The Search For A Vocalist Dilemma - Oh What To Do?

Warrior

Warrior

Power User
I’ve been working with a vocalist friend of mine off and on since around 1981. It’s one of those musical relationships where the stuff you write is subconsciously composed with that persons style in mind. Everything I write, he sounds great on. We live in different states now and, although we still collaborate, it makes it impossible to play out with him and record as much as I would like.


I’ve been contemplating putting together a band to play a mix of my own originals as well as some covers of what I enjoy and what I think people would enjoy. At the very least, have a vocalist and I perform the material to backing tracks. Would need the vocalist to record some vocals as well. The problem is, I’m having one hell of a time finding a vocalist that I feel is a good fit. I think because I’ve grown so used to my friends sound and style and I also leave the lyrics to him as well. We’ve been musical brothers for so long – you know how that goes.


When I look on Craigslist, the talent I see is either not in the style I need or (quite frankly) just aren’t very good.


So have any of you been in a similar situation?

What resources did you use to find the right person?

How do you maintain creative control over a project while still giving some creative freedom to the other folk(s)? (without giving them a salary)


I’ve thought about handling the vocals myself but:

  1. I’ve never considered myself a “vocalist”

  2. I hate singing and playing.

Interested in your thoughts.
 
We've been searching for a vocalist to my band's taste for a very long time. And we tried with a few guys, some of them really nice people with a great attitude and working moral. We wanted it so hard to work but we knew every time something was missing. The years passed by and I took over the responsibility on the mic in the studio for recording demos, always keeping in mind that I'm doing it pro forma, until someone some day records it for real.

The feedback to my singing was surprisingly relatively good but I was the only guitar player in our band and I've dedicated myself fully to the guitar. It was impossible for me to play and sing live at the same time plus I'm not a frontman profile. Finally after many years, we've found a singer. It was a younger guy, a cousin of a friend of ours, who grew up sitting in the corner of our rehearsal room. He came back after we didn't see him for a while, with an incredible voice. It was a perfect match right away, since he was our biggest fan, he knew almost all of our songs and he could sing anything.

The summary: a few months later, I was moving to another country. That was it with the band and our career. We all meet now once a year for 2 days to jam and hang out when I'm home but there isn't really any time to practice no more. Sadly.

Keep your eyes and ears open, be open for unexpected and arm yourself with a bit of patience. And decide only when you're absolutely sure. Wish you good luck.
 
Warrior said:
I’ve been working with a vocalist friend of mine off and on since around 1981. It’s one of those musical relationships where the stuff you write is subconsciously composed with that persons style in mind. Everything I write, he sounds great on. We live in different states now and, although we still collaborate, it makes it impossible to play out with him and record as much as I would like.

I’ve been contemplating putting together a band to play a mix of my own originals as well as some covers of what I enjoy and what I think people would enjoy. At the very least, have a vocalist and I perform the material to backing tracks. Would need the vocalist to record some vocals as well. The problem is, I’m having one hell of a time finding a vocalist that I feel is a good fit. I think because I’ve grown so used to my friends sound and style and I also leave the lyrics to him as well. We’ve been musical brothers for so long – you know how that goes.
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Is this purely for the enjoyment of live performance? Or do you plan on putting the recordings on a CD or something? If you plan to record a CD, how important is it that the live singer is the same as the recorded singer? Your original singer could record vocals at a studio local to him, and send you the raw wavs for mixing/mastering. You can write songs the way you want, with your original singer's style in mind, without any need to adapt to a new singer. If you need face-to-face time to flesh certain ideas out, skype. When you perform live with a singer local to you, he can certainly add his spin to the live performance, but the song's writing credit would still belong to you and the original singer.

We recently reconnected with our original singer after 25 years. We are an ocean apart, literally. We are currently recording (which is why I'm still on Q7.02, but I digress). He does vocals at a studio near him, and sends the files to us for mixing/mastering here. We're doing the recording under our original band name.

We haven't crossed this bridge yet, but if we ever perform these originals live, obviously we won't have our original singer, however, he is still listed as a band member under our memo of understanding (MOU). Any new, local singer performing our original songs live would be doing so as a fill-in. His pay would be on a per-gig basis, and would be agreed upon by all other band members.

As far as FINDING a local singer... sorry I'm not much help. Maybe try asking fellow bands if they "know" anybody. We did that initially. One singer was referred to us, but that fizzled when by luck, we reconnected with our old singer.

How do you maintain creative control over a project while still giving some creative freedom to the other folk(s)? (without giving them a salary)
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If you want to have creative control while allowing creative freedom with the new singer, you need to have veto power! :smilingimp: In our band, whoever writes a particular song has ultimate veto power with creative input from others. Sounds like a dictatorship, but it's really not, lol. It's just establishing beforehand how we will agree to what goes into a song.
 
A subject close to my....uh....panic button, I guess.

I'm lucky enough to be working with two sane and very talented vocalists, neither of which are even slightly interested in the same kind of music as me.

I like playing. Period. ...but sometimes I wonder if I'll ever get to play music of my choice.

About a decade back, I was with a group that played (at least some) stuff I liked. We spent years looking for a competent vocalist and never found one.
 
I'll give you advice from the perspective of a vocalist:

I would recommend, going out to bars and clubs and listen/look for someone. Even if people are in a working/established band, they are sometimes looking for a side project or possibly to scale down and take on a 'slower' project.
If you see someone you like....it never hurts to ask if they are looking for a side project.
Sometimes that is the best option for someone in a cover band that wants to do 'some' originals, but doesn't want to quit their current band and go after the original scene full time. Side projects are always fun to check out. Then, maybe you make a connection, and maybe you don't.
Recommending this because that is how I found (or was found) for one of my most successful bands.

I was gigging in a cover band for years, and after a gig, someone came up and asked if I might be interested in a side project (original music).
Since I was only doing covers, I was certainly interested to at least hear what they were doing.
I went down to check them out and 'jam with them' (as much as you can do as a vocalist meeting a band for the first time and hearing their music that does not have vocals yet). We worked on one song almost the entire time (they never asked me to actually join the band), and 1 year later we've got music on the radio and are playing monster shows. Nothing I was looking for or expecting.
Still play with these guys 15 years later and they're some of my best friends. Go out and scout some talent....
 
Desmo808 said:
Is this purely for the enjoyment of live performance? Or do you plan on putting the recordings on a CD or something? If you plan to record a CD, how important is it that the live singer is the same as the recorded singer? Your original singer could record vocals at a studio local to him, and send you the raw wavs for mixing/mastering.
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Purely enjoyment of playing live and sharing my music with anybody who will listen to it. I do plan on releasing the music on CD and digital. I am working remotely with my original vocalist but it's hard to rely purely on this way of working for several reasons. It would be nice to work with him and another vocalist.

BBN said:
I'll give you advice from the perspective of a vocalist:
Go out and scout some talent....
Click to expand...

Good advice, I'll put this in my bag of tricks as well.
 
You can work with many different people remotely, at least for recording, and some writing, but then you are stuck with the problem of what to do with your work. Writing in person with other songwriters gives the most spontaneous result. But again, what are you going to do for live performance? The old adage of record and then tour to support the album is still valid if you want exposure for your music. If I were in your shoes, I would be checking out local working bands and find a singer who might be interested in a side project. Also, you could try placing an ad at the local music store, but be prepared to kiss a lot of frogs to get your prince.
 
I think any guitar player who has ever played in a band has suffered the vocalist search. The reason is clear: Lots of people play guitar (and drums). There are very few good singers out there though.

My band has not one, but 3 (THREE!) outstanding vocalists. How did I pull that off you ask? In a word... theft.
I stole them from other bands. I would see a band, be super impressed by the vocalist, and less so by the band. I'd take a card, or write down website/email whatever... and then contact the band and get in touch with the singer. Usually, they are on facebook. Then... I'd contact them to see if they were available for a great gig... just a one time thing you know.... (who would turn that down?) They show up to do one rehearsal... and fall in love with my band. (We're pretty good I guess. Dynamic, accurate, powerful.... all things that a lot of the competition lack.) Presto. New lead singer.

Or, I would go audition for bands or do the hired gun thing, and once I got there... hit it off with a vocalist. I'd play a gig (or 3 or 4) with them and then tell them about my band... and they would come check it out.... snag. Mine. I should say that I started out that way... joined a band, and then the singer and I broke away. Then the second singer saw us and wanted to be a part of it. The third we poached through networking. Each one was easier... because singers love singing with other great singers to back them up.

Now we have 2 males and a female sharing duty. Our harmonies are off the hook!
Have no fear, we're set now, and I'm done poaching...

PS. Keyboard players are harder to find than singers. That took 2 years to find.
 
Audition lots of people. Don't be afraid to say, "It's not working". We always pick two of our songs and let the vocalist pick one for an audition. That way we get to see how they learn the stuff we like to play and deliver it and we get to hear them doing something they should be completely comfortable with.

It's a slog for sure.
 
This post makes me remember something Gary Burton said in his auto-biography.
He was discussing problems with many vocalists and said something to the effect:
Drummers and singers are the only musicians who do not need to understand music theory.
He was NOT talking about either Peggy Lee or Ella Fitzgerald. :)
Then again we're talking jazz...
 
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