One thing is true, your response to the STYX WEB SITE has gotten back to the other members through friends and family. It is something we will be developing more and more as time goes by, eventually offering you more and more choices, such as special STYX merchandise and even STYX music direct purchasing. Don't touch that dial...

After speaking to JY yesterday by phone, it looks as though we will be videotaping and recording the final concert of the tour at Rosemont Horizon (in Chicago on the 21st) for a future release. JY and Dennis are assembling an ace team of videographers form the area to capture this moment in time for posterity. If you are coming, buy your tickets now, because we will have to begin blocking out some areas for the video and sound crews...

Yes, I turned 43 yesterday at home in LA. Jeanne got me an antique Hamilton watch I had been wanting. Coincidentally, it is the same one that Dennis has. Strange, we are more alike than either of us ever imagined!

When we got home from the Florida shows on Monday afternoon, Jeanne and I threw the bags in the house, walked Bubba and headed over to Santa Monica to attend The Soul Train Sister of Soul Awards Show. Our friend Jim Corboy was there as a sponsor, and so we had better access than even some of the R&B artists attending. We felt a little funny getting through secured areas where a rap band was being turned away but that's my friend Jim 4 ya. We met Don Cornelius, and had a great time watching the show (if you saw any of the crane shots sweeping the audience, you couldn't have missed these two glowing blonde heads in the eighth row, stage right. It was almost comical...) Reverend Jesse Jackson, Peboe Bryson, Jamie Fox, Vanessa William's, Attorney Carl Douglas, Arnold Schwartzeniger, and lots of other folks were there. What a thrill...

Last night our friends and neighbors, Jeff and Kerri Conaway went to the dress rehearsal for President Clinton's fund raiser at our friend Ron's house. Barbra Streisand was on the stage erected in the back Yard, and we all had dinner and listened to her sing. Did I ever use the word SURREAL in the notes? It was another perfect California evening. Barbra was singing "The Way We Were" and simultaneously giving some stage, light and sound direction. Marvin Hamlisch was a disembodied voice who was also directing the band from somewhere with a wireless mic (I didn't know it was him until he appeared just before we had to go, but I knew I recognized his voice) as we watched under the stars. Tonight, with The President and Mrs. Clinton at the actual event, it should be a tightly controlled zoo, with the cost of admission a minimum of $5,000.00, and up to $100,000.00 to sit at a main table. We actually had two tickets given to us as a gift, but we are in concert tonight... Then before we had to go (our alarm went off at 4:00 am this morning) we all went into the dining room and those guys had set up plates and put me at the head of the table, and after a short delay, sang happy birthday to me. I found out later, the reason for the delay was that they had asked Barbra to sing Happy Birthday to me, but that she had a bite of food after her rehearsal and something stuck in her throat so she wasn't able to keep singing. That might have sent me over the edge anyway, but what a nice effort!

Now, as I sit on the American Airlines jet in route to Chicago to join up with the other band members and fly to Grand Rapids, we enter the next to the last week of the tour. Michigan has always been a great state for STYX. From the very beginning, because of the close proximity to Chicago, STYX has performed there many times (me too in MS FUNK) and so has a deep and lasting connection. I lived in Niles, Michigan for 10 years, so in some ways it is a bit of a homecoming for me too. So look out, we're rested and ready to rock!