Every band has a front-person.

Some bands share the front-person duty between two performers, but often a band has a front-person and a secondary musician that seems to rock out just as much as the front-person, but is not the face of the band. These artists are “wingmen.”

More times than not, a good wingman is -but not always- a bassist that doubles as a secondary, as opposed to backing vocalist. Wingmen also tend to be heavily influential in the band’s songwriting process. Additionally, a good wingman can do wonders for a band’s stage presence. Wingmen are rarely effective at fronting a band usually due to the tone of their singing which sounds fine so long as it’s not the lead voice — see Daron Malakian.

However, wingmen rarely receive due credit for their services until they leave the band and the band’s songwriting and stage performance go south. Unfortunately, many wingmen then try to front a band of their own in retaliation, which usually does not hold up in comparison to the original, but is still respectable music in its own right — see Dave Mustaine from Megadeth.

We must give credit to three of the many fine wingmen who helped us rock out over the years.

Wingman #1 – Scott Schiflett – Face to Face

Schiflett is the phenomenal bassist from post-punk band Face to Face who manages to sing along almost as much as frontman Trever Keith. In the Face to Face side-project, Schiflett split lead vocal duties with Keith, which worked on occasion, but mostly served to solidify Schiflett’s place as a wingman. Also notable, Schiflett’s brother Chris is the lead guitarist of the Foo Fighters. Additionally, Schiflett is rumored to be able to play every Rush song forward and backward.

Wingman #2 – Jay James – Bullet for My Valentine

Bassist/vocalist Jay James of BFMV is Schiflett’s metal equivalent. James is an able bassist and an excellent secondary vocalist. His clean vocals are not particularly notable, but his screaming vocals actually get the best of frontman Matt Tuck from time to time. James often manages to switch over to lead vocal duty during growled-vocal sections so seamlessly that the listener believes Tuck could have the lung-capacity of Harry Houdini. However, it’s no magic trick; it’s just the effect of a fantastic wingman.

Wingman #3 – John Nolan – formerly of Taking Back Sunday, now in Straylight Run

In rare instances, a great wingman ends up as a good front-man… just as long as they share the front-person position with their sibling. Enter guitarist/pianist/vocalist Nolan, formerly of Taking Back Sunday. Ever since Nolan left TBS, the band’s material never possessed the same originality Nolan brought to the table. However, Straylight Run’s debut album featured several tunes like “Existentialism on Prom Night” and “For the Best” that indicated which side got the better half of TBS.