"Will you still need me will you still feed me when I'm 65". That's right 65, mother of pearl how'd the hell I get this age? Aging in show biz isn't harder then it is for anyone else, it's just more obvious. That's why we have all the attempts to look like young people when were not. Letting my hair go gray was not an easy decision and there have been times when I've regretted it but recently I have felt better, check out Jimmy Page, Brian May, David Brynne, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts as recent inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Gray.
Check out my cover story in Goldmine magazine. New and interesting insights into the past and present and thanks to Jeb Wright for the cool interview.
I Turned Down The Cover For Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue For This
Just returned from Florida where we had two great shows, one at the Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater and the other at the Hard Rock in Orlando. God bless the Floridians they are like my American French Canadians showing up to sell out Ruth Eckerd again. It was good to get back on stage after a little time off. Suzanne had the audience sing happy birthday to me at the Hard Rock complete with a huge birthday cake and enough candles that when lit were observable by NASA from space. My good friend Tony La Russa( last years World Series winning manager) was in attendance and it was his first time seeing the new band and he was blown away. The great thing about our friendship is I can rely on him to be completely truthful with me regarding my music. For instance he never cared much for Don't Let It End (though he enjoyed the acoustic version)but loves the Hunchback score and tells everyone so. He asked me where I was getting all my energy from for the two hour show and I told him I was imagining the IRS chasing me. "Born for Adventure is still in the set although it will probably be rotating with some songs form 100 Year From Now and classic's like Crystal Ball, Castle Walls and others. Since Styx never performed Castle Walls live I decided to try it "03" and was surprised by the great audience reaction. Kept it in until 2 years ago but Craig Carter has been begging me to play it.(He just wants that bass solo...thump thump thump thump).
We are working on the logistics for a concert DVD of the acoustic show which would contain all your favorites, and I mean all your favorites unless one of them is Jonas Psalter. In addition we will not follow in the footsteps of the Oscar winning "The Artist" but rather film it in color and in stereo although I will be having a Jack Russell Terrier miming my entire performance. We are hoping for a guest shot on Animal Planet. (No we're not) We are in discussion with two different broadcasters for airings.
Norman Seef video
That video that has surfaced of the band singing Rockin the Paradise in a photo shoot is invaluable for many reasons. One, the world at large had a false image of who we were as a band as serious, pretentious pompous etc. yet as people we were really goof balls always looking for ways to make each other laugh, And two, for the most part we liked each other. It's obvious in this video, we just weren't that good of actors, hell Kilroy proved that.
I know I should write more on this site and I will try. I contacted my webmaster and was surprised by the volume of visitors. Volume of Visitors I like that alliteration.
cheers ddy