MR

That Tommy hits it big with a bluegrass album? Think about it for a minute...he grew up playing it....other artists have successfully crossed over to the country side (Darius Rucker)....and he could have some pretty big collaborations on the album. Alison Krause was on his Zens album, and she is a giant in the genre. It could be interesting. All it takes is one radio friendly song and it could spell a different road in his career. If I were JY I would be shitting my pants, because the cash cow of the organization may find a new avenue for revenue.

I Stumble In wrote:That Tommy hits it big with a bluegrass album? Think about it for a minute...he grew up playing it....other artists have successfully crossed over to the country side (Darius Rucker)....and he could have some pretty big collaborations on the album. Alison Krause was on his Zens album, and she is a giant in the genre. It could be interesting. All it takes is one radio friendly song and it could spell a different road in his career. If I were JY I would be shitting my pants, because the cash cow of the organization may find a new avenue for revenue.

The chance is 0 Tommy Shaw does not know how to market anything
His 7 Zens cd was great and he runs to borders stores to promote it.
Look at anything Styx even dennis everything they do goes nowhere
The name has been reduced to rubble,

i have to admit i know nothing of the bluegrass genre. but aligning himself with krause would be a big plus (she and plant did ok...to say the least) i'm familliar with her songs which were used in the O Brother soundtrack (which is GREAT) and if they could do another duet, i'm sure it would likely make it to country radio, perhaps crossover (depending on how rock accessible it is) darius- that was a huge surprise- haven't heard the album, but he's a great singer. hope he continues to do well. but success in this genre (or country) is not guaranteed. look at bon jovi. as huge a band they are, they still failed at crossing over.

it comes down to the writing, performance, and airplay. 2 out of 3 should not be a problem for T. aside from a few clunkers, zens was a very solid album. he needs a few killer songs- which zens had (inspiration, all in how you say it, a place to call my own, who i am, straight down the line), but the biggest hurdle is airplay. traditional methods don't work any more. major label support will not guarantee airplay. tommy should to try and have songs used in non-traditional areas like commercials, movies, tv shows. someone mentioned the show "crossroads"- that would be a great showcase for him. I think the country music networks play much more videos than your vh1s and mtvs. he needs a website dedicated to this album. styx and tommy used to have extremely active websites. but over the past 5 years, content has declined so much i rarely even visit any more. spark the fanbase! create a buzz! put a few songs and performances on the net, have some vid clips from the studio on how the songs were developed, create interest and a grassroots network. T has a fairly rabid fan base, use them to help spread the word.

savy performers know how to use the net to their advantage. we all know tommy has been very active on the net in the past. use this media to promote the project!

stmonkeys wrote:look at bon jovi. as huge a band they are, they still failed at crossing over.

"Who Says You Can't Go Home" hit #1 on the Billboard Hot Country Chart - the first rock band to do it. They also won a Grammy (Best Country Collaboration with Vocals) for that sony as well. I'd say that's pretty darn successful.

I'm not saying TS would hit it that big, but I think it's more natural for him now - just look at Shaw Blades. I don't think anyone here who saw that tour would say he wasn't into it, and he was arguably as alive as I've seen him in years even with Styx. I haven't seen Tommy enjoying himself that much since the 90s.

I also think it says a lot that he can crank out a bluegrass album and his rock output has been a trickle. I just don't think he has a desire to write for Styx at the moment, and that's OK. I'm more curious to hear this bluegrass thing anyway.

StyxCollector wrote:

stmonkeys wrote:look at bon jovi. as huge a band they are, they still failed at crossing over.

"Who Says You Can't Go Home" hit #1 on the Billboard Hot Country Chart - the first rock band to do it. They also won a Grammy (Best Country Collaboration with Vocals) for that sony as well. I'd say that's pretty darn successful.

I'm not saying TS would hit it that big, but I think it's more natural for him now - just look at Shaw Blades. I don't think anyone here who saw that tour would say he wasn't into it, and he was arguably as alive as I've seen him in years even with Styx. I haven't seen Tommy enjoying himself that much since the 90s.

I also think it says a lot that he can crank out a bluegrass album and his rock output has been a trickle. I just don't think he has a desire to write for Styx at the moment, and that's OK. I'm more curious to hear this bluegrass thing anyway.

did they hit number one? i remember reading somewhere the album was a big disappointment. LOL

It looks like this is really gonna happen here's a note from tommy's site:

Album project for 2010

Hello Friends,

I'm working on a bluegrass album with my friend Brad Davis. We started writing bluegrass in 2006 after I sang on a track of his and liked the way I sounded singing Bluegrass.

I love the story telling aspect and colorful instrumental opportunities which are so different from anything else I've every done. This was the first time I had enough of a break to spend some serious woodshedding time and now most of the writing has ben completed. We will be cutting the tracks in Nashville in March. We plan to release it later this year.

TS

Thenightbull wrote:It looks like this is really gonna happen here's a note from tommy's site:

Album project for 2010

Hello Friends,

I'm working on a bluegrass album with my friend Brad Davis. We started writing bluegrass in 2006 after I sang on a track of his and liked the way I sounded singing Bluegrass.

I love the story telling aspect and colorful instrumental opportunities which are so different from anything else I've every done. This was the first time I had enough of a break to spend some serious woodshedding time and now most of the writing has ben completed. We will be cutting the tracks in Nashville in March. We plan to release it later this year.

TS

I guess hearing it out of Tommy's mouth on the video wasn't good enough... Did you think this made up hyperbole?

styxfanNH wrote:

Thenightbull wrote:It looks like this is really gonna happen here's a note from tommy's site:

Album project for 2010

Hello Friends,

I'm working on a bluegrass album with my friend Brad Davis. We started writing bluegrass in 2006 after I sang on a track of his and liked the way I sounded singing Bluegrass.

I love the story telling aspect and colorful instrumental opportunities which are so different from anything else I've every done. This was the first time I had enough of a break to spend some serious woodshedding time and now most of the writing has ben completed. We will be cutting the tracks in Nashville in March. We plan to release it later this year.

TS

I guess hearing it out of Tommy's mouth on the video wasn't good enough... Did you think this made up hyperbole?

Dunno what ya mean but here's the link: http://www.tommyshaw.com/notes/2010a.htm

Thenightbull wrote:

styxfanNH wrote:

Thenightbull wrote:It looks like this is really gonna happen here's a note from tommy's site:

Album project for 2010

Hello Friends,

I'm working on a bluegrass album with my friend Brad Davis. We started writing bluegrass in 2006 after I sang on a track of his and liked the way I sounded singing Bluegrass.

I love the story telling aspect and colorful instrumental opportunities which are so different from anything else I've every done. This was the first time I had enough of a break to spend some serious woodshedding time and now most of the writing has ben completed. We will be cutting the tracks in Nashville in March. We plan to release it later this year.

TS

I guess hearing it out of Tommy's mouth on the video wasn't good enough... Did you think this made up hyperbole?

Dunno what ya mean but here's the link: http://www.tommyshaw.com/notes/2010a.htm

Look under "Surprise, Surprise" in the forum. Tommy creating a bluegrass album would have been a huge leap for anyone to come up with unless we heard it from the source.

It has to be said. Tommy Shaw's web site looks really, really bad. You'd think he could do a little better. If the web master reads this, no offense, but wow it's just bad.

Ash wrote:It has to be said. Tommy Shaw's web site looks really, really bad. You'd think he could do a little better. If the web master reads this, no offense, but wow it's just bad.

Ash,

It sure does. I think it's a fan site that sort of evolved into an 'official' site.

DerriD wrote:

Ash wrote:It has to be said. Tommy Shaw's web site looks really, really bad. You'd think he could do a little better. If the web master reads this, no offense, but wow it's just bad.

Ash,

It sure does. I think it's a fan site that sort of evolved into an 'official' site.

Guess who owns the domain name

www.crystalball3d.com

I'll give ya a hint me

froy wrote:

DerriD wrote:

Ash wrote:It has to be said. Tommy Shaw's web site looks really, really bad. You'd think he could do a little better. If the web master reads this, no offense, but wow it's just bad.

Ash,

It sure does. I think it's a fan site that sort of evolved into an 'official' site.

Guess who owns the domain name

www.crystalball3d.com

I'll give ya a hint me

I hope you went with go daddy only for obvious reasons of course

DerriD wrote:

Ash wrote:It has to be said. Tommy Shaw's web site looks really, really bad. You'd think he could do a little better. If the web master reads this, no offense, but wow it's just bad.

Ash,

It sure does. I think it's a fan site that sort of evolved into an 'official' site.

Do we have to threaten ts with a gun or something to have him write as many notes as he use to? There's really no point going over to styxworld only when tommy posts a note every blue moon. It's the same as the crib over at dennis's site don't they feel the need to keep the fans up to date anymore?

Dennis Deyoung's site had some major techinical issues I've been told..