For as long as I've been lurking here I've read a lot of posts along the lines of "BL did ___ the other night" or "Our BL has booked this gig". The past few cover bands I've been in haven't had an obvious bandleader. In the one I'm in now one of us is the primary vocalist/frontman in addition to being an instrumentalist, one does all of the rehearsal space booking, another does venue booking and promotion, and another one drinks beer at gigs and brings their friends that pay cover to see us. It seems to me that all of us put equitable amounts of effort into the band and we tend to make decisions democratically with a minimum of fuss. Is this normal? Are we doomed to failure without an executive structure? Discuss.
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No obvious bandleader?
- Thread starter CloserTonyDanza
- Start date
that's the band leader
As long as the band is getting booked and everyone is happy, you don't need a BL. You all seem to have divided up the duties of keeping a band going, so it works. Some might even say this is the ideal scenario.
Depends on the band.
If one person is taking revenue and paying you, they are the band leader.
If that person isn’t paying you and isn’t responsible for seeing to it you all get paid, they are just a bossy friend.
If one person is taking revenue and paying you, they are the band leader.
If that person isn’t paying you and isn’t responsible for seeing to it you all get paid, they are just a bossy friend.
Bookings, promotions, sets, and deal with the crap that comes down the line. That's a BLs job along with more.
+1 Everyone else can be replaced. But, no gigs no band. Rather, it’s just a hang. While the singer is the most important talent role, I’ve replaced singers. No one can ever replace me, I own the web presence (3 private gig requests a day) and I have the relationship with the bar owners. None of the few people who left bc they thought they were the magic are gigging anymore. I also handle the money, but it’s the line on the gigs that yields the control.
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I was in a band where the BL would call a number of people and say "the gig is on X and pays X can you make it" ? Occasionally though the BL wouldn't make the gig and would send somebody in her place. This new person usually had no idea what was going on and would be looking to whoever was there for direction. Somehow this usually fell to me. Sometimes they would know most of the tunes we were doing but sometimes we would show them the set list and they would only know some of the tunes. Then it would be a scramble to see what tunes they knew and we knew. It always worked out but the fact that we were never told in advance that the BL would not be there I found to be very unprofessional and I finally quit the band.
I'd echo what people have said about the promotion/booking person being the BL, but also it sounds like you just have a good division of tasks, so no need to rock the boat.
There's no one way a band has to work. Some have a boss BL. Some have a "chairman of the board," who isn't the boss but kind of corrals everybody and builds consensus. Sometimes decision making is distributed in a more democratic way, like you're saying. What's important is that there's a way that decisions get made and the band holds together and makes sense.
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
No matter what, some has to break ties, make the tough decisions, and have the others members obey him/her. That's your BL.
Typically the band leader is the least talented member but who owns a PA and/or rehearsal spot. 
So from age 13-35, back in the Pleistocene, I was in bands that were anarchic democracies (often with one loud member), but they were almost always composed of friends (and friends of friends) with some history and understanding of each other's motives, talents, etc. and generally worked out fine at the amateur, bar band level.
Just joined my current band back in May after a long hiatus, and they had a show booked in June so (it was my understanding that) we made the guy who owns the shed where we practice, the PA, and the band name temporary dictator as we scrambled to get two sets together. During that time he repeatedly told me that he wasn't interested in being music director, and that we'd be picking ongs via more democratic means once we had time after our first show.
So I suggested that we have a one-hour band meeting at the next rehearsal after we'd played the gig to discuss our direction and organizational structure going forward. And people lost their minds. Didn't want to discuss it. At all. Made clear that I wasn't invested in any particular outcome, but did need to know who, if anyone, was running the show. Gun to my head, I like the pirate org chart, with the captain at the top balanced by a quartermaster representing the interests of the rest of the crew, but I can make anything work. But I'd like to know what it is. Pretty please? Guess we're muddling on until a crisis arises that requires leadership, at which point we'll sink or swim.
Just joined my current band back in May after a long hiatus, and they had a show booked in June so (it was my understanding that) we made the guy who owns the shed where we practice, the PA, and the band name temporary dictator as we scrambled to get two sets together. During that time he repeatedly told me that he wasn't interested in being music director, and that we'd be picking ongs via more democratic means once we had time after our first show.
So I suggested that we have a one-hour band meeting at the next rehearsal after we'd played the gig to discuss our direction and organizational structure going forward. And people lost their minds. Didn't want to discuss it. At all. Made clear that I wasn't invested in any particular outcome, but did need to know who, if anyone, was running the show. Gun to my head, I like the pirate org chart, with the captain at the top balanced by a quartermaster representing the interests of the rest of the crew, but I can make anything work. But I'd like to know what it is. Pretty please? Guess we're muddling on until a crisis arises that requires leadership, at which point we'll sink or swim.
My former, and favorite, band leader fronts the band, books the gigs, and does the promo. The lead guitarist, on the other hand, is the musical director. He's the one with the big ears who hears everything.
My experience is mostly the opposite. Always had BL's on top of shutting down drama and replacing problematic members. mostly. Just don't confuse the Front Man with the actual leader.
For the love of God, don't rock the boat, bro 
You've got a damn good thing going . . . right down to the drunkard with friends
You've got a damn good thing going . . . right down to the drunkard with friends
As with leaders in other businesses, bandleaders often assume that role based on factors that have nothing to whether or not they can actually lead.
The ability to book gigs is really a sales position. While it may be the most important thing that needs to be done for a working band, it does not magically bestow leadership ability.
A great voice and charismatic stage presence, ability to work the crowd? Equally important, but again doesn't mean that one can lead.
Being a phenomenal musician? How many of us have known amazing players who could barely maintain friendships let alone lead others?
In my experience, owning the PA has been the most likely way to acquire the title of bandleader, but again has nothing to do with real leadership ability. Obviously, people with the above skill sets may in addition be great leaders, just not necessarily because of having those sets of skills.
The ability to book gigs is really a sales position. While it may be the most important thing that needs to be done for a working band, it does not magically bestow leadership ability.
A great voice and charismatic stage presence, ability to work the crowd? Equally important, but again doesn't mean that one can lead.
Being a phenomenal musician? How many of us have known amazing players who could barely maintain friendships let alone lead others?
In my experience, owning the PA has been the most likely way to acquire the title of bandleader, but again has nothing to do with real leadership ability. Obviously, people with the above skill sets may in addition be great leaders, just not necessarily because of having those sets of skills.
All very interesting perspectives. Some notes:
- Frontman/primary vocalist does setlists and has ultimate say over song selection due to him being the "weakest link" from a performance perspective
- We don't own a PA as we use a rehearsal space and only play venues with house systems
- All of us have day jobs and are doing this primarily for fun
Seems like lots of the bandleader stuff is coming from a context where members are rotating in and out and the band is more of a business than what we have going on so our arrangement makes a bit more sense I think.
- Frontman/primary vocalist does setlists and has ultimate say over song selection due to him being the "weakest link" from a performance perspective
- We don't own a PA as we use a rehearsal space and only play venues with house systems
- All of us have day jobs and are doing this primarily for fun
Seems like lots of the bandleader stuff is coming from a context where members are rotating in and out and the band is more of a business than what we have going on so our arrangement makes a bit more sense I think.
This, every band works in their own way.
We don't have a real leader, all book gigs, all suggest songs. Matters of disagreement are worked through. It works for us.