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Heritage Owners Club
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Are you experienced?

mark555

Entry posted by mark555

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OK, the gig was played, the autopsy was performed and we have hunted high and low for would be singers. We have put ads on internet sites, in music shops, and asked around. We are auditioning for a singer!

 

One guy called us up, and wanted to come for an audition, but when we said that we would expect a singer to bring a pa with him to the band, he said he was going to buy his own mic and stand, Well, I suggested to him that when the rest of us have spent a lot of money on guitars, amps and drums, it was not fair that we should subsidise a singer and let him take an equal cut of the money. A couple of days later he e mailed me and thanked me for the offer of an audition but said that he wasn't prepared to buy a PA. Well, lets see how many people will take him on those terms, good luck to them if they will.

 

However, one guy did very much want to audition with us and he said that he has his own 1200 watt PA, which is a good start, so we asked him what experience he has had, does he sing, has he been in bands, all of which brought positive answers, so the audition was set up for seven pm tonight. The band members made a special effort to get there and set up ready for when he came, and to give him his due he was ten minutes early, always a good sign. We had given him six songs we wanted him to sing and provided the PA so he didn't have to bring everything with him. Now our PA isn't the best, but there is worse, and what we have is very adequate for a rehearsal.

 

Well, it turns out that the guy has dome lots of singing, as a karaoke singer in local pubs, has never actually done a live gig and just rehearsed with bands that never got anywhere, and hasn't any experience as a front man at all, which we specifically asked for. I don't think this guy was a liar, I just think that in his mind, he met all the criteria. Anyway, he wasn't up to the job and did in fact struggle. We didn't say yes or no tonight, because we wanted to discuss it thoroughly, as was the plan from the start, but the poor guy left somewhat dejected and I think he knew that he wasn't going to get the gig. However, we treated him well, did not criticize him in any way and made him very welcome and gave him an hour and a half to show us what he could do, even encouraging him to sing other songs he knew. But there was no escaping it, we need to look elsewhere.

 

So we have made further plans to expand our search and we will be visiting music shops further afield and contacting stores where we buy our gear from. Also, making a strong effort to contact music stores that specialise in PA where singers tend to go. On a personal level, I was so thrilled just to play guitar tonight and concentrate on the playing, I felt so free and able to play mush better without having to stand behind a microphone stand. Now, lets see if we can't get a half way decent singer...

 

Thanks for reading, Mark.

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4 Comments

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fxdx99

Good luck in you singer quest, Mark. Glad that you're enjoying the guitar slinger role without being burdened as lead singer as well. Do you think the candidate pool may be limited some by having the singer provide the pa? Thankfully, most clubs around here have a house pa these days. Have been in a variety of situations from owning the entire thing myself to being a sideman where someone else owns it to each band member funding/owning a portion. They all work in their own ways. I will say that in many/most cases it was the band leader that provided the pa unless it was a group that was tight enough to divy it up. Financially sometimes the compensation was split up to allow the owner/hauling extra for the investment/time.

 

Anyway - I do hope you find a great addition to your group!

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byrdland

Good luck in you singer quest, Mark. Glad that you're enjoying the guitar slinger role without being burdened as lead singer as well. Do you think the candidate pool may be limited some by having the singer provide the pa? Thankfully, most clubs around here have a house pa these days. Have been in a variety of situations from owning the entire thing myself to being a sideman where someone else owns it to each band member funding/owning a portion. They all work in their own ways. I will say that in many/most cases it was the band leader that provided the pa unless it was a group that was tight enough to divy it up. Financially sometimes the compensation was split up to allow the owner/hauling extra for the investment/time.

 

Anyway - I do hope you find a great addition to your group!

 

Someone that is going to come in and knock your socks off will probably expect you to have jobs booked in advance. If you don't, you're most likely only going to get "novices". Provide the PA for the audition. If you are lucky enough to find a "novice" that can actually sing well, figure out how to work with him/her and worry about the PA later. If you don't have any jobs, you won't need a PA.

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TalismanRich

Mark, I can understand the logic of wanting a singer to come with a PA, but I would jump at the chance to grab a good singer regardless of the PA system. You can always buy PA equipment, but finding a great voice is so much tougher.

 

Good luck on your search.

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mark555

Thanks all for reading and your comments, which are all most welcome.

 

We are all struggling financially, and as musicians we have put all our spare cash into our own guitars, Bass's, Drums, amps, mics and what have you. We have a pa which is suitable for auditions, but we feel it only reasonable that a singer should be willing to fund his PA because in reality, it would not even cost what I have spent on guitars and amps, and if we (the musicians) are paying for a pa, it would be then unfair on us to give a singer an equal split of the money.

 

As far as bookings go, we will not accept any until we have a singer in place and the set ready. It would be worse to go around getting gigs and then cancelling them, we have done that once already and that is far from professional.

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