Blind Melon Lose Singer, Cancel Tour

11/10/08 4:46pm

by Kate Harper (CHARTattack)

Count yourself lucky (or unlucky?) if you caught a show on Blind Melon's Canadian tour last month. That may be the last time you see them and their (allegedly) disappearing new singer for a while.

Blind Melon have parted ways with singer Trevor Warren and cancelled the rest of their North American tour. In a Nov. 8 MySpace blog entry, the band state they were forced to cancel the first half of their American tour because Warren was having problems with his voice and a doctor told him he should rest until he was better.

"God dropped a Stradivarius down Travis's throat, but the reality is that he treats it like a broken pawnshop fiddle," the band wrote. "It is very difficult to maintain a rigorous tour schedule while chain smoking."

(Ed. note: Hey guys, at least he's not a cocaine addict like your last singer. Warren's chain-smoking will allow him to die more slowly than Shannon Hoon.)

The group say that Warren was supposed to visit the doctor last week, but he didn't return any of his bandmates' calls, emails, text messages, or even "telegrams or carrier pigeon messages" for two weeks. They say when they finally got a hold of Warren, he told them he wasn't as appreciated as he should have been. The band apparently had no indication "any of this was coming" due to the "great success" of their Canadian tour.

"He complained about being underpaid and overworked (we all make the same thing and we all work as hard as he does). He said that he didn't want to play the US anymore and that he was under-appreciated. He complained about playing the same songs in the same towns. We could not make him understand that the wheels were in motion for this tour for 6 months, and that to blow it out just because he didn't want to do it was a very bad move (we think his voice is probably fine now, by the way, though we could never say for sure since he neglected his doctor's appointment and did not call us to tell us that it was not well)."

Warren, meanwhile, has a different version of the events. In a Nov. 7 MySpace blog entry, he says he was told that he was being replaced and didn't leave the band. Warren says he lost his voice during the Canadian tour and, instead of letting him take a night off, his bandmates chose not to cancel the show, which exacerbated his vocal problems.

"When we returned to the states,I mentioned to the band that I would not be able to continue on the upcoming tour until my voice healed," Warren wrote.

"Instead of working with me and understanding, I recieved the exact opposite. The band wanted me to go see a doctor,which I did go to and was examined by one of the top vocal doctors who said, and I quote, 'Your voice is in bad shape, you need to take off at least two weeks'. 'Come back and see me in two weeks and we'll go from there'.

"Well folks my voice is still in the healing process and because I can't get out there and do this 2-3 week run, I am being replaced. I was hoping to recieve some understanding from my bandmates and be given the time needed to heal and come out in the new year with a bang, but I am not going to be given that oppertunity.

"It hurts me to say this to you all, but I must do what is right by me and insure the longivity of my voice and career. By being pushed into this tour permanent damage could occur and that is a chance I cannot take, if I want to be able to continue the honor of bringing you music."

Blind Melon further state that there had been a division between Warren and the rest of the band "from the beginning." Despite that, they were to record a live album on this upcoming tour, had just booked shows in Japan, and were in the process of setting up dates in South America and Europe. They considered pushing through the rest of the tour with former Unified Theory vocalist Chris Shinn filling in for Warren, but there wasn't enough time to prepare.

"It is not fair of us to keep promoters hanging on while we cancel the tour show by show, and it is certainly not fair to ya'll to drag this out," the band wrote. "We are not cool with doing something unless we know it is going to be up to snuff, and it is just doubtful that we would be there by Monday."

Warren joined Blind Melon two years ago and appears on the band's new album, For My Friends, which came out earlier this year.

The band will release more information about how ticket holders can get refunds for the cancelled shows shortly. But they're not wasting any time looking for a new singer.

"We're going to try to press forward immediately, and we want to find a singer to go with us," the band wrote in a Nov. 10 MySpace blog entry.

"We're looking for somebody from outer space that has their feet on the ground. We're looking for somebody who has a voice that inspires new songs and sheds new light on our old songs. We're not looking for clones, drones, jokers, clowns, or drama queens."

If you think you fit the bill, you can send an MP3 or video/audio link to blindmelonsinger@gmail.com. And if you're from outer space, you can contact Robbie Williams.