Jy Interview 12-29-06
Posted: Sat Dec 30, 2006 4:34 amNothing new in this interview. Jy talks about rocking with Country Fans.
Country fans can rock 'n' roll with Styx
C'mon. Admit it. You're dying to know why a New Year's Eve bill headlined by Lexington's own Montgomery Gentry includes a performance by Styx.
That's right. We're talking the veteran pop-rock ensemble that scored hits like Come Sail Away and Renegade in the '70s and The Best of Times and Too Much Time on My Hands in the '80s. We're talking a band with performance history at Rupp that extends back to when its album The Grand Illusion was a hit in 1977.
So, how is it these guys became part of a country music showdown?
"When we do New Year's Eve, we want it to be for everybody," said Montgomery Gentry's Eddie Montgomery. "We want it to be for all ages who like all genres of music. We knew Styx had so many classic hits that they would appeal to everybody."
For guitarist and co-founding Styx member James "JY" Young, the opportunity to play for a country crowd is more a privilege than a challenge. And while Sunday won't be the first time Styx has found itself the lone rock act on an all-country bill (it has played similar concerts in Colorado over the past decade), Young thinks a Montgomery Gentry audience should feel right at home with his band's hits.
"We're excited about the whole circumstance of us coming back to Lexington," Young said. "You can look back and see country and classic rock coming together with people like Garth Brooks, who embraced the ways Styx, Kiss and Queen influenced his music.
"But the fact is that in the '90s, music became more and more corporatized as target audiences became a lot narrower. Now, you see women gravitating more toward country, and classic rock stations gearing themselves more toward men. There is a great cross-pollenization that's going on. People are more open, particularly country audiences. As long as there is a sense of melody, which our music has, as long as there is a sense of joy about it, which there is, and as long as there is a little sense of humor, which on occasion our songs have, audiences will be tapping toes to Styx as well as to Montgomery Gentry."
Young and longtime Styx guitarist and singer Tommy Shaw pilot the band's current lineup. Singer-keyboardist Lawrence Gowan joined in 1999 after the band split acrimoniously with former frontman Dennis De Young, and drummer Todd Sucherman replaced John Panozzo, who died in 1996.
Bassist Ricky Phillips completes the current Styx's "starting five," as Young puts it. But the band also maintains an especially close relationship with its original bass guitarist Chuck Panozzo (brother of Styx's late drummer). In recent years, he has battled AIDS and prostate cancer, but continues to perform with Styx, often as a "special guest" at select performances. While Young wasn't making a guarantee, he said Panozzo is planning to be on hand for the Rupp performance.
"When he's well enough, Chuck usually comes out at the end of our show and becomes our 'sixth man,' so to speak," Young said. "That gives the show such a lift. He has to take a ton of medicine every day, but he's still with us. He's still standing. That's a true testament to his will."Country fans can rock 'n' roll with Styx
http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/en ... 333015.htm
Country fans can rock 'n' roll with Styx
C'mon. Admit it. You're dying to know why a New Year's Eve bill headlined by Lexington's own Montgomery Gentry includes a performance by Styx.
That's right. We're talking the veteran pop-rock ensemble that scored hits like Come Sail Away and Renegade in the '70s and The Best of Times and Too Much Time on My Hands in the '80s. We're talking a band with performance history at Rupp that extends back to when its album The Grand Illusion was a hit in 1977.
So, how is it these guys became part of a country music showdown?
"When we do New Year's Eve, we want it to be for everybody," said Montgomery Gentry's Eddie Montgomery. "We want it to be for all ages who like all genres of music. We knew Styx had so many classic hits that they would appeal to everybody."
For guitarist and co-founding Styx member James "JY" Young, the opportunity to play for a country crowd is more a privilege than a challenge. And while Sunday won't be the first time Styx has found itself the lone rock act on an all-country bill (it has played similar concerts in Colorado over the past decade), Young thinks a Montgomery Gentry audience should feel right at home with his band's hits.
"We're excited about the whole circumstance of us coming back to Lexington," Young said. "You can look back and see country and classic rock coming together with people like Garth Brooks, who embraced the ways Styx, Kiss and Queen influenced his music.
"But the fact is that in the '90s, music became more and more corporatized as target audiences became a lot narrower. Now, you see women gravitating more toward country, and classic rock stations gearing themselves more toward men. There is a great cross-pollenization that's going on. People are more open, particularly country audiences. As long as there is a sense of melody, which our music has, as long as there is a sense of joy about it, which there is, and as long as there is a little sense of humor, which on occasion our songs have, audiences will be tapping toes to Styx as well as to Montgomery Gentry."
Young and longtime Styx guitarist and singer Tommy Shaw pilot the band's current lineup. Singer-keyboardist Lawrence Gowan joined in 1999 after the band split acrimoniously with former frontman Dennis De Young, and drummer Todd Sucherman replaced John Panozzo, who died in 1996.
Bassist Ricky Phillips completes the current Styx's "starting five," as Young puts it. But the band also maintains an especially close relationship with its original bass guitarist Chuck Panozzo (brother of Styx's late drummer). In recent years, he has battled AIDS and prostate cancer, but continues to perform with Styx, often as a "special guest" at select performances. While Young wasn't making a guarantee, he said Panozzo is planning to be on hand for the Rupp performance.
"When he's well enough, Chuck usually comes out at the end of our show and becomes our 'sixth man,' so to speak," Young said. "That gives the show such a lift. He has to take a ton of medicine every day, but he's still with us. He's still standing. That's a true testament to his will."Country fans can rock 'n' roll with Styx
http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/en ... 333015.htm
