Signature Sound not hiring Replacement Pianist – UPDATE
According to Ernie Haase, Signature Sound will not be hiring a full-time replacement for Roy Webb. In an email today, he explained: “I like to build my future on the four faces of the singers like the Oak ridge boys and the GVB.”
For the time being, he’s hired Gordon Mote to play piano for Signature Sound during this group’s Summer Tour.
From the perspective of a quartet fan, I like the practice of having the pianist as the member of a group. But I can see the wisdom in Haase’s course. As Greater Vision knows well, the fewer faces you keep before the public, the easier of a time you have keeping the same lineup together. As most any group manager does, Haase will try to maintain a stable lineup with the same four singers. If he succeeds, Signature Sound’s best days are yet to come.
UPDATE: A question some might ask is if Haase is keeping the spot open for Webb to return. In response, Haase says: “Roy was a fine addition to our group for the time he was here, but my decision has nothing to do with him coming back.”
