First, I thought this was going to be about the song
The Thrill Is Gone, which our band plays. I do like playing that song!
This is a subject I'm sure most of us have had to deal with at some time or another. I've certainly been there with my current band. When we were two guitars, bass and drums, we were doing a lot of originals and some covers that weren't well known. Even though we played them well, the audiences weren't responding too enthusiastically. Then one guitarist left and we brought in a keyboardist, which really opened up the types of songs we could perform.
I've been on the opposite end of the stick, because I have been very vocal about suggesting songs for the band to play, and many cases, for me to sing lead on. This has resulted in mixed success. We spent several practices trying to work on
Rocket Man, only to eventually scrap it when I just couldn't get the vocals down correctly. I felt pretty bad about that. I also suggested
Follow Me by Uncle Cracker. I found the hard way that my voice isn't strong enough in the required range to carry it alone, so I had to have backing vocals, which proved to be challenging. We keep it in our set list, but it is not one of our best performances.
I also suggest certain ways to modify the way we play some of our songs, and again with a range of success. NEVER feel that just because you are the drummer you have to sit there and do everything someone tells you, unless you are a hired gun in the studio.
I manage a lot of people at work, and I am constantly asking for suggestions on how we improve business. I don't want a bunch of YES men working for me.