Skid Row bassist Rachel Bolan recently discussed why perfect vocals won’t guarantee the frontman spot in Skid Row, sharing insights into the band’s ongoing search for a new singer during an appearance on The No Treble podcast.
The band has been without a permanent vocalist since Erik Grönwall departed in March 2024. Grönwall left after deciding he still needed more time to recover following his battle with leukemia, as the demands of touring with Skid Row made it difficult to prioritize his health.
Bolan explained that the band is taking their time with the search to avoid past issues where they had to rush the process due to album recordings or tours. He detailed how they are currently reviewing hundreds of submissions through their partnership with Sweetwater, which launched a worldwide vocalist search inviting singers to submit performance videos.
“We have the luxury of time, which is the best possible thing, because last time we got a new singer, we were in the middle of doing an album,” Bolan said. “The time before that, we had a tour booked. And when things don’t work out, they just don’t work out. Sometimes you see it coming from way down the road, and sometimes you get blindsided.”
He went on to discuss their current campaign with Sweetwater and the volume of submissions they have received.
“So, the point we’re at now, we’re doing this campaign with Sweetwater, and we’ve had over… We’ve watched — there’s probably more; we gotta get caught up — but we’ve watched 300 submissions,” Bolan continued. “There’s been about 20 outside of the Sweetwater campaign, a situation where friends in bands will be like, ‘We got a guy.’ Sometimes they’ll show us and it’s, like, ‘Is that what you really think of this band?'”
Bolan also noted that while many talented singers have submitted auditions, finding the right fit for Skid Row requires more than just studio talent. Skid Row has gone through several frontmen over the years, including original singer Sebastian Bach, Johnny Solinger, Tony Harnell, ZP Theart, and most recently Erik Grönwall.
“But there’s a lot of really, really great singers out there,” Bolan added. “Some of them just aren’t right for us. But it’s, like, ‘Wow, this dude should be insanely popular,’ or, ‘This woman should be insanely popular.’ But they won’t work out for Skid Row. So, what we do is we’ll get four or five people through these submissions, and, all right, send them the clean tracks, and they’ll sing on top of them and send them back, or put a video out or whatever they do.”
He explained that the final step involves bringing the top candidates to rehearse in person to see how they perform in a live setting.
“And it’s, like, ‘Wow, they’re really good. They sound great. Let’s get a few of them together, get them into New Jersey,'” Bolan said. “We’ll get in a room over the course of a week or whatever, and we will just see if it works, see if it works in a live situation. Having a studio and singing in a studio is great, but you know how it is. It’s, like, you could get it so perfect and it might not transfer live.”
The search for a permanent replacement for Erik Grönwall continues as the band remains committed to finding the perfect fit.
