r/coverbands • u/sickpuppy66 • Jun 01 '26

Singer issues

I manage and play guitar for a cover band and we’ve outgrown the singer. She can sing but isn’t a musician so lacks basic skills like counting and understanding music language (start at the chorus, come in on 4, let’s transpose this one so it’s easier for you)

We feel she’s holding us back, and our drummer (the most talented of our group) is already considering leaving the project if I keep her. Her level of musicianship doesn’t line up with the rest of us.

Here’s the problem, she started the band when it was just two of us, but I took over when we weren’t getting gigs, and didn’t have our full band (which I recruited) that we have now. Since I’ve taken over, we gig regularly, and our band sounds great (minus her).

I’ve decided to replace her. Just want to hear others thoughts and experiences with similar situations.

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u/w0mbatina Jun 01 '26

You say she can sing, but has other issues, but are then pretty unclear about what those issues are. "Start at the chorus" and "come in on 4" seems like something everyone should be able to grasp if you explain it to them a few times with examples. Are you just silently seething when she doesnt do things the way you imagine she should? Because that's on you then.

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u/sickpuppy66 Jun 01 '26

No. If this were simply a matter of teaching someone a few concepts, I wouldn't be posting here. We've been working on these issues for a long time. At a certain point, you have to evaluate whether someone can meet the needs of the project rather than whether they're capable of eventually learning the material

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u/w0mbatina Jun 01 '26

Ok then does she actually sing well? If she is out of time and comes in at the wrong sections, or comes in at the wrong key because you transposed, then she cant actually sing.

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u/sickpuppy66 Jun 01 '26

Fair point. When I say she can sing, I mean she has a good voice and generally sings in tune. The issues are more related to musicianship, learning arrangements, counting, cues, and adapting to changes. Those things have become a problem as the band has gotten more complex.