the more work there seems to be. It was hard enough settling on what music to play and now trying to find a halfway decent singer has all been near impossible.
And we haven't even played out yet. Only the other guitar player has any real "gigging" experience and that was limited and a long time ago. So we have to go through all the growing pains of the setup/sound check/ what did we forget to bring, etc.
It's a lot of work and we haven't even played out.
"It's all about stickin it to the man!"
It's a long way to the top if you want to rock n roll!
I don't want this to sound like I'm saying to go out and steal someone else's singer, because I'm definitely not, but ... I know several musicians who work in more than one band at a time. If anybody knows of a good singer in another band, who might fit into what you're trying to do, there's no harm in asking him/her to see if they would be interested in being in two bands. Of course, there will come that time when he/she is needed on the same night by both bands and a decision will have to be made by the singer as to which band is his/her "primary" and which is "secondary". Anyway, just something to think about ...
:D
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-:¦:- ((¸¸.·´ -:¦:- Elecktrablue -:¦:-
"Don't wanna ride no shootin' star. Just wanna play on the rhythm guitar." Emmylou Harris, "Rhythm Guitar" from "The Ballad of Sally Rose"
EB,
I'll take anyone from anywhere at this point. I'm not out there much mingling so it'll be hard for me to find someone personally but I have to of my worst men on the job the drummer and bass player. They seem to find them but unfortunately none have worked out I think partly because they don't prescreen them before they ask them, they just ask anyone and everyone.
"It's all about stickin it to the man!"
It's a long way to the top if you want to rock n roll!
OK first of all congrats to ph0ange for finding a singer so quickly I wish I could say the same.
But unfortunately the drama continues;
The guy that was going to come by last week ended up getting arrested and was in jail the night of the audition so he was kind of tied up sort of...anyway. He had already missed his last audition becuase his daughter was sick (which may have been true) but there was already to much baggage with him and I don't need anymore drama in my life so he was told not to bother we were done with him. I honestly don't think it was going to work anyway so it's no big loss yet.
We ended up talking with the girl that was supposed to try out a couple Friday's ago and then miraculously wanted to bring a bunch of friends with her and kept missing our calls didn't really act like she really wantes to sing. I personally think she was over her head but we left it up to her and told her to get in touch if she's interested. She hasn't called back and I don't expect her to.
So back to square one again. The bad thing is we have two or three bars were we could be playing 5 -10 songs whenever we want but I don't want to do it without a decent singer and the other guitar player is singing most of the songs and he doesn't want to sing either.
I'm running out of ideas other than trying the Craiglist thing.
"It's all about stickin it to the man!"
It's a long way to the top if you want to rock n roll!
well im glad you told the other guy not to bother, the last thing you want is to get somebody in your not entirely happy with as an individual.
anyway, good luck with the ongoing search!
"I like to play that guitar. I have to stare at it while I'm playing it because I'm not very good at playing it."
Noel Gallagher (who took the words right out of my mouth)
Why not do a CL ad? You can lay out what you guys play, lay out some requirements of basic courtesies (like being reliable, not too much a drunk, etc), lay out your band's skill level, etc, etc. Don't sound too anal, but come across with some expectations set. Worst that can happen is it doesn't work out. Not like you ain't been down that road yet. Got fer it.
Or steal Wes's next singer. Just takes a little patience......
Roy
"I wonder if a composer ever intentionally composed a piece that was physically impossible to play and stuck it away to be found years later after his death, knowing it would forever drive perfectionist musicians crazy." - George Carlin
U were originally worried about being sexist and now you don't even get the chance!
It seems that you are putting a lot of work into this and making good decisions about who you want in your band so I'm sure you will avoid a lot of drama. CL could be a good step, i'm sure that all types of musicians check it on a weekly basis.
GooD Luck!
I'm thinking besides CL we might get lucky if we go and play some open mic's. The band is decent and the other guitar play is very good and I think maybe if we did some open mic's and people heard how we sounded they might be more inclined to audition. we'd at least be at places where other musicians might be so I'm sure it couldn't hurt, the problem will be trying to convince the guitar player to do it. he sings most of the songs and although he's not horrible he's not great either and he'd rather just play guitar.
I'd love to sing but I really suck and I'm not a beleiever that I could ever be decent enough and I don't have the time to "become" a singer so that's out.
We have the reverse problem with the Bass player. if we let him he'd want to sing every song but ouch that's painful and I try and keep a mic away from him every chance I get. But it doesn't seem to sink in no matter how many times I tell him he's not a singer and that I'd never go on stage he sings. I've known him for years so I can be pretty upfront with him.
On a side note totally unrelated to this thread when we were getting ready to practice Friday the wife came down and grabbed my guitar and wanted to play. For those of you that haven't read my posts she's been playing for many years and is very good player (way better than me and she lets me know too) but has never played anything in front of the band.
So she grabs my guitar and wants me to get some distortion cranked. I play through a Fender Deluxe and at the time had it going through teh Marshall Guv'nor pedal. Anyway she didn't like the amount of distortion so she wanted me to plug into the other guitar players amp which is a Marshall half-stack. he cranked the gain and volume for her (she likes her music on the heavy side) and then proceeded to rip out some Metallica songs. I'm not sure if I was proud or humiliated at my own lack of talent but the girl can seriously rock. She definitely left a "Holy Cow we didn't know you could play like that" impression on the rest of the band.
But she can't sing and she hates the music we play so don't even go there.
"It's all about stickin it to the man!"
It's a long way to the top if you want to rock n roll!
Allright, don't laugh, but I think you should try your local karaoke establishments. These people are all wannabe crooners
and are allready over the whole stage fright thing. Make it a team building exersise for the whole band. The best part is you
get to audition them without them knowing it. Whenever I see these shows there is allways one or two individuals who impress.
