texafana wrote:Is there really that much demand for Petty tribute band?!?! Except for checking out a local band at a bar for free, would anyone pay big bucks to see a Petty trib???
For what it's worth, you sound better here than your earlier demos. But still...this is not a vocal showcase band. Hate to see you resort to this, but I understand your voice has changed...probably forever...and you want to continue to earn money doing what you love to do...sing. Much respect for that. But still...this is kind of sad to be honest. Going from emulating one of the best voices in melodic rock to now...well...emulating one of the most mediocre...from a person who I personally feel has (had?) one of the best voices at times I've ever heard, yah...a tad bit sad.
Good luck with this project, I hope you earn enough to stay in the business. But...here's wishing that melodic voice of yours can come back some day.
Thanks Tex, I appreciate your concerns. I don't see people that consider themselves primarily fans of "melodic rock" being the target market for a Petty tribute band. In fact, I would say most people that are big melodic rock fans probably do not like Petty. But if you can't look at the guy's career and what he's still doing (releasing relevant albums that still chart in the Billboard top 10, selling out headlining arena tours around the world), and see that there's obviously a huge market for his music, I can't offer anything else that could change your mind.
I think it's more the "shock" of people hearing me do something different with my voice. The great thing about this project is that I've always been a huge fan of Tom Petty, and I've always loved singing these songs. It's not some "consolation prize" for me, it's a great opportunity to do something I've always wanted to do. And the honest truth is, the Journey tribute market has become saturated....Every major town has at least a
decent Journey tribute band, and with us being off the road for a year, or having to have taken off until next summer, or whatever, would have meant losing so much momentum, there wouldn't be any point in doing it anymore.
Regarding my voice, yes, the surgery changed the physiology of my voice and I'd never be able to perform at the level I did from 2007-2010 again, but that's only a problem because I was singing a very specific and iconic catalog, and my voice isn't judged on it's own merit, but on how closely it sounded to Steve Perry. So what would be the point? The reason I did Frontiers was because people always said I "sounded just like Steve Perry." Shit, I released a CD of original material with a jazz song and a Tears For Fears cover, and reviewers still said "Wow, it sounds just like "Street Talk!" So what else would I do with that particular voice in this day and age of the music industry.
Finally, whether my voice comes back enough to sound just like Steve Perry isn't a concern to me. Can I sing again? Yes. I've regained my ability to sing most of the songs on my CD (with the exception of Can't You See He's Gone and What Can I Do). I've even regained the ability to sing some of the Journey material (Our final Frontiers performance was last Saturday and I did sing "When You Love A Woman" one last time...Sounded just like it always did). So for progressing from not being able to even make a sound just 8 months ago to regaining that level of use from my voice tells me I'll be fine. Most "big time" singers take a year off all the time and deal with whatever they have to in order to "get right" again...I've been off since December, and if I had released a CD during that time and toured, like most major acts, people probably wouldn't even be wondering what I was up to until next spring or so. Because we played full time, all the time, dropping out for even a couple of months is much more obvious than a singer who is doing the normal release cycle every 18-24 months.
Do I wish I had never gotten fogged in the face and kept singing for another 3 months? Do I wish I hadn't gotten into a business arrangement where I had to perform 16-18 shows every month just to pay off my management? Do I wish I hadn't made a lot of mistakes that I did over the course of touring full time and being forced to make decisions without the luxury of thinking through them and weighing all the consequences? Of course, life would have been much easier. But clearly no one could have maintained that kind of pressure, and if this was the only way out, then so be it.
I've always said I'm more of a performer than a singer. Continuing to do what I love, is to continue to be in front of people and entertain them...I do think it's a small part of what made Frontiers successful beyond all the singing and music. But I had a lot of time to finally plot a course of action over the past year, rather than be forced to make decisions or get boxed in by the circumstances I created for myself. And luckily I'm finally able to do something that will be different, and fun, and yes, I do think successful. We've already been booked to headline House of Blues Myrtle Beach, Dallas, Houston, the Jack FM Throwback Festival in Dallas, the theatres and music halls that have already replaced Frontiers in their schedules...Will people come out? Well, we're a new band. We have to prove ourselves again. But is there a market for Petty? Geez,
somebody's been buying his music, LOL.