9.2.14 Great reviews from OZ, iHeartRadio Icons Interview

Loyalty is a 2-way thing! And IMHO, Adam's keeping his current band has more to do with their loyalty to Adam than with Adam's loyalty to them!

To keep really excellent musicians, Adam would have to be able to keep them busy with work so that they do not get pulled off into more lucrative jobs in the down time and then are no longer available to Adam when he needs them. And he just can not guarantee that for A3 when it did not happen for Trespassing to the same extent that it happened for FYE. When it became apparent that there would be no US tour for Trespassing, Adam lost Isaac, a really good drummer, to other more lucrative & creative jobs. Then Adam ends up with a drummer from Atlanta. If there are so many excellent musicians in Los Angeles who would love to work with such a gifted voice as Adam's, then why did he have to hire a drummer from 2,000+ miles away??? Likely because Adam could not promise him the amount of work needed to keep a really excellent musician.

And IMHO, having a band member 2000 miles away was the biggest issue with Adam's band because they could not practice together as a band the way they should have for the one-off concerts. In some cases, they only practiced together for the first time in a while the day of the concert, and in some cases that was cut short due to outside factors such as the venue being moved indoors. Adam really needs to find a long term drummer in the Los Angeles area. No matter how good the musicians, they need to play together a lot to really gel as a band. (Even Q3 commented on how much more QAL had gelled as a band at the IHR gig. And others have made the same comment about the current QAL tour.) And how much they play together is really up to Adam since he has to pay them every time they practice as a band (remember, backing musicians are all members of a union and are paid for every hour).

Also, really excellent musicians need to be able to really express their talent and creativeness. And that generally means that they need to have a hand in the process of creating the music.  Or at least, the music needs to have been written in such a way as to allow great instrumental parts. Rock band music is generally written that way, but pop music is not. Except for Nile's guitar work on Shady and some additional guitar work by TJR on Cuckoo, the instrumentals for the Trespassing album were all generated on a computer by a producer. Adam has talked about how difficult it was to translate that electronic music into band music. If Adam wants to hire really excellent musicians for A3 touring, then he needs to have really excellent real instrumental music written to back his vocals on A3. 

If Adam had to audition new band members every time he wanted to do a one-off concert, it would be a big drain on his time and energy (and money). So he needs band members who will stick with him during the slow and uncertain times. Since Adam gave him his first big break, Tommy would definitely stick with Adam through thick & thin and has said so. Ashley has also said that Adam is her main priority despite being able to land a gig with Cee Lo Green. Since Brian London has toured with some big names, I think he would be the more likely one to leave Adam for a bigger tour. But I think Rick is the only one that Adam might seek to replace just due to the location issue.

Also, I think Adam looks at other factors besides just how excellent of a solo musician a band member is or is not. At the beginning of the Trespassing era, Adam mentioned in several interviews that the current incarnation of his band was way better than his previous band. (And the way Adam emphasied it made me believe that he really felt this way and that his saying so was not just a PR thing.) I think most fans would agree that Monte was overall a much better guitar player than Tommy, especially in terms of spontaneous guitar rock solos. And yet Adam says a band with Tommy as lead guitarist is much better than a band with Monte as lead guitarist!!! Why??? From some of the hints Adam gave, I think it is because Tommy is willing to play as a team member of a band rather than wanting to basically show off his skills at the cost of band unity. And Tommy is willing to play with a blues or funk style, or whatever style Adam wants, while Monte wanted to play everything in a rock style.