26 minute read
No More Doom and Gloom, Folks
from News4U July 2021
A QUICK NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
No more doom and gloom, folks. With every passing week, the future is looking brighter and brighter for the tri-state. Everything is opening up and masks are coming off; then again, it was kind of nice to be spared from looking at some of your faces, but hey, there's always a price to pay for progress. I kid!! You're all beautiful, each and every one of you. And as the cliché goes, we're all in this together so I don't wish to offend anyone with my feeble attempts at humor. But you gotta laugh, right? After all we've been through, comedy is the key. Yadda yadda yadda. Now, let's talk big name concerts coming to the tri-state. It seems like years since we've been graced with the presence of high profile rock bands and artists, but hot damn, it's really happening - many of our favorites are lining up to make us feel alive again. Just check this run of shows out: ZZ Top at the Ford Center (7/21), Summerland Tour feat. Everclear, Living Colour, Hoobastank and Wheatus at the Victory Theatre (7/28), 80s Rocks the Dam feat. Sebastian Bach, Lita Ford and the Bullet Boys at Beaver Dam Amphitheater (7/31) and the almighty Styx at Old National Events Plaza (8/19). And to get you primed, we've got several interviews with the main players so be sure to read up and then make plans to attend one or all of these long-awaited events. And speaking of long-awaited, the River Basin Blues Fest makes a welcome return this month after being derailed by Covid in 2020. Now being staged at a new location in Newburgh, the 2021 edition will feature a great lineup of local and regional talent, including headliner The Keeshea Pratt Band. We've got the deets on that and much more inside. Happy 4th of July!
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ZZ TOP
Legendary Texas trio celebrating over 50 years of rocking with hotlyanticipated summer tour
FORD CENTER / JULY 21 / 7:30 P.M.
Maybe it's the beards, but these guys never seem to age. Hard to believe, but the legendary Texas trio ZZ Top first grabbed the music world's attention way back in 1971 with the release of the appropriately-titled ZZ Top's First Album which laid the groundwork for their irresistible blend of boogie, hard rock and southern rock. It also proved that these fun-loving musicians - guitarist Billy Gibbons, bassist Dusty Hill and drummer Frank Beard (ironically the only member of the band not sporting a mega beard) - have a playful, irreverent attitude that's served them well over the last five-plus decades. Indeed, many of the trio's biggest and most memorable hits - including "La Grange," "Tush," "Sharp Dressed Man" and "Legs" - smartly incorporate a sly sense of humor into the mix while never skimping on the powerful, driving riffs that keep their songs motoring right along.
While the trio's debut appeared in 1971, it was the release of 1973's Tres Hombres featuring the classic single "La Grange" that really got the ball rolling in America. The guys backed up the album's top 10 success with 1975's Fandango which closed with the radio staple "Tush" - still heard blasting out of car windows to this very day. But the true turning point in the ZZ Top story came about via the advent of MTV and the back-to-back release of Eliminator (1983) and Afterburner (1985), both of which employed a more synth-driven sound and capitalized on the impact of music videos. Few bands were bigger at the time thanks to a run of major hits, including "Gimme All Your Lovin'," "Legs," "Sharp Dressed Man" and "Sleeping Bag." Everywhere you looked, seemingly, the bearded ones were there. And that's just how we liked it.
Many more rocking albums followed, including the most recent release, 2012's La Futura, which found the legendary trio firing on all cylinders. So get ready for an unforgettable evening at the Ford Center and be sure to give ZZ Top all your lovin', eh?
For tickets and more info, visit fordcenter.com. The Ford Center is located at 1 SE MLK Jr. Blvd. in downtown Evansville.
SUMMERLAND TOUR 2021
Hoobastank's Doug Robb on the band's "best year," holding their own in a live setting, being big in Japan and more
VICTORY THEATRE | JULY 28 | 7 P.M.
An annual alternative rock music festival founded by Everclear's Art Alexakis in 2012, the Summerland Tour is back in business after a year-long hiatus, once again showcasing some of the best bands of the 80s, 90s and 2000s. And the 2021 edition is no exception. In addition to headliners Everclear - known for such genre-defining hits as "Santa Monica," "Wonderful," "Father of Mine" and "I Will Buy You a New Life," - this summer's lineup includes Living Colour, Hoobastank and Wheatus. The former stormed up the charts in 1988 via the Grammy Award-winning "Cult of Personality" while the latter hit it big with 2000's "Teenage Dirtbag," a featured song in such films as Loser and Bully.
And then there's Hoobastank, the multi-platinum California band that ruled the nü-metal era thanks to heavy anthems like "Crawling in the Dark," "Out of Control" and "Running Away." But despite gaining a reputation early on for penning dark lyrics, frontman Doug Robb was not afraid to show his vulnerable side. This willingness to be open and honest resulted in the number two Billboard smash, "The Reason," a heartfelt ballad that catapulted Hoobastank to new heights in 2004.
Post-Summerland Tour, the band plans to play a number of headlining shows to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Hoobastank's debut album, released in November of 2001. Robb kindly spoke to News 4U ahead of the show at the Victory Theatre.
HOW FAST WAS THE TRANSITION FROM PLAYING BARS AND CLUBS TO BIGGER VENUES - STADIUMS, EVEN - AFTER "CRAWLING IN THE DARK" HIT THE AIRWAVES AND THE VIDEO WAS IN REGULAR ROTATION ON MTV?
Yeah, we were doing clubs and bars prior to the release [of the debut] and I remember... this was probably in the fall of 2001 we were touring and then I remember people starting to say, 'hey, your song's on the radio now.' And that was a huge deal. And then we started to hear it in the cities we were going to and we were doing radio interviews and it started to build momentum. I think the album came out in November of 2001 and, I don't know, we didn't do a lot of touring on our own for that record. All of 2002 I feel like we either spent it with Incubus or 311 [laughs] - one of the two. We went to Europe for, like, 11 weeks with both of them and then we came back and we had six days off. And I only know this because I was just talking about it with the rest of the band recently. We tried to collectively remember that year, 2002. We had, like, a week off and went straight into a full tour with us and 311 and then the second that ended we went back on tour - an arena tour - with Incubus. And the second that one ended we went on the Sprite Liquid Mix Tour which was with Jay-Z, 311 and N*E*R*D and we didn't do our own tour until the winter of 2002.
DESPITE THE CRAZY SCHEDULE, DID IT FEEL LIKE ALL OF YOUR ROCK & ROLL DREAMS WERE COMING TRUE?
I remember thinking, this is it; I'm happy. If it never gets any bigger than this, I'm happy. But that year - to sum up the conversation that I recently had with the band - that year was maybe the best year of our lives, like, touring wise. Even though... you know, we didn't know that two years from then we were going to be even bigger. That year, supporting that album - everything was a first; everything was new; every experience we had was unlike anything before. It just made everything so exciting. It just made us feel like we had the world in the palm of our hands.
WHAT'S GREAT ABOUT HOOBASTANK IS THAT YOU GUYS NEVER PERFORMED WITH A LOT OF BELLS AND WHISTLES - JUST THE BAND AND THE SONGS AT FULL VOLUME.
We never got to a spot success-wise where we had a bunch of production, you know? Obviously, at our height there was a certain amount of production that we could bring with us but it was never just like, 'Hoobastank's production was amazing.' Not me specifically, but the band has always taken a certain amount of pride in, like, if you put us in a conference room with, you know, florescent lighting, I will perform with any band that has, like, crazy production and we'll give them a run. Because at the end of the day we felt like without production we can hold our own. But it's too bad we never got to fullblown production, you know, like, crazy stuff because maybe then we would have.
AND MAYBE YOU WOULD HAVE CAUGHT YOURSELF ON FIRE LIKE JAMES HETFIELD.
Yeah, exactly. Or maybe we put out the effort we do because we know we don't have anything to fall back on. That's it, we'll just use whatever we get.
ONE OF THE BEST THINGS ABOUT HOOBASTANK IS THAT YOU GUYS REALLY LIVED UP TO THE ROCK & ROLL CLICHÉ OF BEING "BIG IN JAPAN." YOU WERE - AND STILL ARE - HUGE THERE.
Right, I used to hear that joke, too, and it was almost like an insult to bands - 'oh, you'll be huge in Japan.' I guess, in the summer of 2002 - that extremely busy year - we played in Japan at a festival called the Summer Sonic Festival which is one of our favorites to play. When we got there we played the baseball stadium and it was amazing - the reaction there was absurd, to be honest with you; people at the airport, people at the hotel, people at the train station. It was, like, almost cartoonish. We would look at each other and be going, 'Are you kidding me? People still do this? We're not the Beatles.' We've hypothesized since that maybe because I'm half-Japanese there's a kinship going on there. I think they kind of bond to that - like, 'He's one of us!' So that might have helped. But the loyalty and the passion that fans overseas - and, most specifically, Japan - show is something completely foreign to American fans. It's obviously got to be a cultural thing. But our manager used to say that if you can get fans in Europe and Japan you've got them for life. Not like you've got them for this album and then they don't like you anymore - you have them for life. And here we are 20 years later.
FOR TICKETS AND MORE INFO, VISIT VICTORYTHEATRE.COM. THE VICTORY IS LOCATED AT 600 MAIN ST. IN DOWNTOWN EVANSVILLE.
RIVER BASIN BLUES FEST
The Keeshea Pratt Band headlines the return of the tri-state's most beloved blues festival
FRIEDMAN PARK AMPHITHEATER / JULY 31 / 1-9 P.M.
For area blues music fans, the long wait is finally over. The annual River Basin Blues Fest - always a highlight of the summer festival season - is back and better than ever after the popular outdoor event took a sabbatical in 2020 due to the pandemic. Looking to provide the ultimate concert experience as well as a family environment, organizers have moved the RBB Fest to Newburgh, home to the Friedman Park Amphitheater. The venue's excellent acoustics, as well as the beautiful park setting, should make for the best experience yet - and thanks to presenting sponsor Moore Music (in conjunction with the River Basin Blues Society), the event is free to the public!
In addition to a fantastic lineup of local, regional and national blues artists and bands, the RBB Fest will feature food trucks and a beer garden. Don't miss out on a full day of incredible live music plus delicious eats and drinks!
Other sponsors include the Rug Gallery of Newburgh, the American Legion Kapperman Post #44, Baker Retirement & Wealth Management, TRU Event Rental, El Maguey Grill, Working Distributors, Charlie Wyatt, and Raymond L. Lamey, M.D.
A special thank you to the family of the late Gary Ahrens for supporting the RBB Fest by donating funds in his name to bring Blues 4 U to the Friedman Park Amphitheater stage. Mr. Ahrens was a musician and teacher who dedicated his life to teaching students and those who wished to learn the values and joy of music.
FOR MORE INFO, VISIT EVANSVILLEBLUES.COM.
1 P.M. - RYAN RIGDON & GARY JINES
A fixture of the RBB Fest since its inception, this dynamic duo brings together the rock-inflected and traditional, acoustic sides of the blues. In other words, Rigdon and Jines are a perfect opening act, well-versed in getting the party started.
2:30 P.M. - BLUES 4 U
The only band to play all 30 years of the WC Handy Blues & BBQ Fest in Henderson, Blues 4 U features some of the area's most revered musicians, including Carl Rodenberg (keys, vocals), Jon Rochner (bass, vocals), Danny Erkman (drums), Tommy Stillwell (guitars, vocals) and Roy Carter (sax).
4 P.M. - BOSCOE FRANCE BAND
A tri-state blues guitar wizard who made it to the 2012 Guitar Center's Battle of the Bands Grand Finals, Boscoe France plays his six-string with reckless abandon - and barefoot to boot. The fiery Kentucky-based musician is backed by Cory Folz (bass) and Jimmy Cummings (drums).
5:30 P.M. - BIG AL & THE HEAVYWEIGHTS
Self-described as a musical gumbo of Cajun, Zydeco, blues, rock and everything in between, Big Al & The Heavyweights represent the very best of the New Orleans music scene. Their long track record of performing at marquis blues fests all over the country speaks for itself.
7:30 P.M. - THE KEESHEA PRATT BAND
Having rightfully earned headlining status for this year's RBB Fest, the Keeshea Pratt Band is a unique blues experience, dipping into classical, jazz, rock, soul, gospel and country to whip up an exhilarating musical brew. The award-winning Houston-based act comprises musicians from around the country and Japan.
'80S ROCK THE DAM
WITH SEBASTIAN BACH, LITA FORD & BULLET BOYS
BEAVER DAM AMPHITHEATER / JULY 31 / 7 P.M.
of a three decade-plus journey that's been hugely entertaining. And for good reason. The band's songs have stood the test of time, rising above the "hair metal" tag to become part of the fabric of our lives.
Bach kindly spoke with News 4U ahead of the show at the Beaver Dam Amphitheater.
YOU'RE ONE OF THE FEW VOCALISTS AROUND THAT'S CAPABLE OF BOTH SCREAMING LIKE A BANSHEE AND SINGING SWEET MELODIES - OFTEN WITHIN THE SAME SONG.
Well, that's very cool that you can hear that. I try really hard to use my voice and push it as hard as it will go. I pretty much learned that style from Rob Halford from Judas Priest. He can definitely scream even higher than I can - I try to do what he does and that's kind of how I warm up my voice to go on tour. I do vocal scales and then I also sing along to sh*t that's impossible [laughs]. And then I kind of learn how to do sh*t that's impossible [laughs].
Sebastian Bach talks returning to the stage, being a collector of music, getting recognized for different projects and more
One of the true highlights of the summer festival season, '80s Rock the Dam is back for a fourth go-around at the fantastic Beaver Dam Amphitheater in Kentucky. Rest assured it's going to be worth every minute of the hour drive from Evansville to see this year's lineup featuring former Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach, plus metal's leading lady Lita Ford and Bullet Boys with all original members. After a year without live music, this is what we've all been waiting for - a chance to rock out under the summer sun to some of the biggest hits of an unforgettable era: "18 and Life," "I Remember You," "Youth Gone Wild," "Monkey Business," "Kiss Me Deadly," "Close My Eyes Forever," "Smooth Up in Ya," and "For the Love of Money" - and so many more.
Boasting an incredibly varied career that's seen him transition effortlessly from rock singer to Broadway star to television actor and back again, Sebastian Bach continues to defy expectations. Yet his years with Skid Row remain the bedrock
SO YOU'RE BACK TO FULL STRENGTH VOCALLY AFTER THE LONG LAYOFF?
I just want people at Beaver Dam to know that I already did a gig, so you can relax [laughs]. Because I was all freaked out - any singer that hasn't done this in over a year has got to put some f*cking serious hours into singing, to get the voice back. If you're going to be screaming heavy metal, that's not like "Jingle Bells" or whatever. It's a challenging thing. I did my first show back in Fort Myers, Florida, and it was over a month ago and I sang for weeks and weeks before the gig. And I got through the gig - it wasn't my best ever, but I got through it [laughs]. Since then I've been singing more than ever. So my pipes are ready to rock.
YOU'RE SCHEDULED TO PLAY
SOME SLAVE TO THE GRIND 30TH
ANNIVERSARY SHOWS IN OCTOBER. THERE WAS A REISSUE OF THAT SEMINAL ALBUM ON VINYL BACK IN 2019 - A RE-MASTERED VERSION THAT YOU WERE NEVER CONSULTED ABOUT AND, FRANKLY, DIDN'T SOUND AS GOOD AS THE ORIGINAL PRESSING. IS THAT STANDARD PRACTICE IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY THESE DAYS?
Well, I can't really speak for other bands, but I am a collector of Rush - I'm a geek that buys a $200 box set of Permanent Waves
that comes with the spoke from the left front wheel of the tour bus [laughs]. You know what I'm saying? Rush gets so, so involved in these reissues that are incredible to me, but then I read interviews with Geddy Lee and he never talks about them. I'm like, well that's weird - and then they ask him, 'what do you think about this repackaging?' and his answer was, 'well, that's really a record company thing.' So, if that's Rush's answer then I guess it's maybe more common than we know. Which is very sad to me because number one, I have a whole house full of [Skid Row] rarities from that period that is just sitting around in boxes collecting dust. What the f*ck am I holding on to all of this stuff for? Unreleased songs, DAT shows of every concert on the tour. Nobody else wanted them - I've got boxes of them. I have videos of all the shows - stuff that nobody has. Because I was "collector guy" - I am a collector and I collected me [laughs].
SPEAKING OF RUSH, THERE'S A GREAT SCENE IN THE
DOCUMENTARY BEYOND THE LIGHTED STAGE WHERE
GENE SIMMONS OF KISS RECALLS BEING ON TOUR WITH THEM BACK IN THE DAY. HE'S FLABBERGASTED THAT THEY SPENT MOST OF THEIR TIME ON THE ROAD QUIETLY READING BOOKS RATHER THAN PARTYING.
Hey, if people really want to know what being on the road is like, it's really management of sleep deprivation. And some people can handle it, some people cannot. Some people like Gene can stay in whatever wing of the hotel that he wants while some guys have to sleep on a road case in a hallway; the road is different for everybody. But a good book on the road is essential because you're changing your bedroom every single night. And you need to keep whatever constant you can for your brain to fall asleep. Reading books for me...I love reading books on the road because it's quiet. Your ears can only take so much volume to where it's like, enough.
DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU GET CREDIT FOR YOUR VERSATILITY - FOR ALL THE DIFFERENT PHASES OF YOUR CAREER, FOR THE SHEER LONGEVITY AND LEVEL OF SUCCESS?
No [laughs]. I mean, I just keep my head down and I do what I do. I don't get the Dave Grohl level of recognition [laughs]. I did for awhile back there when I was on every television show. But you know what's weird with me is that I get recognized in different parts of town for different things. If I'm at the Rainbow [club], it's [for] Skid Row; if I'm in a mall walking around outside of a clothing store or something, and some mom and her girl sees me, I'm that guy from Gilmore Girls - I get noticed for that everywhere. But then if I'm in Canada walking down the street I am from the Trailer Park Boys. People flip out when I'm walking around in Canada. There is nothing - nothing - that gets me the respect that the Trailer Park Boys do [laughs]. That's royalty. But we're going to be bringing you the Skid Row rock & roll to Beaver Dam - maybe with a little touch of Gilmore Girls and Trailer Park Boys thrown in [laughs].
SOUL ASYLUM
Runaway train: Alternative rock giants poised to take tri-state fans on a wild ride
OLD NATIONAL EVENTS PLAZA / AUGUST 1 / 7:30 P.M.
It's been a long and winding road for Dave Pirner, the driving force behind one of alternative rock's biggest bands since 1981. Formed in Minneapolis around the time that Hüsker Dü and The Replacements began their assault on the local music scene before breaking out on a national level, Soul Asylum took their time, seemingly in no hurry to chase success. But by 1988, the dominoes were beginning to fall. Hang Time, released that year, put the band squarely in the conversation. Its follow-up, 1990's And the Horse They Rode In On, proved that Pirner and fellow original members Dan Murphy and Karl Mueller were really on to something. And then came 1992's Grave Dancers Union.
Released just as Nirvana was busy blowing up the entire musical landscape, this landmark album spent 76 weeks on the Billboard charts and was certified triple-platinum - thanks in no small part to the top 10, careerdefining hit, "Runaway Train." The mid-tempo ballad struck just the right tone, with Pirner detailing his experiences with depression in a soothing manner that spoke to people of all ages battling their own demons.
Fast-forwarding a bit... Soul Asylum greeted the pandemic with 2020's Hurry Up and Wait, a return to form if there ever was one. The new release received glowing reviews across the board with the likes of Glide Magazine praising the band for retaining their "gritty sonic charm." And now you can hear tracks from it live along with songs spanning the whole of Soul Asylum's 40-year run. Don't miss out!
STYX
PHOTO: JASON POWELL
Bassist Ricky Phillips talks Crash of the Crown, filling Chuck Panozzo's shoes, not changing "the sound of brew" and more
OLD NATIONAL EVENTS PLAZA / AUGUST 19 / 7 P.M.
Originally scheduled for 2020, one of the tri-state's most anticipated concerts is finally within sight. Yes, prepare to sail away with the almighty Styx next month as the legendary rock band returns by popular demand to deliver a set of fan favorites and classics-in-the-making from their 2016 masterpiece The Mission and the just-released ambitious follow-up, Crash of the Crown, which finds Styx branching out musically while still remaining true to the group's core sound. It's just more evidence that this multi-platinum act has no intention of simply cashing in on nostalgia.
But make no mistake, you'll still hear all the songs that made Styx such a dominant force in the 70's and 80's, including "Blue Collar Man," "Come Sail Away," "Fooling Yourself," "Renegade," "Too Much Time on My Hands" and more - timeless tracks that will live on well after the band calls it a day. Thankfully, that day is very far off, because the members of Styx - Lawrence Gowan (vocals, keys), Tommy Shaw (vocals, guitar), James Young (vocals, guitar), Ricky Phillips (vocals, bass), Todd Sucherman (drums) and Chuck Panozzo (bass) - feel like they're just getting started, hungrier than ever to create and perform.
Phillips kindly spoke with News 4U ahead of the show at the Old National Events Plaza.
YOU'VE BEEN WITH STYX FOR NEARLY 20 YEARS NOW. DOES THE WAY YOU PLAY BASS ON A STYX SONG JUST COME NATURALLY AT THIS POINT OR ARE YOU ALWAYS LOOKING FOR DIFFERENT WAYS TO APPROACH THE MATERIAL?
That's a good question. You know, when I joined the band and had to learn so many songs from so many decades of all the albums that have come out, I saw and really appreciated Chuck Panozzo's parts in those songs. There are certain lines that may be very simple but they've become key parts of a lot of these songs. In playing Chuck's bass parts and making sure that I was still representing me, I think I've had a lot of years of inheriting a lot of things that Chuck does subtly to bring those things into the fold - certainly on this new material. I play very melodically - a lot of lines. I really try to find something that doesn't get in the way of the guitars or vocals but in playing with the drums brings a dimension that stands out on its own. And I think Chuck always did that within Styx recordings.
IT'S VERY HEARTENING THAT IN AN ERA OF PREDICTABLE DIGITAL SINGLES, STYX HAS CHOSEN TO PRODUCE A NEW WORK OF MUCH COMPLEXITY THAT CHALLENGES - AND ULTIMATELY REWARDS - THE LISTENER.
I don't think it's ever been verbalized but I don't think we could live with ourselves if we just repeated the past. I think we're always reaching forward, trying to find something... certainly hitting all the big points of a Styx song: the big harmonies, exploring maybe with some odd time signatures, maybe multiple time signatures within one song. But not making it be like a music theory class - but doing it and presenting it in a way where it's a wellconstructed song that you can sing along with. And that's what people do when they come to the concerts; they're singing as loud as we are up there.
THE BAND ACTUALLY RECORDED CRASH OF THE CROWN DURING THE PANDEMIC. DID THAT PRESENT
ANY PROBLEMS?
The only thing that I missed on this record was that the band was never able to get together and jam on the songs. So I worked on my own on the parts without the luxury of having Todd there in the room slamming it out like we did on The Mission, for example. The Mission has some special magic to it because we were able to do that; it has some special stardust sprinkled on it, to coin a phrase. But I'm really proud of the guys this time for being able to put something out that is so adventuresome, not cookie cutter - and hopefully will be entertaining for the listener.
SPEAKING OF BEING ADVENTUROUS, THERE ARE ELEMENTS OF QUEEN, PINK FLOYD, THE BEATLES AND THE WHO ON THE NEW ALBUM - AND YET, IT SOUNDS LIKE QUINTESSENTIAL STYX.
I'm glad I'm talking to you right now because sometimes you second guess yourself and everything. The last thing we want to do is shoot completely over the top of everybody's heads but I do remember that when I was a kid and was feeding off all this stuff that was coming out, it was over my head for awhile. And then all of a sudden I was able to start consuming it and being able to understand it and learn it and make it part of my bass playing DNA, or guitar playing or singing. If we aim high at least we'll be able to move forward. But as soon as we start going backwards I think that's kind of a death sentence.
IS IT SOMEHOW EASIER TO MAKE THE SORT OF ALBUM YOU WANT TO THESE DAYS SINCE CURRENT POPULAR MUSIC IS SO FAR REMOVED FROM WHAT STYX DOES?
Totally. Rock music isn't the in vogue music of the day, anyway, and the stations that are out there that support what we do are few - it's a completely different day. So, in a way, it kind of gave us license - and it has for awhile, several years now - to do what we want to do instead of what is being dictated by a record company. [With this record] we didn't really have to be approved by anyone to make these decisions. That's kind of a luxury that comes with falling out of favor [laughs]. It's actually a plus.
THE VOCAL HARMONIES OF STYX ARE INSTANTLY RECOGNIZABLE. HOW DID YOU FIT INTO THE EQUATION WHEN YOU JOINED?
I'll share one thing with you. When Tommy Shaw asked me to join the band, he said, 'we do have one stipulation, though, that makes me just not able to blanket offer you coming into the band.' He said, 'the Styx sound is huge and we can't mess with that so we have to get in a room; we have to sing together and find out if you change the sound of the brew.' And I got a little nervous, because I didn't know. So we got together and I sang all the parts to the set they were doing at the time. And the sound guy and producer for Styx - god bless him, we lost him a few years back - he was out in the hallway in the rehearsal facility we were using and the doors flew open and he came in after we'd been playing for 45 minutes or an hour and said, 'this is going to work!' it was a welcome phrase coming from him. I don't think anyone doubted it after we started but it was just nice to have it verbalized - especially by such a great guy who had such a legacy with the band.
