Skid Row bassist Rachel Bolan recently addressed speculation about his upcoming solo record, clarifying whether collaborating with various guest singers was a covert way of auditioning potential new frontmen for the band, in an interview with Different Stages Radio w/ J.J.
Bolan’s solo album, Gargoyle Of The Garden State, is set to arrive on June 12, 2026. It features guest appearances from Slipknot’s Corey Taylor, Danko Jones, and Brother Cane’s Damon Johnson, among others. When asked directly whether the project served as a silent audition process to identify a possible new Skid Row vocalist, Bolan was clear that the two were entirely unrelated.
“No, no, they, neither. They weren’t connected at all,” Bolan said. “This is a monumental moment in my life and in my career, you know, so I wanted to bring my friends in on to share the experience with me and I got really cool friends. They all said yes.”
Bolan then shifted to explain how Skid Row is actually going about their search for a new singer, through a campaign run in partnership with Sweetwater.
“What we’ve been doing through the campaign to find a singer with Sweetwater — we take submissions, we watch all the submissions and there’s been quite a few,” he continued. “We watch the submissions and then we’ll pick a few people that we think may work that sounded really good and take them to the next phase. And we’ve been doing that and we’ll have like three or four people down over the course of a week or something and get in a room with them and see if it works.”
“And if it works, cool. If not, then you know, hey man, all the best to you type of thing,” Bolan added. “And so we’re at that phase again where we’re bringing some more people down and we’re going to get in a room with them and see what happens.”
Bolan emphasized that the band is not under any pressure to rush the decision, noting that their current schedule allows them to be thorough.
“We do have the luxury of time. We don’t — we’re not in a rush. We don’t have a tour booked. We’re not in the middle of making a record,” he said. “So we have the time to fully check someone out — a person out — vocally and just the hang, and you know, just lay everything out on the table and say this is how we tour, this is, you know, and see how they feel about it.”
Gargoyle Of The Garden State is due out June 12, 2026, while the search for Skid Row’s next lead vocalist remains ongoing.
The solo album marks a significant personal milestone for Bolan. He is best known as a founding member, bassist, and key songwriter of Skid Row. The project, released under the artist name BOLAN, represents his first-ever solo effort after more than four decades with the band. This makes the guest vocalist lineup all the more meaningful to him personally rather than professionally strategic.
As Blabbermouth reported, Gargoyle Of The Garden State will be released on June 12 through earMUSIC, the international rock and metal label behind a wide roster of established artists. The album’s release through a dedicated rock imprint signals that Bolan is treating the project as a serious, fully realized solo endeavor rather than a side experiment.
The speculation surrounding the album’s guest vocalists was fueled in large part by the ongoing uncertainty around Skid Row’s frontman position. The Rock Pit noted that recent coverage of the band had consistently framed Skid Row as being in an active vocalist-search phase. This naturally drew extra attention to the fact that Bolan was recording with multiple high-profile singers on his solo record. The timing made the audition theory easy to believe, even if Bolan insists it was never the intention.
Metal Planet Music reviewed the album and noted it was crafted under the BOLAN moniker. The four-decade Skid Row veteran channeled a deeply personal creative vision into the record. The project stands on its own terms, separate from the band’s ongoing business. Reviewers noted that the guest appearances feel organic and collaborative rather than calculated.
Meanwhile, the Sweetwater singer search campaign continues to move forward on its own track. Bolan has made it clear that his solo creative work and Skid Row’s hunt for a new frontman are running in parallel but independently. Fans should not read into the solo album’s collaborations as any kind of indicator of who might eventually step into the band’s lead vocalist role. With no tour dates booked and no new Skid Row record in progress, the band remains patient and deliberate as they work through the next phase of candidate evaluations.
