In a new interview with The Hook Rocks podcast, Skid Row guitarist Dave “Snake” Sabo was asked if he and his bandmates have “targeted” any new singers since their latest vocalist — former Swedish Idol contestant Erik Grönwall — quit the band to focus on his health. Snake responded (as transcribed by blabbermouth.net), “We haven’t targeted anybody. If we wanna continue as Skid Row, we’re gonna have to get another singer. But we haven’t targeted anybody. There’s a lot of great singers out there. But Lzzy[Hale of Halestrom who recently played two shows with Skid Row as a stand-in singer, see some clips here] just raised the bar, man. And Erik is a great singer. He raised the bar as well. And then Lzzy just came in here and just really raised the bar and showed us another side of what this band could be. So, it doesn’t necessarily have to be a male singer in Skid Row. The options are wide open. And like I said, there’s so much talent out there, but we just wanna make sure that we make the right choice and that we can bring the band to another level. That’s the hope.”
Pressed about whether anything has changed in terms of his thoughts about a possible reunion with classic era frontman, Sebastian Bach, Snake said, “Well, the answer has been the same for — I don’t know — 20,000 years now. It’s not gonna happen. And I say the same thing every time. I’m thankful that people have such an interest in wanting to see that happen, but I also have to reiterate that this is about being happy in the situation that you’re in. So I’ll speak for myself personally.
First of all, I do need to say something too, is that the reason that this isn’t happening is because there’s three of us — myself, Scotti [Hill, Skid Row guitarist] and Rachel [Bolan, Skid Row bassist] — who’ve had conversations about this, and we’ve all been on the same page that we don’t wanna go down that road again. We just — we don’t.”
“Rachel has taken a beating over this through the years,” Sabo continued. “He’s the one who’s been blamed for this. ‘Oh, it’s Rachel‘s ego.’ ‘It’s this and that.’ No, that’s a load of bullshit. That is not true. And I feel bad because he’s really, really had to shoulder that blame and has never said anything derogatory or anything like that. But you know what? The truth of the matter is that Rachel, Scotti and myself have continually felt the same way, that we enjoy being happy in this band and we’re really happy.”
“It’s been such a great experience for the last however, 35 years, everything, all the ups, all the downs, everything, but we just don’t wanna revisit that particular aspect of our history,” he explained. “I love the songs, [I] love a lot of the memories, [I am] not fond of some of the memories, but just as individuals and as a collective, that’s just how we feel. So this is not on Rachel. And this has nothing to do with anyone’s ego or anything like that. So that’s just gotta be clear. Again, for anyone to sit there and make assumptions that this is Rachel Bolan saying ‘nope,’ it’s not. It’s the three of us, and we’ve all collectively sat there and just said that we don’t wanna do it. We just don’t wanna do it. And we wish everybody all the best.”
He added, “We’ve been just ripped apart by ex-members of the band and stuff — ripped apart. Some really sh-tty stuff [has been] said about all of us. And we just choose not to [respond]. It’s not who I am. It’s not who we are. We won’t go down that road. We just wanna play music and be happy. This has really never been about a monetary aspect of things because it’s known that we’ve been offered a good amount of money to do shows together and to reunite [with Sebastian] and whatever, but it’s just never been about the money, man. I choose my happiness, my willingness to continue to be a really good friend to my best friends and a really good husband and a really good dad and bandmate and person. And I don’t wanna endanger that in any way. So the people that we choose to play with, those choices are made in order to keep those particular things in line for all of us.”
22 Responses
Well I guess I finally believe him. It’s a shame though.
I hate to write, “I told you so..”
Look, these guys have had TONS of opportunities to reunite over how many decades? Even with just drummer Rob Affuso, whom they rarely discuss.
They have always been very vocal, and emphatic, about their reluctance to play with Sebastian, and the response always seems to be consistent…happiness over finance.
As I have written before, I LOVE Sebastian, but he must have been a handful to deal with, because it is not just one lone band member, it is three.
Over the many years, Bach has made many public overtures, and has extended what seems to be many olive branches, all to no avail. If his last statement is to be believed, and this is all about business, in my humble opinion, this would have been cleared up a long time ago. From public statements made, it’s appears to be personal and not about business.
The fans will speak with their wallets and emotions.
Thank you Dana. Yes it has to be something very very personal. I wish we all could find out what it is.
This is Dennis DeYoung vs. Styx type of lead singer rejection.
I honestly feel there was a lot more to the breakup than we know, something very personal and/or embarrassing. A lot of these bands keep mum so they don’t spoil what legacy they have or slow down back catalog sales.
I can’t help but wonder if Rob playing drums on Sebastians video, is perceived by the band as kind of like Michael Anthony playing with Sammy thus betraying Eddie and Alex. I know that shouldn’t be perceived that way, but I wonder if it is on some level.
Doubtful, as they could have had Affuso rejoin the band a long time ago, long before he ever played with Sebastian.