VELVET REVOLVER Drops Hints of the Identity of Their New Singer

Velvet Revolver has been in the audition stage with new vocalists ever since frontman Scott Weiland reunited with his prior band Stone Temple Pilots and it appears that they have found a replacement.

Velvet Revolver's current lineup consists of drummer Matt Sorum, bassist Duff McKagan and guitarists Slash and Dave Kushner. According to Sorum, they have found their new vocalist and plan to hit Sorum's recording studio in January to work on their third studio album and first record without the troubled Weiland behind the microphone.

"The guy we're liking now is a young guy, a very strong guy... a little bit heavier rock 'n' roll than we are. He's a guy we've had our eye on, but the timing wasn't right. We don't like stealing people or any of that s***. [Scott] Weiland was available. He was out of Stone Temple Pilots. It wasn't like we went and said, 'Hey, dude...' He came to us, basically, like, 'Hey, I'm out of my band. I've got time. Let's do this.' And it's a similar situation with this particular individual," said Sorum, who also revealed the singer has been in well known bands in the past.

He went on to say that although the new singer is not 100% official, the group is still very excited about him having a similar work ethic to the rest of the bandmembers and that part of his audition process was to write with the group and not just sing infront of them.

"[Writing] is a lot of the way we've been trying out singers and a lot of the reason we've had trouble trying to pick a guy, because we really need to hear that truth. We can't just jump out there with any singer. We've got to make the right decision...a guy who can front a rock band of this caliber and be a strong enough frontman to go out in front of Slash and be that guy. We need to hear that vocal, that lyric, that melody. It's not an easy thing," said Sorum.

In the meantime Velvet Revolver's new live DVD (Live in Houston 2005) featuring the old lineup with Weiland on vocals is hitting shelves and although the band has had many issues with their old singer, Sorum says the show was one of it's best and the band at it's peak in that incarnation.

"Everybody was fairly drug-free and excited about playing music, and it really comes across in the video. You can see the makings of something that could have possibly gone further and even greater. But we can look at it as that time, and now we're gonna move forward," said Sorum.