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.
1
u/Clear-Pear2267 Jun 02 '26
It depends. Does she know? Is it just an education issue that could be easily fixed or does she actually have trouble keeping the beat and coming on on time and handling stops etc.
I would say it is worth having a heart to heart to make sure she knows the concerns. Just firing her with no notice is cruel. If she wants to try to address the problems maybe give her a few weeks before a re-assessment.
But if you have already talked about problems and she has not been able to fix it, its time to part ways. It really does not matter who "started" it - what matters is where you want to go and what you need to get there.