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Just when I was beginning to wonder how long I could hold this band together, as we had recently lost our very new singer, out of the blue I get an e mail from a guy about seven miles from me asking if we are still looking for a singer. Well, of course I e mailed back and said yes, with my telephone number. I am careful about giving my phone number away on the internet, you don't know who is taking it down with some nefarious thought process going on in their heads. So, I spoke with the guy, who is called Chris, and we had a good chat. By now I am straight to the point, although always well mannered and pleasant. I explained that we had recently had a singer who was told exactly what was required and then when it came to the crunch had just wasted a lot of our time. Chris explained that he was singing in a band but there were alcohol issues with the drummer and other band members and that he was fed up with them, and was looking to get involved with a decent set of guys. I explained that we were not professional players, but that we have a professional attitude and we take practices very seriously and do not mess about and weedle away on our guitars, because we do that at home. I also made it very clear about the situation with him needing to buy a pa if he was to join us, and if he wasn't then there was no point going beyond the phone call. "Not a problem" he said, so we arranged an audition for the coming Wednesday, which was this last week. Peter, our other guitarist of the yellow telecaster fame, has been away at his house in France and only contactable by letter, so communication has been slow and I did not want to audition a singer without him there. For two reasons really, one was respect for him, and secondly he is a very wise individual when it comes to sussing people out, but as Alan,our drummer said, we need to strike while the iron is hot as there are a lot of bands out there looking for singers. So, Shaun (bass) Alan (drums) and myself decided to hold the audition ourselves as three of us would have to be in agreement anyway. Chris turned up on time, which is always a good sign, and had made an effort to at l;east try and get some of the songs he had not heard in his head and have a go at any of the fourteen songs we sent him. A very nice individual of 53 years old, he has been fronting a band for the last six years. We kicked off with my favourite Bad Company song 'I can't get enough' and he did well, we also did Alright Now, whiskey in the Jar and a fair few others. Chris did struggle with some of the keys we played in, which were actually geared up to myself, but on those songs he was comfortable with he was ok. He wasn't the best and not the worst, but definitely a guy we felt we could work with, so after the audition was through, (I had already informed him that we would not be telling him on the night) Alan, Shaun and myself stayed behind for twenty minutes and talked about it. The upshot was that we decided to go with him and that I would contact Pete and let him know of our decision. It has surprised me just how hard it has been to find singers, so we didn't want to pass up on a guy who could take on the role. The next day I got a call from Pete, just back from France and getting in touch. I explained what we had done and he was very supportive and said that we had done the right thing. I have known Pete for a long time now and I have a lot of respect for him, and explained that I was concerned about going ahead without him being there, but I needn't have worried. A true gent, he was just thrilled that we had a singer on board. So now all we have to do is get things going, and hopefully I will be soon telling you all about playing some live gigs. Thanks for reading, and best to all, Mark.1 point
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Since my last entry, events just seem to have conspired against us. My dear friend and fellow guitarist in the band, Peter, is having tests because he thinks his cancer has come back. On top of that, he and his wife have gone off to their place in the south of France for an indefinite period of time, I think that he just needs to get some peace and quiet and get away from it all. I sincerely hope that he is ok, I have a huge amount of respect for Pete and I am sure that he has good reason for going away as he was so committed to the band. The first thing I knew about it was when I received an airmail letter from him explaining his situation and that he was therefore resigning from the band. Well, friendship counts for a lot, and I wrote back and said as far as I was concerned I would wait for him to come home and see what happens then. In the meantime, we had an e mail from our new singer saying that he could no longer be our singer because his mother had had a fall and damaged her hip. Personally, I feel he was just another time waster who didn't want to fund his own gear. The next thing that happened was that our drummer, Allan, decided that he had put too much energy into the band and now it was falling apart he would look elsewhere for a gig. To be honest, he is a fine drummer and good guy, I could understand his point of view. There was no falling out, just decisions to see what else is about. Allan said if he found anything and they want another guitar player he would recommend me... So, that just leaves me and Shaun, who have played together for years. For now, we are having a rest from things and just trying to work out our next move. Maybe losing the singer was a pain in the neck, but Pete pulling out was such a blow, he was such an integral part of the band and his absence was just too much to overcome. He is an incredibly nice guy. Shaun and I are putting everything on hold until Pete comes home, in this case it's more than about who is and is not in a band, it's about friendship and genuine care for each other. When Pete comes home, we will get together and see where we are all up to, but for now, it seems that all we can do is put it down. It has been a hard journey putting this band together, I don't know why it should have been so. the chemistry between the four musicians was great, both as players and people. In the end, it was the struggle to find a committed vocalist that was just too much, there just did't seem to be any one out there available who was really wanting to give it a go. The sad thing is, that although there are far better musicians than myself out there, our band could have done quite well and it is sad to have to lay it to rest. On the other side of the coin, Shaun and I are quite happy to get a rest from all the effort of trying to make it work. I am sure that in the not too distant future we will be making new plans. It's been a great journey and friendships have been made along the way that will last. Thanks for reading, Mark.-1 points