Tomorrow, September 11 will be my 46th birthday. I will spend it with STYX and our fans here in Las Vegas. What a perfect way to spend it! As of tomorrow, as the numbers have it, I will have been a member of STYX for 23 of my 46 years. Wow.

It was actually December 17, 1975 when I got the call from Jim Vose, STYX's tour manger, suggesting that I accept the invitation to fly to Chicago for an audition. Can you imagine me having reservations? I did. I had no idea how far STYX had come from the Dex Card days in Chicago where I knew them only as a faceless band who played these well publicized shows that none of us other local bands seemed to have access to. They had just released their 5th album, Equinox and I got my first taste of that standing in front of the guys in the band, as we sized each other up. I was literally speechless when I heard "Midnight Ride."

I had known Jim Vose since he first introduced himself to me at "RUSH UP," the night club on Rush Street in Downtown Chicago where my band at the time, MS FUNK had played quite often and had developed a good following (It is now, by the way a very nice multilevel parking lot).

I was so amazed by the power of the band on this song that I could not think of Jim's name and scanned the album cover to hopefully see a name there that rung a bell. It was at this point where I felt that the silent wish I had made to myself, when the current band I was in back in Montgomery had opened for Kiss at a local arena, was about to come true. I wanted to rock.

The years since that day have flown by, with enough amazing memories to fill volumes of tell-all books. Mostly telling on myself... I would never had imagined that day, as a 23 year old young man, that 23 years later I would be communicating on this forum with friends and fans World-Wide and that STYX would still be as vital and full of hope, energy and promise as it is today.

Last night in Fresno, I saw a sign held up by a little boy that said "3rd Generation STYX Fan..." Whoa! Although we have only released our initial rock track from BRAVE NEW WORLD and plan to release and promote several more songs as the tour continues, I must admit we have already looked ahead to late next year for beginning production of the first STYX album of the 21st century. We are possessed! But, we cannot contain our enthusiasm.

It has been such a great year for STYX as far as reaching new fans. With the increased interaction of the Internet, the acknowledgment of STYX music in films and on television, awareness of STYX seems to have no limits and we intend to be there front and center to make you all a part of our continuing story.

Half my life later, it feels as if we have only begun...