San Francisco Chronicle | Dec 1999 Could the newest member of Hole be a San Franciscan? Lesley Poirier, singer-bassist for local indie-rock trio Glitter Mini 9, is keeping her plucking fingers crossed. Poirier was among those selected from a host of hopefuls to fly to Los Angeles last week for a live audition with Courtney Love & Co. (Well, sort of, see below.) Hole has been without a bassist since Melissa Auf Der Maur defected to Smashing Pumpkins to fill the void left in that band when D'Arcy Wretzky went AWOL to chase movie stardom. "I sent them a package with the new Glitter Mini disc, some photos, a bio and all that stuff," Poirier says. "I never, ever expected to hear from them. I was at my parents' house for Thanksgiving, and when I checked my messages there was one from (Hole guitarist) Eric Erlandson: 'Heard your CD, really liked it. We're having auditions in Los Angeles next week, hope to see you there.' It was rad." Poirier had just a few days to learn three Hole number--"Violet," "Malibu," and "Celebrity Skin"--before flying to Hollywood for judgement day. Wisely, she invested in some new threads. "I bought a new skirt," she details. "Something fairly short. I figured I needed to look pretty hot for Courtney." On the fateful Friday, Poirier drove to a North Hollywood rehearsal space, where she took her place next to three or four equally nervous women. (The bassist slot in Hole isn't open to guys.) While waiting to try out, she was subjected to the scrutiny of band representatives. "They took a Polaroid of me," she reveals, "and made me fill out this form. 'Are you currently on PCP, LSD, cocaine, etc.?' I wasn't sure how I was supposed to answer, but I said no to everything. Maybe that was a mistake. At the bottom it asked, 'What would you reveal if you went on Jerry Springer?' I said I wouldn't tell him a thing." When it was time, she was ushered into the rehearsal studio for her dream-come-true rock interface with Kurt Cobain's widow. "Courtney wasn't even in there," Poirier says. It was just Eric and Sam (drummer Samantha Maloney). They were filming us live and, from what I understand, Courtney was watching it from another room. So I took out my bass and we played the three songs. I swaggered a little. Then Eric asked me to sing, so I sang them a Glitter Mini 9 song, 'Cuckoo.' He and Sam looked at each other and clapped and said, 'That's so great!' Then we shook hands and it was over. I never once saw Courtney." Given that other candidates report being shown the door mid-way through the first number, Poirier remains optimistic. As of press time, she hadn't heard one way or the other. Love, however, had some discouraging words for all the hopefuls when she appeared on Howard Stern this week. "We probably won't be calling any of them back," she bitchily told the shock jock. Presumably, most of the women were far too young, attractive and talented for alt.rock's answer to Norma Desmond. Big job offers notwithstanding, Poirier and Glitter Mini 9 (also featuring singer-guitarist Mauri Skinfill, who added backup vocals to the new Third Eye Blind album, "Blue") will play Bottom of the Hill on January 14. The band's new disc, "Break Up at the Rock Show," should be out in February.