Kevin Cronin

Mr. REO Speedwagon. Kevin is open and honest, he's your best friend. This is the entire story, from Illinois to leaving the band to "Hi Infidelity" to "Ozark." A great listen.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:08):
Welcome, Welcome, Welcome back to the Bob Leftsets podcast. My
guest today is Kevin Cronin of Rio Speedwagon. Kevin, you're
in a hotel room. Where are you, Bob? I am
in the you know, here's what we do on show days,
when it's just a day room. We'll stay at the

(00:30):
you know, Hilton Townsend family in right and just for
a day room. And then on our days off we splurge.
So we are in the lovely Ritz Carlton and Georgetown today,
which is one of my favorite places. And why is
it so great?

Speaker 2 (00:48):
Well, the area is great. You can from here, I can,
and I do this every time. I can't help myself.
I walk into d C. And actually the when we
stayed here in I think February of twenty twenty, like

(01:12):
soon after the you know, the June, the July, pardon me,
the January sixth insurrection. So I walked from here down
to the White House. And then I walked the path
that the that those people walked from the from the
reflection Pond, you know, down to the Capitol. And it's

(01:36):
it's a long walk. It's about a it's a good
half an hour. So what what it made me realize
is those people had plenty of time to go, wait
a minute, what am I doing here? I mean they
had half an hour to contemplate what they were about
to do. So but yeah, when we're here, I'll do

(01:56):
it again. You know, today I'll walk to the White House.
Else I'll you know, see the Washington Monument. I just
can't get enough of it. I I love seeing the
government buildings like the you know, the the Department of State,
you know, the Treasury Building. It's just I don't know,
I just I can't get enough of it. I just
feel uh patriotic, and I feel like, you know, with

(02:21):
all these symbols of America, you know, it's time to
get back to the America. That not getting back to
that other America, but just getting back to normalcy in America.
And I'm I'm I'm hopeful that that the steps that
are being taken now will uh will get us there

(02:42):
and get us back to where we can have a
healthy discourse between you know, the conservative point of view
and the liberal point of view. And because I like that,
you know, that's what America is all about. It's you know,
we we talk things over and we we listen to
the other side, and they listen to us and we

(03:02):
come to conclusions that are better than if we hadn't
listened to one another. So anyway, that's where I am.

Speaker 1 (03:11):
Okay, So just to be clear, that's February of twenty
twenty one. But moving on, moving on. You know, you're
what they used to refer to as a Heartland rock act.
And one of the things that came with that is
you have an audience that today we would say is
both blue and red. Do you intentionally shy away from

(03:33):
making political statements that might appeal to one or the other?
Is that something that goes through your brain?

Speaker 2 (03:40):
You know what? I You know, we have a song
that we put back in the set list after the pandemic.
It's a song called Building the Bridge, and it was
never a hit. It was on a record that we made,
the only record we made off of Epic Records, and

(04:00):
it was never really released, but it's it's one of
my one of the songs I'm the most proud of
that that we play and it it uh It says
we're building the bridge, one small stone at a time,
with a lot of love and some help from above,
from your heart to mine and there's another part. There's

(04:23):
another lyric where it says, uh, looking for the common
ground and every human heart. So it's all about, you know,
people coming together and people accepting one another, and people
kind of listening to one another. And it's it was
actually we actually sent the demo to somehow it miraculously

(04:46):
got into the White House and and Bill Clinton heard it,
and it became his re election campaign, building the bridge
to the twenty first century. And I ended up doing
some uh campaign events with him. But to answer your question,
which I didn't do, uh, I I don't. I don't.

(05:11):
I don't shy away from making statements. But I also
am cognizant of the fact that, uh, that this country
is so divided right now that I mean I I
made a statement a few years back when they uh,
when the whole when when the big trip was, you know, bathrooms,

(05:32):
who could use which bathrooms? You know, should trans people
use the bathroom of their birth gender or And you
know my thing was man if if a if a person,
you know, a male, a born male, walks into the
men's room and looks like a woman. To me, that's

(05:56):
that's more of a of a distraction than if that
person walked into the women's room, you know. So it's
like I think people can kind of have an idea
of which bathroom would be the most comfortable for them. Well,
you know, I reacted to the governor of North Carolina.

(06:18):
And what happened was Bruce Springsteen canceled his show in Greenville,
North Carolina, to protest the governor passing a law against
against trans people being able to use the bathroom of
their choice. And we had a show. We were on
tour with def Leppard at the time, and they chose

(06:42):
to play the gig. And so I was sitting there going, well,
wait a second. If you know, Bruce is in a
position to cancel his show in protest, so if if
we play our show, then that almost could be construed
it is tacit uh, you know, agreement. And so I

(07:04):
felt like I had to make a comment to to
to give Bruce props for for what he did and
also explain that everyone's not in that position that you know,
we're gonna we're gonna play the show. But I support
Bruce's position, you know, about the bathroom situation. And I

(07:27):
got hate mail. I mean, you know, you know, you
know how it is if you look at the comments
on your feed, and I'm sure you get them every
day because you're you're not one who shies away from
from expressing your opinions.

Speaker 1 (07:43):
Okay, let's go back one chapter. You're on the road now,
it looks from the outside without studying it, you're on
the road every year.

Speaker 2 (07:53):
Yeah, pretty much. We've since. You know, I joined the
band in seventy two, and other than the pandemic, we yeah,
I think we toured. We might have taken a year
off in uh in nineteen eighty three. That was just uh,
you know, we had to kind of recalibrate at that time.

(08:15):
But yeah, we're you know, the thing is, we've got
a touring family. You know, we've got our crew. Guys
have been with us forever, and you know, it's a
it's a large uh, it's a large organization. And you know,
in order to keep everybody working and keep everybody together,
you know, we you know, sometimes we'll go out and

(08:36):
do a tour, like just to pay the crew, you know,
I mean, just so so you know, we realized that
you know, the band gets all the gets all the glory,
but without a great crew that sets it up and
deals with everything every day. I mean, our crew is

(08:56):
an amazing group. So yeah, we we pretty much tour
every year.

Speaker 1 (09:00):
And are you into it?

Speaker 2 (09:03):
Yeah, I'm I'm actually I'm actually more into it right
now than I have been in years. We you know,
our original keyboard player, Neil Dowdy, after fifty five years
on the road, decided that it was time for him
to start enjoying the fruits of his of his labor,

(09:24):
so he he retired back in back last December and
he's living comfortably up in Minneapolis. We love him, we
support him, we're happy for him, but we had to
replace him. So when you bring a new person into
a band, it it just well obviously you have to

(09:48):
work them into all the catalog songs, and so it
makes everyone take another look at what we've been you know,
what you've been playing for the past fifty years, you know,
And and you know I'm always tinkering with the arrangements
at sound check. I mean, I drive the guys crazy.
There's you know, I always want to My feeling is

(10:09):
that songs are never really completely written. You know, the
record comes out when you just wrote the song, so
you barely even know it yourself. So over the years,
you you have a chance to just you know, finish it,
and so I'm never satisfied, so I'm always working on

(10:30):
things like that. But I also started working with a
vocal coach during the pandemic and it has changed my life, Bob.
I enjoy performing so much better now because I actually,
for finally, after fifty years, kind of know what I'm
doing as a singer. So it's a so, you know,

(10:53):
between that and and the the infusion of new energy
from from Derek Hill and the keyboard player that joined
us just got everybody. We're working on our vocal arrangements more.
We're just really yeah, we're just improving as a band.

Speaker 1 (11:12):
So what motivated you to get vocal help?

Speaker 2 (11:16):
What did you.

Speaker 1 (11:16):
Learn and was that done via zoom?

Speaker 2 (11:20):
Well? Yes, as a matter of fact, my son Shane,
he and his twin brother Josh have a band called
Sir Please, and they were both just graduated from college
and Shane was a vocal music major and about during

(11:41):
his sophomore year he was like, Dad, you got to
work with my professor Jeffrey Allen. He'll change your life.
And I'm like, yeah, right, you know, I'm seven, I'm
sixty nine years old and he's going to change my life.
And every few months, you know, I would see Shaney like, Dad,
have you called Jeffrey? And I'm like, no, I haven't.

(12:04):
You know, I'm just thinking I can't drive all the
way into LA for a vocal lesson, you know, every week.
Then I saw Shane during the pandemic, singing into his
laptop and I'm like, all right, well there goes the
long commute excuse, you know. But here's what happened, Bob,
And this was I love telling this story because as
a parent, you are always telling your kids things that

(12:29):
they don't necessarily understand, that they don't necessarily agree with,
but you tell them I love you, I have your
best interests at heart, and even if you don't understand this,
at least give it a listen, give it a try.
And then here I am. Now my son is saying

(12:50):
that to me. So and it's my opportunity to show
him the same kind of respect as I was hoping
for him to show me. And he did a number
of times. And so I started working with Jeffrey via
zoom and I will tell you that it's been two
and a half years, and this past weekend, I had

(13:14):
a breakthrough and and all this for the past four
shows we've done have been the best vocal performances of
my career. And all of a sudden, you know, it's
like if you're taking golf lessons and you know, nothing
makes sense for a while, and then all of a sudden,

(13:35):
you smack a ball and you hear that pop off
the club. And so all these all these lessons, and
I've been taking at least two or three lessons a
week with Jeffrey, and it something just clicked, and I
just like, I can't wait for the next show, just
because I'm having so much fun. So you know, I

(13:59):
don't like being away from home, I'll be honest with you.
But for those you know, two hours that I'm on
stage I'm doing I'm having more fun than ever.

Speaker 1 (14:10):
So you say, driving into LA, So where do you live?
I live in a thousand oaks, Okay, So for those
people don't know, LA is a morphous like a giant suburb.
So it's still kind of part of LA. But because
of the because of the traffic, et cetera, it would
take forever to get to where you might be going.
And since you mentioned your kids, how many times you've

(14:32):
been married, and how many kids do you have?

Speaker 2 (14:34):
Well, I was married, I've been married twice. I have
a son, Paris from my first marriage and a step son,
Chris from that marriage. And then I met We got
divorced in eighty seven. And in eighty nine I met

(14:58):
a young music publisher from Geff and Music. Actually she
Our office was right upstairs from hers, and so, you know,
John Barrick and Tom Consolo were up there cranking cranking
out the latest composition by Tom Kelly and Billy Steinberg,

(15:18):
who were managed out of our office. And here comes
this pretty young music publisher upstairs saying, guys, I'm trying
to listen to demos downstairs. Can you turn the music
down a little bit? And one thing led to another,
and now she's my wife. And so I met Lisa
back in eighty nine. We got married in ninety two,

(15:40):
and we have three children, Holly and who is twenty six,
and the twins Josh and Shane, twenty three.

Speaker 1 (15:49):
And being a working musician, how do you sustain a relationship.
I mean, you've been in the game a long time,
You've seen everything.

Speaker 2 (15:57):
Yeah, I have, you know, and it's it's it's a
challenge and and you know, at Lisa and I've been
together now for thirty four years, and you know, we've
we we figured it out and and it wasn't easy.
We we went through some rough patches and but you know,

(16:17):
love carried us through and uh and now we're we're
in a we're in a great place. And I'm I'm
so I feel so fortunate because a lot of marriages
do bite the dust because of because of touring. And
you know, there's just so much temptation on the road,

(16:37):
and you know, so much opportunity for uh, for bad behavior,
and you know, you just got to get to a
point where you can, uh, you know, exert self control
and uh discipline yourself and you know, yeah, so you know,

(16:58):
I'm i'm out here in the road that you know,
we also changed our touring modus operandi or whatever the
word is. You're an attorney, what wait, what is motus operandia?

Speaker 1 (17:10):
That works? That works?

Speaker 2 (17:11):
As that works? Okay? Good U. But uh so we
try not to be out on the road for you know,
we try to do a weekend, the weekend between the
middle weekend, the weekend between and the third weekend, so
we're it's a little less than three weeks, and then
we take a couple of weeks, at least a couple
of weeks off after that. Sometimes we just go out

(17:31):
for ten days. You know, we just don't go out
for you know, six months of touring, because that that
just you that's you can't sustain relationship if you're away
that long. It just doesn't work.

Speaker 1 (17:45):
So, once again, since you've been on the road so
many times, to what degree did Temptation get to you?
Both in terms of sex, drugs, rock and roll?

Speaker 2 (17:56):
Yeah, all of the above, you know, and uh, you know,
especially when you're coming up and you're you're you're playing
the bars and you're starting to get a little bit
of a you know, maybe your first or second record
comes out, you've got you know, uh, you know, a
local kind of following, and uh, you know, you're young

(18:19):
and you're single, and and uh you know it's uh
so that's so that's just kind of good, clean fun
and hopefully you get that out of your system. And uh,
but then you know, a band like us who started
out as a bar band and then suddenly just you know,
kind of hit the jackpot, and then you know, now

(18:43):
Temptation is really everywhere, and you know, uh, you know,
I'm uh, I don't regret necessarily. Well, I regret some
of the things I did, but mostly I uh, well
you know it cost me my first marriage, I'll put
it that way. So you know it's uh, I got

(19:07):
it out of my system, is all I can tell you.
And and I'm you know, I'm I'm, I'm a I'm
a true blue husband out here and and I'm happier
than ever.

Speaker 1 (19:19):
Okay, just going a little bit deeper.

Speaker 2 (19:22):
What's it? You know?

Speaker 1 (19:24):
I say, tell the story all the time because it
really stuck with me. A friend of mine was the
agent for Oprah who was playing Arenas. This is after
she retired, and you will everyone would ask, well, why
does Oprah need to go on the road. She's got
all the money, as David Letterman needs to say, there's
nowhere else she can get that hit. You get on stage,

(19:45):
you get that love, et cetera. So what's it like
and you meet people in the audience, whether it be
friends want to be friends, whether it be women who
are interested in you. What's it like being on stage?
Do these people really want to know you? They just
want to touch fame? What's the experience.

Speaker 2 (20:07):
Well, you know, I can tell you that that that
for me. Uh, you know, especially as a songwriter. You know,
I I remember every song I've written. I remember where
I was. I remember you know, that that holy moment
of inspiration where there was nothing and then all all

(20:29):
of a sudden, there was something and and uh and
so you know when I when I'm on stage and
I sing those songs, uh, it's it's it's just an
amazing experience, says because I know that song from when
it was nothing and now I walk out and I

(20:49):
play the opening chords and everybody stands up. You know,
I sing the song, everybody's singing it back to me.
It's a it's an amazing experience. It's uh, it's something
that's that unless you're standing there at that lead vocal
mic stage center. Uh, it's impossible to understand as far

(21:12):
as what the audience is expecting of me. I think
I think every audience member probably would answer that question differently. Uh.
You know, we do present uh you know, I mean
there are bands who you know, like Kiss or something
like that, who who totally present a character on stage

(21:35):
and that's their thing, and you know, no one does
it better than them. For for us, you know, we're
more the Midwest boys next door, and you know that's
kind of our image, but it's kind of who we
are too. So you know, when I'm up there on stage, yeah,
I'm an exaggerated version of myself, but there's a lot

(21:55):
of my real kind of self up there too, And
so I think people probably feel like they people in
the audience probably feel like they know me better than
they do because you know, uh, you know, I'm not
I'm not showing the necessarily the the the brutes and

(22:19):
not the bruises, but you know, uh uh, you know,
I'm presenting the best possible version of myself up there,
and and I want to. I want to. I want
to inspire other people in the crowd too to be
their best self. You know, we've all got our problems,
We've all got our faults, we've all got the issues

(22:40):
that we're working on in our relationships and in our
in our own personalities. But you know, so uh yeah,
so you know, I I go out there and yeah,
do I do? I do people think that that's who
I really am and that my wife is so lucky
to have me as her husban been. I think they do.

(23:03):
But you know, if you talk to Lisa, you know
she would tell you the other side of the story.
And uh, you know, my theory is that every every
good trait has the flip side of the coin, the
opposite of that good trait. And so it's all of
our jobs too, you know, to understand that that opposite trait.

(23:26):
And uh, you know, I call it the flip side
trait and uh, you know you gotta you gotta know
how to harness that and uh and uh, you know,
life is all about changing and uh and learning and
I'm I'm I'm still a work in progress.

Speaker 1 (23:48):
Okay. Now, people were not on this side of the
footlights don't understand what a grind it is. A lot
of people have what are called find to five jobs.
They come home, maybe they get high, watch TV.

Speaker 2 (24:03):
They do it again.

Speaker 1 (24:04):
But there's an incredible adrenaline hit in performing and it
takes hours to come down, and certainly the longer the
day the sun comes up, it's hard. And therefore a
lot of people cope with drugs. Now people say, oh,
it's about experimentation. A lot of times just coping. Did
you have that period in your road or you're more

(24:26):
of a Midwestern guy.

Speaker 2 (24:29):
No, No, I definitely, I definitely had that period. I'm
I'm very fortunate Bob that that for whatever reason, you know,
the the drugs that I did, they never they never
got me. They never they never took control of me.
And you know, and I tell my kids that, you know,

(24:51):
you don't know, but by the time you know whether
drugs are going to get a hold of you, they've
got a hold of you. And now you've got an
addiction issue to deal with, you know. And somehow I
think that I always kind of had a fear. I've
always had a fear of addiction. So I've I've you know,

(25:12):
I've just managed to limit my intake. Uh. You know,
but uh, drugs were definitely a coping method. You know.
Meeting girls was a coping method. You know, it just
it just was a way to to to to cope
with the loneliness and uh and you know, the combination

(25:34):
of of of of willing girls and drugs was it
was just a way of life. Uh and and uh,
you know, I didn't even realize how weird it was
until I kind of you know, I I actually, I
will tell you, and I'm not ashamed to say it.

(25:54):
I went to rehab and it wasn't for drugs, and
it wasn't for alcohol. It was for or just I
you know, I needed to to straighten out my head
and and uh and it really helped. I spent I
spent a month at Sierra Tucson, and it was it
was a life changer for me. It uh uh you know,

(26:17):
uh and and I would uh you know, I'm so
happy that that it that that it ended up that
way because it really really helped me. And you know,
I'm not I'm not sober, you know. I I respect
people that that are, but you know, I you know,
I like to have you know, I like wine, and
I'll be honest with you and and uh you know,

(26:40):
and I like weed once in a while. So so yeah, yeah,
the hardest part of being on the road is is
coping with the the time that you're alone. And and
so I think that not being alone was was a
big part of of what are. Not being able to

(27:03):
be alone was what got me into a lot of situations,
you know. And uh, but I'm I'm okay being alone now.
I'm I'm writing a book. I've been writing a book
for six and a half years. Now and and that
kind of you know. So so I'm when when I'm alone,
I just you know, I've worked on the book. I

(27:24):
tinker with it and uh you know, I've got a
little practice guitar with me, and uh you know, I'm
I'm more okay with with with being alone than ever,
So that helps.

Speaker 1 (27:38):
Okay, going to rehab, most people are not eager to go,
usually the environing people where I said, well maybe you
should do this. How long ago did you go, what
motivated you to go? And what was the experienced? Like
you know, we said it was life changing? You know
what about it? What did you actually learn there?

Speaker 2 (27:56):
Oh? Man? I I you know I used to to
cope by Uh well I learned at a young age too,
you know, if what if I was misbehaving, Uh you know,
my parents method of discipline was go up to your
room and don't come back until you have a smile

(28:19):
on your face. So I learned that. Okay, so no
matter what I'm feeling, I should come down with a
smile on my face. And I took that into adulthood.
Uh and so I just you know, Hey, the my
most famous song ever is called Can't Fight This Feeling? Uh,

(28:43):
and and uh. You know I always had just feelings
that I would just stuff, and you know, you stuff
the feelings down and and but but feelings are like water.
They have to find their way out. It doesn't work.
Anyone who thinks that if you just wait long enough,
the feeling of you know, of anger, of unfulfillment of

(29:09):
or whatever it happens to be, it's it doesn't go away.
It finds its way out in you know, passive aggressive
behavior in code dependency. I mean, I didn't know what
code dependency was. And the second day that I was
at Sierra Tucson, they had they sent you you get

(29:30):
a you get a schedule every morning, and that they
sent me to a codependence anonymous meeting. I'm like, what, what,
What's this? What am I doing? But I went there
and I walked into the room and there was about
twenty five people in in chairs around a circle. And
the group leader stood up and I guess this is

(29:51):
what happens at the beginning of every meeting. She read
all she read like twenty five personality traits that are
indicative of codependency. Right, And I'm sitting there and not
knowing what I'm doing. There I'm like, all of a sudden,
I'm like check, check check. I mean, it was like

(30:12):
all it was, it was a description of me, you know,
and I always thought that that was just me and
that I had this crazy part of me that I
didn't understand that I was trying to hide. And suddenly
I'm in a room of thirty people who all share
that same whatever personality defect will fault to whatever you

(30:36):
want to call it. And I just at that moment,
I had this feeling like, wow, I'm not alone. Other
people feel these things, and that just that was It
just made me feel like this relief, like I could exhale.
And then, you know, I spent the next month just

(30:59):
you know, get into it and seeing you know, some
alternative coping methods and uh so, you know, and when
you're when you're in rehabits, it's just this weird thing
that first of all, everybody is nobody's any and no,
there's no celebrities, you know, even though there were celebrities there,

(31:22):
but everybody's just on the same level and everyone's free
to talk and you can, uh you know, you don't
have to hide things, you don't have to be you
don't have to be anything except who you are in
that moment, and uh, and it felt really good to me,
and so I kind of brought some of that.

Speaker 1 (31:45):
You know.

Speaker 2 (31:45):
The hard part is when you leave rehab that now
you've got to come in back into the real world
and see if those same coping methods work. And uh,
but yeah, it was. It was a great experience. And
you know, there were people there who were trying to
uh stop drinking, stop using drugs, uh, stop smoking. There

(32:06):
was an eating disorder. A lot of people were in
the eating disorder tract, and but all of us were
together in the you know, in the common areas, and
you just met people and people were free, and people
were just talking about their their stuff, and uh, you know,
I I came out of there a lot more open

(32:29):
I think as a as a person and and and
a lot less. I don't tolerate dishonesty in myself. I
don't uh you know, I don't hold things in because
I know what will happen if I do. And uh
uh and uh and I understand the difference between uh

(32:51):
friendship and codependency. So I learned a lot of things
in there, and and uh, you know, I'm I'm I'm
I'm really happy that I went. When I went in,
I was just like, what am I doing this for?
I'm not you know, I'm not addicted to anything. But
sure enough, when I got there, I realized, Wow, codependency

(33:15):
who knew and changed my life?

Speaker 1 (33:18):
In how long ago? And what was the motivation to
actually go in?

Speaker 2 (33:23):
Uh? It was about ten years ago? And uh, you know,
the motivation to go in was just that I had
set myself up, you know, at a young age to
think that if I could just become successful and my
music to you know, if I could just have hit

(33:45):
songs and people would would be able to see, you know,
my what I'm capable of doing, and and and I
could share these these songs with I just had it
set up that that would be that would solve all
my problems, you know, and and and that motivated me

(34:07):
for years. And you know, then all of a sudden,
nineteen eighty one comes along and we've got the biggest
album of the year, where the most popular band in
the world. There was nobody more more successful in nineteen
eighty one than Ario Speedwagon. And guess what, Rather than

(34:27):
solve my problems, it it magnified them. Began. It also
a new problem showed up, which is, oh, being successful
isn't going to solve all my problems? So what is uh?
And so it finally got to the point in right
right around two thousand and twenty ten where I still

(34:51):
was just I just didn't feel right and and and
I and uh and and you know, success wasn't wasn't
filling the hole. And uh so, uh, you know, my
wife and I talked it over and and uh we
decided that, uh that I needed to to you know,

(35:15):
go in there and get some help. And I think it,
Uh it went a long way to uh to strengthen
my marriage for sure, my relationship with my children, uh,
my all my relationships, you know, and you know some
relationships uh uh you know kind of didn't work anymore

(35:36):
because they were based on on you know, codependency or whatever.
You know. So yeah, so there you go.

Speaker 1 (35:46):
That's uh okay. So you talked about getting out. You're
in this environment. Everybody's equal, You're surrounded by people. You
referenced loneliness earlier, and you talked and I give you
credit because most people have no idea how difficult it is.
You know, I read about people they went to rehab
for a week and then they go back on the road.
That you know, I don't know how they can do that.

(36:06):
So in terms of maintaining did you go to see
a therapist? Were you on your own? What's been happening
in these last ten years to keep you steady?

Speaker 2 (36:16):
Yeah, Well, you know, I was in therapy, you know,
for on and off, you know, during the eighties and nineties,
and uh, and I had some really I worked with
some really good people and uh and after heire Tucson,
I stayed in therapy for a while. I actually haven't

(36:37):
been in therapy for for the for about I don't know,
three or four years now, which is kind of strange. Uh,
it's uh, it's the that's the longest time since the
eighties for me. But uh, you know, so yeah, so

(36:57):
uh I think that uh for some reason, I'm just
a little I'm just not quite as uncomfortable being by
myself as I used to be. And so uh, I mean,
you know, that's the hardest part of of being on tour,
you know.

Speaker 1 (37:16):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (37:16):
Neil used to always say, you know, I do the
shows for free. I get paid to get there. Uh,
and I think that's a pretty common uh thread, you know,
and uh you know, and and you know, the the
years of partying that that that was that was really
a way of coping. And let's face it, if you're

(37:37):
in a rock band and you got hit records, it
gives you a license to uh you know, for debauchery
and and uh uh and it's a but it's a
fake license. And you know people people use sex and
drugs to get close to the band because they want
to be because they want to you know, people want

(37:57):
to understand it. It's like, what's it like to being
a big time rock band? You know? And uh so yeah,
you know these days, you know, our our audiences are
I mean, we played this Monday and Tuesday. Who who
who goes to a rock show on a Monday or
a Tuesday? When we had we had two sold out

(38:19):
shows in Augusta, Georgia and Charleston, South Carolina. People were
on their feet, uh for the singing along, just having
a great time. And you know, and that's enough for me.
That that that love is enough for me. You know,
I'm I'm not looking for for extra curricular love. I

(38:40):
I got I got love at home. Uh, I got
an honest relationship with my wife and my kids and
and not. I'll tell you one of the you know,
if you want to know, one of the one of
the greatest things that that about rehab is is I
came out of there, Uh, like I said, with zero

(39:00):
tolerance for bullshit and and the fact that I could,
uh that I could just since I'm not hiding anything,
since I'm not, you know, engaged in any behavior that
I'm ashamed of. Uh, it's just it's like a it's
like a weight off my shoulders. It's like I can

(39:21):
be totally honest all the time. I'm not hiding anything,
you know, and it's just a it's a real freeing feeling.
And it's just made me closer to everyone in my life,
from my wife, to my friends, to my kids.

Speaker 1 (39:37):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (39:37):
It just just feels good to be done with the
what what I used to call the road guy home
guy syndrome. You know, you can only be one guy,
you know, if you're if you're being two guys, it's
it doesn't work, you know, because you're always you're always
hiding guy too when when when your guy won? And uh,

(39:58):
it's a it's a it's a miserable way to live
I'll be honest with you. So now I'm it's it's
all guy one and and I'm proud to say it,
and I'm at peace with it. Okay.

Speaker 1 (40:13):
You talked about Augusta, Georgia and this rousing crowd. Generally speaking,
who comes to see Ario Speedwagon. Is it fans from
the seventies and eighties? Is it people who are younger?
Is it very young people? And with that, it's one
thing when you're headlining. You talked about being out with

(40:33):
def Leppard. You've been on a number of package tours.
What's it like when you play one of those gigs
where the people in the audience might not have bought
a ticket specifically to see you.

Speaker 2 (40:45):
You know, I take that as a it's a challenge,
It's it's an adventure because it's a it's an opportunity
to play for people, like you say, who didn't exactly
buy the ticket to see you, So you have an
opportunity to to spend you know, seventy five minutes with them,

(41:06):
playing you know, your best songs and and and putting
on you know, a seventy five minute show man. It's
just compact. It's just like powerful, It's it never lets
up and uh. And I think we've won over a
lot of fans through the package tours that we've done. Uh.

(41:27):
But when you know, when you but these shows, like
I say, in Augusta and Charleston, just for an example,
they were I think, you know, maybe four thousand seeds
and I think Charleston was a little bit smaller. And
then you walk out on stage and it's like, wait,
everybody here bought a ticket to see us, you know,

(41:52):
and uh and so it's like it's it's it's like
hanging out with old friends, you know. And uh So, Uh,
you know, Bob, I'll be honest with you, I like
to play. I just like I just love doing it.
I mean I'm doing a gig in I did one

(42:14):
uh in Vegas a couple of months ago. My friend
Kenny Aronoff, the great, the great drummer, Kenny r. They're
one of the great drummers of all time. He he
he is involved in this uh, this band. It's a
long story. I won't go into it, but I ended up.
Uh so I did this one show with them. They
they've got a solid band and then they bring in

(42:38):
uh this thing in Vegas, Billy Gibbons Vince Gill, Steven
Stills and myself and each of us do four or
five of our songs with this great band. And it's
Jim Orsay, the guy who owns the Indianapolis Colts, has
this amazing collection of memorabilia, and so he does these
free shows. So I'm doing another one in Boss And

(43:01):
in that show in Vegas, I got to sing a
duet and almost cut my hair. This was a few
weeks after David's passing. With Stephen Stills, who is I mean,
anybody who reads my book, if I ever finish it,
will will see my just my lifelong reverence and respect

(43:25):
and admiration for Stephen Stills. He's just He's my hero,
is all I can tell you. And so to be
able to just to sing almost cut my hair with
Stephen was just I was like I had to pinch myself.
I couldn't believe it was actually happening.

Speaker 1 (43:51):
Okay, so at this point in time, and of course
everything's a little screwed up because of the pandemic, But
before then and after then, reo speed right yourself. How
many dates a year do you work?

Speaker 2 (44:04):
We do? You know? Uh, somewhere probably around eighty five
ish you know, if we're doing a big package tour,
sometimes you have to play a little more because the
you're carrying, you know, all the extra trucks and buses
and you know, tech crew guys and everything. But uh
but you know, I, you know, my wife and I

(44:27):
kind of made a deal that I wouldn't be on
the road more than I'm home. Uh and and uh
and so we try to keep it, you know. Uh,
we try to keep that. We do. We've been consistent
with that for a long time now. So, but but
we also like to spread it out over the whole year,

(44:47):
so that so we keep the crew and and and
uh so we keep the organism. We kind of keep
the store opens as we say.

Speaker 1 (44:55):
So.

Speaker 2 (44:56):
Yeah, so so we can make it happen, you know,
with you know, a eighty five shows a year. Everybody
does great, you know, we can, we can pay the crew,
everybody's everybody's happy, and we're not away from home too
extremely much. So it's been working out well. Okay.

Speaker 1 (45:17):
In terms of transportation, in the sixties, bands went in
station wagons. Then they win and win a bagos. Then
the real goal was to fly commercial, which got you
there faster, but eats up a lot of time. Then
we have the era. Well I want to be big
enough to have our own jet, and of course superstars
at this point. You know, what people don't realize is

(45:39):
they'll base themselves in one location and they'll fly out
to different locations. But those are people who you know,
were you know, there's a very thin layer of the axe.
And yet there are household names who were traveling by bus.
So there are a lot of people who don't understand
that the bus is the period because you get off

(46:01):
the road and there it is. You don't have to wait,
you don't have to go anywhere. So how do you
guys do it? And what's your experience been over history?

Speaker 2 (46:10):
Oh man, Well, you know the Ario has a rich
history of aviation related high jinks and near missus and
uh uh it's it's uh we we we started chartering
a plane long before we could afford it. And uh

(46:33):
and our mutual friend, uh Irving as off of course
who was uh we were his first management client, as
you know, and uh and so so Irving made a
deal for for an airplane and and I remember thinking,
and I didn't ask. I'm like, I'm not going to
ask any questions, I don't know how we're affording this,

(46:54):
but uh but but hey, we're on an airplane, and
uh so, uh uh that ended up being that we'll
put it this way. The in about three years after
we uh left that airplane in an on an airstrip

(47:15):
in Arkansas, the plane had lost its brakes and and
our and our pilot had a gun one of the
engines put the other engine in reverse and and put
it into a forced tailspin. And of course I always
used to like to sit in the rear portion of
the plane. And on that particular day, we had a

(47:36):
rolling stone reported by the name of John Swinson on
the plane with us, and John and I got the
right of our lights. The plane did did three full
uh full spins on the in the in the grass.
But uh so. Years later, I'm in a hotel actually
here in Washington, d C. And some people knocked on

(48:00):
my door. I don't know how they found my room,
but there was a group outside. I looked at the people,
and someone's holding up the book looked like an Encyclopedia
school yearbook size book, and it said Department of Our
Department of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms nineteen eighty two yearbook,

(48:23):
and so I'm like, what's this? So I opened the door.
They had opened to a page of a point of
view from behind a squad car with agent atf agent's
guns drawn aimed at in the distance, an airplane with
the Areo speedwagon logo paines on the side. So, long

(48:46):
story a little shorter. On our days off on the road,
our plane was being used to do all kinds of
things that we were not aware of, and so we
we were the We were basically a cover for much
illegal activity. So that's how we afforded the plane. I

(49:11):
guess we didn't partake in any of the illegalities, but
are we were a cover for it? I guess.

Speaker 1 (49:18):
Okay, So at this point in time, you know, it's
not like you go, as you said, go on the
road for sixty days straight, although sometimes you do a
package tour. So are you traveling by bus to these gigs?
Are you flying in and flying back to la? How
does it work?

Speaker 2 (49:32):
Now? We fly into a to a major hub that
the tour buses meet us there and and honestly, you know,
you know, my friend Sammy Hagar's got a beautiful airplane
and he always and that's just his thing, and he's
in a position to be able to afford it, and
and it's great, but the problem is you spend your

(49:57):
whole day driving to the airport getting on the airplane,
you know. So the beauty of tour buses, which is
how we travel, is, you know, the gig's over, you
get on the bus, watch a little TV. You know,
there's cables, there's satellite TV and the bus. Then you
go into your bunk, you know, read a little bit,

(50:17):
listen to a Bob Lefts it's podcast, and and uh
and uh and you uh and you get to sleep
and then when you wake up, you're in the next
city and you can do things you can you know,
go to the gym, take a walk, you know. I
always like to walk around whatever city we're playing on

(50:39):
the afternoon before the show. I just kind of soak
up some of the vibe of what's going on in
that city. And uh. And then you know, I bring
that with me on stage and I just feel a
little bit closer to the audience that way. So I'm
I'm cool traveling by by tour bus. But I do
like the nights that we get to sleep in a

(51:01):
real bed, So I will enjoy my evening tonight.

Speaker 1 (51:04):
Okay, so we started that earlier. You talked about a
day room and then you talked about being in this
great hotel. Do you essentially get a hotel every day? Yeah,
we get a hotel every day. Some I mean sometimes
you know, you know, I'm I'm a.

Speaker 2 (51:19):
Late sleeper, and so I by the time I get
off the bus, I'm in the room for maybe four
hours and then I got to you know, check out again.
So so that becomes a little bit of a burn
because you got to bring out, you know, you got
to open up all your luggage. I mean, it takes
me from the time I walk into my hotel room

(51:41):
until the time it's all set up to my specifications.
You know, it's a good half hour process. Just like
you know, put your suitcase here, you put your computers there,
your toiletries are in the bathroom. You know, I just
like to make make my environment feel somewhat familiar. But

(52:03):
on those day room days, yeah, well you know, they're
three or four hours and then we're off to the gig.
But then on the days off, you know, we get
to have a nice day and and uh, you know,
nice dinner in a restaurant somewhere or whatever. And so
that that's what that's what today will be.

Speaker 1 (52:21):
And to what degreed? Can you travel freely? Or you recognized?
You know what?

Speaker 2 (52:27):
Uh I'm I'm recognized on a pretty regular basis, but normally,
you know, if it's just on the street or you know,
there's hey, everybody's different, you know, every person has a different, uh,
you know, way of of approaching you know you and

(52:49):
and you know as a uh you know, I'm I'm
I'm so lucky that I that my music uh affects
people in such a way that they want to they
just want to. I don't quite understand it, but that's
how I felt about Steven Stills. I just I just
wanted to meet him because I love his music so

(53:11):
much that that I feel like that's a connection between
between him and me, even though you know, he didn't
know who I was. You know, I was, I was
a kid and uh so, so I I understand that feeling,
and and so I try to be as as accommodating
as possible. The things that I don't tolerate is when

(53:35):
someone is drunk and they and they and now they
want to come up to me and it's just that
doesn't work, you know. But if but if if people
are are and usually people are usually people are really cool,
just really respectful. Just want to say, you know what, man,

(53:55):
you know, your your music means a lot to me.
And and and we played your song at our wedding
and thanks, you know, and I'm like, you're welcome. That's awesome,
you know, I mean, who doesn't want to hear that?
You know?

Speaker 1 (54:09):
Okay, So to what degree does Rio Speedwagon mean anything
outside the United States? And to what degree have you
toured outside the United States?

Speaker 2 (54:20):
Well, we you know, well I will tell you this.
We we did a really made a really dumb decision.
In nineteen eighty one, we were offered a huge European tour.
We had toured the States, you know, sold out stadiums.
We went to Japan, you know, did multiple nights at

(54:41):
Budu Khan and toured the country. And by late nineteen
eighty one, that was when the European leg of the
tour was supposed to happen, and we just didn't do it.
And it was looking back that that was a dumb thing,

(55:01):
because you know what I've come to understand about uh,
European music fans an. You know, this is a generalization,
of course, but that if you if American bands come
there when they're at their peak and tour, those bands
can come back to Europe forever and and people will.

(55:25):
People are loyal, the fans in your European fans are
just loyal. If you don't come there at your peak,
and now you're not at your peak anymore, and now
you want to go over to Europe and play, it's
a it's a it's a tougher hill to climb, I'll
tell you. But but but but we you know, we

(55:47):
you know, luckily, we we did go back there after
the wheels are turning tour. We toured Europe and so
you know, we go back there every few years. We've
you know, we've been to Japan a few times. We
did a little tour of New Zealand right before the
pandemic with Huey Lewis and Melissa Etheridge. We just played

(56:08):
a few festivals in New Zealand and it was awesome.
I mean it was just a great experience. And uh so, yeah,
you know, I like to see new places. You know,
we're we're we're tossing around an Australian tour, which we've
never done. So but there's also something nice about being

(56:29):
home too, you know, being not having to show a
passport and and just knowing that there's a little safety
and you know, I feel more connected to home, you know,
and and for me it's really important to feel connected
to home. Lisa bought me up a little a little

(56:53):
pendant right before I left, and and it's uh and
I love it. It's just a little shame. Well, I
guess people can't see it, but there's an anchor at
the end of it, and it's like, and I never
tell well, this is my New Zealand. The thing that
I wear constantly given to us by a maori u,

(57:15):
a spiritual guy. I don't know. I guess it was
a priest, a Maui priest. And then this little anchor,
and so it's like, that's my anchor. You know, home
is my anchor.

Speaker 1 (57:26):
Okay, since you've been on the road for decades, what's
the best hotel you were ever at? What's not? If
I said you we get to go to one, what
would that be?

Speaker 2 (57:37):
Well, I'll tell you what. This one right here would
be high on my list for sure. The you know,
there's there's the Townsend in Birmingham, Michigan, outside of Detroit.
That's in a great spot. I'm trying to think of
like a someplace. Oh man, I can't there's there. I'm not.

Speaker 1 (58:02):
I'm not.

Speaker 2 (58:02):
I'm not thinking of like one. If you asked me
for a venue, you know, I would, you know, it's like.

Speaker 1 (58:08):
Okay, agree, that's that's interesting to switch it to a venue.
If I if I say there are three venues you
can play, what are those?

Speaker 2 (58:16):
Well, the first one is Red Rocks without even without
even having to think twice, Red Rocks is just just
from uh well, first of all, I have a picture
of it. It's one of my first memories of life
of my mom and I. My dad took the picture
up at the top of the you know, with with

(58:37):
the Amphitheater of Red Rocks in the in the background,
when I was two and a half years old. And
you know who who would have thunk that that my
history with Red Rocks would be? I think we I
think we've played there seven times and and uh the
place has been sold out everyone. And what's great about
red Rocks is not only the natural amphitheater and the

(59:00):
beauty of the of the area that you're in, but
in the dressing room area, there's a they have a
mural of every everyone that's ever played there, starting in
I think it opened in the early nineteen hundreds, and
so you can look at this at this thing and
it's like a history of music, you know, from from classical,

(59:24):
you know, through the you know, the big band era
and the frank Sinatra area, and then all of a sudden,
the British invasion happens and you know could and yeah,
there was like a Beach Boys Frankie Valley in the
Four Seasons period. So you can really just document how
music has changed over the years. It's really it's a

(59:44):
beautiful venue that that's my favorite. Everybody should at some
at some point in their life when when your favorite
band plays Red Rocks, fly to Denver and go see them,
because to see your favorite band at Red Rocks, that's
that's a that's a bucket list for everybody.

Speaker 1 (01:00:05):
I would say, let's go back a chapter. You talk
about believing that if you had hit records, your life
would work, which raises the question to what degree were
you driven. What people don't understand is how impossibly hard
it is to make it. I mean it's just you know,

(01:00:28):
athletes you can kind of say, well they have this
skill or whatever, whereas in musicians it's not even like
there's a roadmap. How driven were you to be successful?

Speaker 2 (01:00:39):
And how successful, well, you know I was. I was
highly motivated, I would say. And then when I met
Gary Richrath, the late great Gary Richrath, who, by the way,
if I if I might, if I might, if I
made divert for a moment, Gary Richrath belongs in the

(01:01:02):
conversation of the great rock guitarists of all time, and
he's never mentioned in that conversation. And it's I feel
like it's a it's a uh, it's just not right. Gary. Uh.
Gary was a stone cold rock star. He the way

(01:01:23):
he played the guitar. I mean, I wouldn't call him
a virtuoso. I'm the guitar. There's no one Anario Speedwagon
who's a virtuoso. That's not what we do. I'll leave
that for for for Lucather, you know, and and and
you know Luke is just you know, one of my favorites.
But anyway, but Gary, man, if you think back the

(01:01:45):
way he held that those less Pauls. He just he
caressed them, he danced with them. He that he became
one with that instrument. Uh And and his stage presence
was so magnetic that he could literally stand on stage
and with he wasn't a singer, he didn't even have

(01:02:07):
a vocal mic. He just stood on stage. We all
went back to the dressing room and you know, had
a snack, and he stood out there in front of
twenty thousand and fifty thousand people and held them transfixed
for like a ten minute instrumental solo electric guitar with
a Les paul a coil cord plugged directly into a

(01:02:30):
Marshall stack and a wah wah pedal in between, and
that's it. And this guy, man, he was amazing. But
when I met him in nineteen seventy two, I found
someone who was equally as driven as I was, which
I'd never experienced before. And you know, and together, I

(01:02:56):
mean we were you know, we were chalk and cheese
and so many but but together when you know, when
when we finally kind of figured it out and it
didn't last long, it was you know, it was two
you know, kind of two ships passing in the night
ish but for those few years between seventy eight and

(01:03:20):
you know, eighty two. Man, we were just firing on
all cylinders. It was just working. And and I'm I'm
so thankful, so grateful that my life that I just
it was so lucky. The way I met rich Rath
was it was just so lucky. It it it came

(01:03:44):
from my drive, I will say that. But still, you know,
having drive is important. You also got to get lucky.
And you know, I've had so many instances, and you know,
when you write a book, you kind of relive your
life life, and you know, you go, you know, when
something happens, you don't know the you know, the significance

(01:04:07):
that it might have. You know, when you're when you
look at your life in retrospect and I go, there's
just too many times where I just happen to be
in the talk about it, in the right place, at
the right time, and I'm just I'm just so thankful
for that. I'm just so so grateful for it. And

(01:04:27):
you know, then of course you got to be ready
for the luck when it hits, you know, And I
guess I got to take credit for that side of it,
because you know, I'm Bob, I there's a lot of
people who want to be in rock bands, a lot
of people who want to be famous, a lot of
people who you know, want to be a star. And

(01:04:47):
then there are those of us who need it. It's
like it's like survival. It's like, I don't know what
would have happened to me if, if, if, if, if
my life hadn't worked out the way it did. I I,
you know, I have nightmares about, you know, what would

(01:05:09):
have happened. And uh so I'm thankful every day every
time I walk out on stage. I I just have this,
uh this feeling that I'm going to give this audience
every freaking ounce of my energy tonight. And and because
I'm so lucky that people are willing to spend their

(01:05:33):
hard earned money to come and and and hear our
songs and hear us perform them. You know, I never
take that for granted.

Speaker 1 (01:05:48):
Rich Rath was in the band, he's unfortunately no longer
with us, but then he was out of the band.
What happened there, well, that's you know, that's a.

Speaker 2 (01:05:59):
Lot of what my book because about. Honestly, that about
the relationship between Gary and I, because it was it
was it was definitely Uh, you know, as Ash as
Keith Richards famously said, a love hate relationship, Uh he
loves me, I hate him. And you know, and Gary

(01:06:20):
and I were we were you know, you hear the
stories of the lead singer, lead guitar player things, you know,
from from Tyler and Perry to Page and Plant. And
not that I'm comparing Gary and I to either of
those those amazing duos, but inasmuch as we were, we
loved each other like brothers, and we fought like brothers,

(01:06:43):
and we both wanted what was best for the band.
We just didn't always agree on what that was. But
like I say, for those for that for that period,
there those few years where it was just really firing
on all cylinders. Uh, that was that was something special.

(01:07:04):
And I mean, how can I how can I how
can I say? How can I answer your question in
a with with without a book? I guess you know,
if you look at at artists or as lead singer
guitarist combos, as they're each a piece of sand paper

(01:07:27):
and and and there. So there's the there's this friction
that happens when when they come together, and those sparks
are something that would not happen without each other, and
and and uh, you know, my songs definitely needed a
shot of Rich Rath rock and roll energy, and his

(01:07:49):
songs needed a shot of my singer songwriter uh, you know,
kind of folk singer energy. And at some point, uh,
the s and paper wasn't the sparks weren't flying anymore,
and I and I saw it happen, and I I

(01:08:13):
tried my best. I probably could have tried harder in retrospect,
but I finally just got to the point where I
had a conversation with Gary, who had been my musical
partner for this was nineteen eighty nine, so since nineteen

(01:08:35):
on and off since nineteen seventy two, and I just
told him that I couldn't do it anymore. And and
I couldn't you know that there was a there was
an Rio album on the horizon, and I, you know,
this is after I had met Stephen Stills and we'd

(01:08:57):
written a song together, and I had this side project,
you know, a ten piece band with horns and background singers,
you know, called the Strolling Dudes, that that played out
of trencas and played little bars around l A and
and but with amazing musicians. I mean Graham Lear on drums,

(01:09:17):
Ricky brown On on trumpet, Steve Grove on sacks, got
guys that, uh, you know that were just just amazing musicians,
including Bruce Hall, the bass player from Ario. He was
a member of the Dudes too. Uh. And so then
the thought I was having so much fun just being

(01:09:38):
free and playing you know, different, I wrote different types
of songs and and I just felt like, uh, and
then the thought of going back in the studio for
another Ario Speedwagon record just felt like, oh boy, okay,
here we go. It just it just I wasn't excited

(01:09:58):
about it. I wasn't in spa aired about it, and
and and part of it was that, you know, the
partnership between Gary and I just wasn't wasn't it wasn't
firing on all cylinders, and it was it was actually
a little bit of a drag. And so that's what happened. Honestly,

(01:10:22):
I never thought that that Gary's hiatus Fromario Speedwagon would
be permanent. I thought it would be like mine, you know,
you know, I got kicked out of the band in
nineteen seventy three. Took a couple of years to figure
out some things that I needed to figure out about

(01:10:43):
myself and when I got back in the band, it
was better than ever. So that's kind of what I
thought would happen with Gary, but it never did. And
you know, God, you know, I uh, you know, I
look back and I go, man, you know, could I

(01:11:04):
have tried harder? Could I have What is there more
that I that I could have done to help the situation?
And you know, you always look at things that way
in the rear view mirror. But at the time, Uh,
I was just I was just out of gas, man,

(01:11:25):
I just I just couldn't do it anymore.

Speaker 1 (01:11:29):
And to what degree was he resentful? And to what
degree did you have any contact for the ensuing decades?
Ultimately you played a couple of you know times on
stage with you long after this incident, But was it
pretty much final and you had no contact? And was
he pissed off?

Speaker 2 (01:11:48):
You know, that's a good question, Bob. We we had,
we had occasional contact, and uh, you know, Gary came
out to some shows when we played the old Universal
Amphitheater in LA and just sat in on a couple
of songs. And you know, the way Ario Speedwagon has

(01:12:08):
always worked is that you know, there have been a
number of people in the band. You know, I'm one
of three lead singers, you know, and even crew guys,
and anyone who's ever been in the band is always welcome.
It's like, oh yeah, well yeah he was. He was
my guitar tech and you know, nineteen seventy seven. Yeah,

(01:12:30):
give him a pass, get him in here, you know.
So so there was there was that Gary and I
had a couple of soulful conversations over those years. Uh
and and they always kind of ended in the same
way where uh, you know, I would I would just

(01:12:54):
try to motivate him and and and inspire him in
some way. Uh and in it Uh, it just never
never quite happened. But he was never he never expressed.
I mean, the last time that I saw him was

(01:13:15):
at a benefit show that we did in Illinois for
for that horrible uh tornado that that came through Washington,
Illinois and just decimated the town. It was right near
where Gary grew up, and uh, and he had moved
back there. He had moved back to Peoria, which I
thought was gonna be great for him, you know, get
out of la get out of the shadow of Ario speedwagon,

(01:13:38):
you know, come back to the Midwest where everybody loves
you and knows you. And so he came out to
to to that show and and we were able to
we just had a moment and and I didn't sense
I didn't sense any anger. I sensed I sent some sadness.

(01:14:01):
You know. We looked into each other's eyes right before
we went on stage, and there was a there was
definitely a certain sadness there. I felt it too, and
I know he did. And uh, you know, the thing
is that the band has had such a resurgence over
the past I don't know, fifteen twenty years that and

(01:14:28):
none of this would have happened without Gary. You know,
he was he was the guy that got Ario Speedwagon signed.
You know, Irving Irving saw Gary Richrath and and he
was like he knew Irving knows a star when he
sees one. And and and so you know, I just

(01:14:49):
it's a bummer that Gary is not here, that hasn't
been here for the past twenty years of the of
this resurgence of the band. Now, maybe the band wouldn't
have had a resurgence if Gary was there, But I
always hoped that getting away from it for a while,
maybe he'd you know, as I did when I was

(01:15:11):
out of the band, bottom out and realized that, you know,
you want your gig back, you know, That's what happened
to me. I went and saw him. There was a
show in West Palm Beach now just happened to be
in town, and I showed up the dressing room, and
you know, hadn't seen the guys in a couple of years,
and it was like old times. And I watched the

(01:15:33):
show from the stage right wing. And the guy who
replaced me, Mike Murphy, champagne guy, extremely talented, like great
blues and R and B singer played, played a good guitar,
good piano. But I watched it, man, and I'm like,

(01:15:56):
it didn't seem like a Reo speedwagon, you know, with
Murphy's as good as he is, you know, it was
just such a stylistic mismatch. And I was like, wait
a minute, that was my gig and I let it
slip away, and I want it back, and I'm gonna,
I'm gonna. I don't know how it's gonna happen, but

(01:16:17):
uh it did. And uh so that's what I thought
would happened with Gary, and it just didn't happen.

Speaker 1 (01:16:25):
And yeah, okay, tell us a little bit more about
how you got kicked out and how you got back in.

Speaker 2 (01:16:32):
I knew when I said kicked out that that you would.

Speaker 1 (01:16:35):
I never knew you were kicked out. I thought you left.
But now since you brought it.

Speaker 2 (01:16:38):
Up, well, you know, yeah, I always kind of described
it as, uh as that we had the creative differences
arose during the during the recording of the Ride and
the Starmut album, uh, which led to me leaving the band.
That's not false, but uh, but really what happened was,

(01:17:03):
you know, I you know, I had always played in
the bands before Ario Speedwagon that I played in, you know,
like my band in like high school and early college.
We we had way more in common with Buffalo Springfield
than we did with Deep Purple, you know. And so
when I joined and I was never a lead singer.

(01:17:24):
I was always just one of the I you know,
I'd sing lead on some songs, but we all my
band always had three singers with three part harmony, and
so that's what I was used to. So when when, uh,
when I went out and saw Ario Speedwagon after I
met Gary, uh, I was like, wow, I got to

(01:17:45):
sing every song? How's that going to And they were loud, man,
these guys played loud. So I ended up having vocal
problems and uh uh you know, I went to a
doctor and Champagne kind of on the sly and he
he diagnosed a nodule on my left vocal cord and

(01:18:06):
said that the only way to cure it was to
not uh not talk for three weeks and not sing
for six weeks. And here I am, I've been in
the band for a year that were headed out to
California to make an album. How how's this going to work?
And of course, my stupid coping mechanism was to stuff it,

(01:18:30):
you know, not tell anybody, uh you know, keep it
a secret. And and so I started not singing at rehearsals,
you know, only you know, kind of isolating so I
wouldn't have to talk. So everyone in the band just
thought I was being a dick, but really I was
just trying to save my voice. And but they had
no idea that I was trying to save my voice

(01:18:51):
because I was afraid if I told him that they
kicked me out of the band. So you know, uh,
you know that it caught up to me and uh
and uh uh and so so Murphy came in and
took over. But yeah, I you know, I can't say
that it was a mutual decision, but I will say

(01:19:11):
that I was in no position to argue the point.
You know, I knew that I didn't write my best
songs for the Ride in the Stormont album, and I
couldn't sing. So how do you how do you keep
a gig as a lead singer when your vocal cords
are are compromised? You know?

Speaker 1 (01:19:28):
So yeah, so what did you do in the ensuing
two years? And how did you literally get back in.

Speaker 2 (01:19:36):
Well, for for about for about a year. Yeah, I
went to Colorado. I lived in up in Evergreen for
a couple of months, didn't sing at all. And then
it occurred to me, you know, up in the in
the fresh air of Evergreen, Colorado, that I had gotten
one opinion on my vocal cords, and and that caused

(01:20:01):
me caused my life to change in a way that
that was devastating. I'm like, well, maybe I should get
another opinion, and so I went to went into Denver.
I made a couple of appointments. When into Denver, saw
two voice specialists and They're like, I don't know what
you're talking about. There's you. There's no vocal nods nodules now,

(01:20:23):
nor is there any evidence that there ever was. I'm like,
then this is two different guys. I'm like, oh, great,
now you tell me right. So, yeah, I went back
to Chicago, tried to tried for a career as a
solo artist. I was working with Bill Trout. Do you

(01:20:45):
remember Bill Trout? He was the president of Wooden Nickel
Records in Chicago. Yeah, you know, and Bill was he
was a character. He was. He was part of the
company that released the first Beatles album on VJA Records
out of Chicago, and he parlayed into a deal with
I think r c A what Wooden Nickel was a
boutique label in RCA signed Sticks and and then so

(01:21:09):
he acted as my attorney and uh, the late great
Gary Luaiso from the from the American Breed, the other
guy that sang Bend Me, Shape Me and produced a
bunch of Sticks Records. I was his first production client
in his garage in UH in Oaklhom, Illinois. And UH,
and so we went about the UH tried to get

(01:21:31):
me a solo deal and it just it didn't happen,
and that was devastating because I thought, you know, when
when I got away from Rio, I was like, this
is the best thing that ever happened to me. I've
I'm kind of well known. Now I had a couple
of songs that did decent on the Rio. Well, now

(01:21:53):
I'm going to be able to do what I really
want to do, which is play you know, folk rock
in harmony and you know, you know, more of a
Stephen Stills type character. You know that that was my
fantasy of myself and it just didn't work. Uh uh
you know, you know I I uh so that was

(01:22:14):
devastating and that sent me definitely into a funk. And
uh and I spent almost a year just you know,
going down to Bill Trout's office waiting for the phone
to ring, uh you know, and uh you know, and
then going back to my apartment up on the north

(01:22:35):
side of I was living alone, and uh, you know,
I started isolating and it was just not a good thing.
And then I, uh I met my first wife and
and she was she was a musician, and she really

(01:22:56):
uh uh just kind of said you you got to
start working again. You you know, you know that this
is enough enough already of sitting around, you know, feeling
sorry for yourself. And so I started singing, Uh, started
playing solo acoustic gigs around Chicago and really working at it, man,

(01:23:20):
And and I learned a lot. I you know, I
opened for for some some really good The thing about
being a playing folk clubs is you've got to learn
how to talk to an audience. You know, it's you
know it. Playing the songs is important, but getting a
few laughs in between, and and kind of you know, uh,

(01:23:42):
getting the audience, uh invested in a song that they
have never heard before, so so that they're more willing
to listen to it just by a little story or
whatever of how the song was written or what the
song's about. Uh. And I really learned a lot about that.
I opened for a bit a man who you remember,

(01:24:03):
maybe maybe not too many of your listeners would called
Mason Prophet. Of course they had a song, yeah two
hangman and Terry Talbot was a master of work in
an audience. And I would just sit back and watch
him do it, man, and just soak it up. And
so that show in West Palm Beach that I talked

(01:24:25):
about where I saw the band Neil Dowdy shared something
with me in the dressing room. He's like, we just
got a a what do you call that? When a
petition that started out of Fort Wayne, Indiana. This is
before the Internet or iPhones or anything like that. It

(01:24:49):
was actually on paper and there was like I thought,
I thought he said fifteen thousand names, but that sounds
that's got to be too many. But it was a
large number of names who signed a petition for Ario
Speedwagon to get back to the Rio two lineup, which
was that that was the album I made with the band.

(01:25:12):
And uh So when he told me that, I was like,
that's interesting. I wonder why he's sharing that with me.
And uh, a few months later I got the phone
call and uh and it was kind of perfect timing because, uh,
you know, my ego was knocked down to size by
not getting the solo deal, but I learned so much

(01:25:35):
from playing as a solo artist, and I brought that
energy back into the into the band. Uh. And there
was a and and their egos came down a notch
because they thought they were gonna be that it didn't
matter who the singer was, you know, Uh, that they
were gonna but but that two album did way better

(01:25:56):
than the than the album's subsequent albums. That with with
Murphy singing, it just didn't it as great of a
musician as he is, It just didn't. It didn't sound
like Ario Speedwagon at all. And uh so I was
ready when when the call came, the guys were ready
and there was a there was a new you know.

(01:26:17):
Gary Neal used to joke that they, you know, they
picked me up out of the gutter and made me
a star, and there was some truth to it. But
but when I came back to the band, I knew
it had to be on equal terms. It had to
be you know, there there There couldn't be you know,
there was no more on the new guy. So I
don't get a say in what happened. You know, I

(01:26:38):
needed to be an equal member of the band, and
uh and I was and and it worked.

Speaker 1 (01:26:51):
Okay. From the outside, Ario Speedwagon was around forever perceived
as a regional thing, but on a majorly epic and
then roll with the changes happened with the can't tuna piano?
You can tune a piano, we can tuna fish. That
seemed to be a line of demarcation from the outside,

(01:27:11):
what was going on on the inside.

Speaker 2 (01:27:14):
Well, the the that was the the Tuna album was
was the first album that was self produced. We we
had had a number of uh successful well known I
mean Bill Halverson, Bill Simsic, John Stronik. I mean those

(01:27:35):
three producers right there probably are you know between Eagles
Hotel California and Joe Walsh. So what uh you know
the first two Crosby, Stills and Nash albums. I mean,
these guys obviously know what they're doing, but somehow it
didn't work for us, And so we had Uh I've

(01:27:56):
been back in the band for about two years. I
had written rolled the changes. Time for me to fly
blazing your own trail again. Gary had sing to me,
uh say you love me, you r say good night.
We had we had some We had some pretty We
had a pretty strong group of songs that we were
ready to record. And our fear was that if Epic

(01:28:21):
assigned a producer to us, that the that that those goods,
that those songs would get spoiled, and we didn't want
to take any chances. So so Gary and I march
into Ronald Luxembourg's office. He was the president of Epic
at the time and lay down the law that that
either we produced the next studio album or we refused

(01:28:42):
to record. We never even got that far. We were
sitting in a meeting with Ronald Luxembourg and and John
Boylan was in the in the meeting, and Aluxembourg is like, hey,
I think it's a great idea for you two to
produce this record, but I just want John to be
in the room with you. And you know, John had
just come off Boston's debut album. And uh so to me,

(01:29:07):
I was like, this is perfect. We're we have the
freedom to to produce the album how we want to,
and if we have problems, we got John Boylen's in
the room with us. So it was really an ideal
situation in many ways. And uh but yeah, so, uh
so we were co producing and and I think that

(01:29:30):
was the beginning of of Ario Speedwagon changing from you know,
before I joined the band, they were straight ahead rock band. Man,
they were just a solid you know. Original singer Terry
Latreuell was a you know, had the mic stand moves
and the raspy voice and the and the whole thing,
you know, and and uh but you know, I knew

(01:29:52):
that if if the band was going to survive with
me in it, it would take some it would be uh,
some give and take on both. And I think role
with the Changes was the first the first hint of
what Ario Speedwagon could become if if there was equal
parts Gary's guitar power and the power of that rhythm

(01:30:17):
section and a respect for me as a songwriter and
the more melodic uh you know, paying attention to the
lyrics a little bit more side of things. And that
was when we first kind of the balance first started
being found and roll with the changes? Was it.

Speaker 1 (01:30:38):
Okay? So you have this unbelievable success with high end fidelity,
which you also referenced earlier. Few questions to amplify the question, Hey,
seems like you're driven. You want to get to a goal.
From anybody in the outside that's ringing the bell, there's
nowhere really higher you can go. How did it affect

(01:30:59):
you going forward? You have the moment of success?

Speaker 2 (01:31:02):
Uh is it? Then? Well?

Speaker 1 (01:31:04):
How am I going to maintain this?

Speaker 2 (01:31:06):
You know?

Speaker 1 (01:31:07):
How does it affect your mentality going forward to have
that unbelievable success?

Speaker 2 (01:31:13):
Well, it was, uh, you know, it was a shocker
to me because, like I said, I thought that was
going to be the magic wand that that suddenly that
that all of my problems were a result of not
being successful in music and not being recognized as an artist,
all that, all that good stuff. Uh and what what really, well,

(01:31:38):
I'll be honest with you, what really uh kind of
did me in? Was we we thought sure that Heine
Fidelity was a shoe in for at least the Best
Album nomination, if not, if not, you know, a Grammy
for Best Album or you know, keep on loving you

(01:32:00):
long of the Year, you know. We we we had
pretty high hopes. And when the Grammy nominations came out
and we were nominated as for Best Rock Performance by
a Duo or Group, and that was it. And that

(01:32:21):
just sent me, uh into a bad place.

Speaker 1 (01:32:27):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (01:32:28):
And uh it was it was just like the ultimate
you know that that that recognition, uh huh, that peer recognition,
recognition that the Grammys represents was something that I had
been craving since I was a little kid, you know,
And so all the success in the world was, uh,

(01:32:52):
it didn't make any difference because I just that the
the Grammy snub just it just destroyed me. It was
just so hard on me, and uh, and so so
so when the when the band, when there was a
band meeting in early nineteen eighty two, and uh and

(01:33:15):
and everyone wanted to make a new record. I was like,
make a new record? Are you kidding? First of all,
High in Fidelity was still on the charts, and and
and I didn't have I didn't you know, I like
to have a bunch of songs written before before we
win the studio. But there was this energy man that
from you know, we had the high the high profile

(01:33:38):
uh business managers. We hired Fleetwood Max business managers because
we thought, well, you know, this is High in Fidelity
had rumors like success, so let's let's go with their
uh the business managers. We had the record label, you know,
and and everyone else in the band honestly, you know,

(01:34:01):
management everybody was like, okay, you know, this is what
we do. We make a record every year. And I'm
sitting there and I go, guys, are you out of
your fricking minds? I don't have any songs. I'm still
trying to find my balance, you know. After High in Fidelity,

(01:34:22):
I just felt like, guys, let's just this is a
once in a lifetime opportunity whatever, whatever, you do as
the follow up to High Infidelity is going to be
immediately played on the radio. It's going to be immediately accepted.
Unless it doesn't live up to the promise of high

(01:34:43):
in Fidelity, then it's going to be derided. And and
I kind of had a sense of that, and but
nobody wanted to pay attention that. Everyone was so you know,
drunk on success that everybody, you know, let's just keep
feeding the machine. And I'm like, wait, guys, you know,

(01:35:05):
you know, uh, that's not how it works for me.

Speaker 1 (01:35:09):
But I folded.

Speaker 2 (01:35:11):
I ended up folding like a cheap suit and went
into the studio and uh made the Good Trouble record
and uh uh and uh, you know it was it
wasn't that was the Good Trouble Tour was the the
the peak of the Ario Speedwagon partying arc. It was,

(01:35:33):
you know, it was just it was the first time
that the you know what, We've always been a band
that has a good time, but that tour was the
first time where I saw that the after party was
becoming the priority and the gig was just a way
to get to the after party. And I was like,
I don't like this, but I don't not like it

(01:35:54):
enough to stop doing it and so, uh you know,
so hey there you know are the Ario Speedwagon. Uh,
career arc is not an arc at all. It's a
it's a roller coaster, is what it is. And uh,
that was that was that was a tough period for sure.

Speaker 1 (01:36:15):
Okay, the next album you come back with a monster song.
Can't fight this feeling. Everybody, and I mean everybody reaches
the point when they no longer have the peak of
success they once have. Usually you're putting out records that
don't for some reason get accepted. Then the sound sort

(01:36:36):
of changes. How have you coped with that or how
did you cope when you were experiencing it?

Speaker 2 (01:36:43):
Well? I mean uh, uh you see, I always feel
like like the songs are the everything grows from the songs.
And if you've uh you know, a good song is
always a good song. You know, it doesn't ever get
bad no matter how long it's around. So if you

(01:37:07):
got if you got enough songs that that that people
took into their DNA, uh, then uh you know, that's
that's what sustains you, even if the records aren't selling
like like they used to. You know, as long as
you can continue to perform at a high level and

(01:37:31):
and bring it every night, and and bring that energy
every night. And you got those songs. Uh, then you know,
I mean that's you know, there's no secret to success.
That that's what it is and and that's that's what
we do. And uh, that's enabled us to to continue
all these years.

Speaker 1 (01:37:51):
Did you own your own songs? Then your own publishing,
and do you own them now?

Speaker 2 (01:37:57):
I did own my publishing then, and it was Trout
who told me never sell your publishing. And then right
around nineteen ninety one when Kurt Cobain and his cohorts
invaded from Seattle and took took over music, which, by

(01:38:18):
the way, I thought was awesome because my kids had
bon Jovi posters on their walls, you know, and I'm like,
bon Jovi is not that different than Ario Speedwagon. It's
the kind of the same thing, you know. And I'm like,
so my kids don't have their own music, you know.
And and then suddenly, you know, Nirvana came along, and

(01:38:42):
boy John bon Jovi came off the wall and Kurt
Cobain came up overnight, and so it was great for
my kids. But but if you were a member of
a classic rock band. It was. It was it was
pretty bleak. I mean, a lot of bands just broke
up or stopped to ring. You know. We we continued touring.

(01:39:04):
But uh, but but my friend Tom Kelly, who's also
another Champagne boy, another Irving as Off client or John
Barrett client. He uh, it was his voice. He was
a high voice on all the big Rio hits. He
was a great singer. But then he became he also
became a great songwrite, a great songwriting team with Billy Steinberg.

(01:39:26):
Uh and Tom and Billy made a publishing deal. Uh
right then in the early nineties. And the way publishing
deals work is they the publishing company looks back three years.
They take the past three years, and that becomes the
value of your of your songs. And I was looking

(01:39:49):
at it, and I'm going, well, wait a minute. Every
you know, Couk, we thought it was all over and
we we we we really thought that you know that,
you know, it was a low point. And so I
figured every year that I didn't make a publishing deal,
that was one of the years that we sold a
lot of records, that would wouldn't be one of the

(01:40:09):
past three years. You know what I'm saying, so I
made I got a great offer, and I sold my publishing.
But the good news is that that was in nineteen
ninety two. And I think Don Henley was the guy
who really spearheaded the energy that has said that thirty

(01:40:33):
five years after you sell your publishing, you get it back.
So that means in a couple of years, I'll be
getting it back. So that'll be uh, that'll be nice.
And and of course, you know, there have been some
pretty lucrative publishing deals made over the past few years.

(01:40:53):
You know, had I kept my publishing, put it this way,
the publishing company that bought my catalog made a great deal.
I will leave it at that.

Speaker 1 (01:41:05):
Okay, just to be clear for the uninitiated, they're essentially
two halves in the publishing dollar. There's the ownership of
the song and the writer of the song. Did you
sell one hundred percent or just fifty?

Speaker 2 (01:41:18):
I sold fifty percent. And they were a Nashville company
with that that was an old school you know. Bob
Beckham was the guy.

Speaker 1 (01:41:30):
Who he.

Speaker 2 (01:41:33):
Even just an iconic Nashville publisher and I just hit
it off with him right away. And even though they
didn't need my permission to exploit the songs. They respected
me enough that they never that they never put the

(01:41:55):
song in a movie that I didn't you know, you
know that I thought it would be you. I mean
they there was offers from cigarette companies. It's like, nope,
you know, sorry, And so I've all I've been lucky
that they've been respectful. And now my publishing is owned

(01:42:15):
by Mark Freed and Mojo Music, who bought that my
catalog from the original company. And Mark is just a
wonderful He's a guy that's in it for the right
reasons because he loves music and he loves songs. And hey,
he got keep on Love with You in a Shaquille

(01:42:37):
O'Neal commercial, So come on, that's it. You know, it
didn't get any better than that.

Speaker 1 (01:42:41):
Okay, So needless to say, you've essentially gotten fifty percent
of the revenue on your songs over these thirty years.
If you never work, if you didn't tour, would that
be enough money for you to pay your bills?

Speaker 2 (01:42:56):
Well, you know, I think that I think that touring
is a way that that that leads to the value
of the of the copyrights and the songs. Uh. I
think I think I think they are two parts of
the same machine. So, uh, you know, if we stop touring,

(01:43:18):
it would be a I think a mistake to think
that the that the that the income from the from
the songs would would maintain at the same level. I
think they kind of go hand in hand.

Speaker 1 (01:43:30):
Well, let me put it this way. Ed Sheeran goes
out without a band and play stadiums. You know, there
aren't twenty trucks, there aren't all these people, et cetera.
It's like being a comedian. Comtian goes on the road
with a microphone, maybe a road manager, and now comedians
play arenas. Where's the band? There are multiple members? Okay,

(01:43:55):
So in the heyday of Rio Speedwagon, the Steps in
the eighties, was there enough money or were you just
like a working guy, middle class guy and this is
your gig?

Speaker 2 (01:44:08):
Well I will tell you that that. Uh when how
can I how can I say the there was what?
When you're a musician, you always you never turned down
a gig because because you always think that if you

(01:44:28):
turn down a gig, whoever it is that takes that
gig might take the next gig too. It's just it comes.
It goes back to being in a high school band.
So it's uh, it's you know, whether you need the
money or not, it's just it's just it's baked into
my DNA that it's it's really hard to to think

(01:44:52):
about turning down gigs, you know, and we do turn
down gigs, but I'm talking about to the point that
you stop touring for a certain amount of time. Just uh,
it just seems it's it'll probably happen at some point
in my life. But you know, as it is, man,
I'm uh, you know, I can still move pretty well

(01:45:13):
and uh and uh and you know, got my vocal coach,
so uh, you know, so I'm having fun singing. The
band is great. We've got a great crew. People are Hey,
we had to sold out James Brown Arena in Augusta,
Georgia on a Monday night. You know, go figure, you know,
so it's kind of hard to walk away from something
like that.

Speaker 1 (01:45:33):
Okay, going back to the old days, Barrick told me
a great story that Irving came out here with Dan Voegelberg,
was here for a year and call up Barreck. Barrick said, Barrick,
come out, we can take this town.

Speaker 2 (01:45:51):
I was I thought the original quip because you told
me that quote when I when I called your radio show,
and I think what I think what what you said was,
and it always stuck with me. It's actually in my
book that that Irving called Barrick and said, grab the
Rio boys and get out here as soon as you can.
We're going to own this town. Now, that right, right?

Speaker 1 (01:46:15):
But let me ask you, was that palpable on your end?

Speaker 2 (01:46:19):
Well, I'm a Chicago boy. You know, I never pictured
myself living anywhere by Chicago. But when I in the
time that I was away with the band, from the band,
they moved to La So if I was going to
rejoin I was going to have to move to l
A too. But uh, you know, I'm a Midwest boy
by uh you know, and uh so I kind of

(01:46:41):
got the best of both worlds. I got the Midwest
upbringing and now and now the southern California lifestyle. So
you know, I'll take it okay.

Speaker 1 (01:46:53):
For me, certainly, in the early seasons, Ozark was one
of the best shows on TV really all the seasons.
And I'm watching They're opening a riverboat casino and suddenly
there is Ario Speedwagon. How does that come to be?

Speaker 2 (01:47:09):
Bob? That's that that's a that's a million dollar question.
I uh, I don't know what came first, the chicken
or the egg. I don't know if the idea this
is this is what I think the you know, the
show is supposedly based in the Lake of the Ozarks,
which is in the heart of Missouri. The two biggest

(01:47:32):
markets for Ario Speedwagon were Saint Louis and Kansas City.
We would headline the baseball stadiums in Saint Louis and
Kansas City and then go out and play the Roxy
in Los Angeles for five hundred people. So the Ozarks
were that's the heart of Ario Speedwagon country. So maybe
the producers were going for authenticity, you know, and because

(01:47:56):
because that kind of made sense that that we would
be the band. But but the also, you know, that
episode was kind of built around the song Time for
Me to Fly, So I don't know if that had
it was you know, like most things in life, it's
it's not one thing that makes something happen. But I
will tell you that that I was the only guy
that had any lines. So when we were on location,

(01:48:21):
the writer gave me a little print out of the
scene and they were just like three mimiographed type pages
and I had like one line and then I asked
him to change another line, and they said, yeah, sure,
sit say whatever you want. But at the top of
each page of the script it says Kevin Cronin was here.

(01:48:42):
And I'm like, wow, man, these people they just made us,
they had already made us feel totally at home. Jason
Bateman got up in the middle of his lunch to
come over and hang with us, and and I thought, wow,
that's really They're really they really know how to make
you feel welcome, you know. So I had no idea.
I'm sitting with my wife and kids, you know, watch it,

(01:49:05):
getting ready for season three to drop and watch it.
And when the third episode came on and I saw
the title of the episode, I was like, I was
I was blown away.

Speaker 1 (01:49:14):
I mean that was that was.

Speaker 2 (01:49:15):
Pretty freaking cool for I will say this for about
five minutes, well maybe less than, you know, optimistically five minutes,
my kids actually thought I was cool.

Speaker 1 (01:49:28):
So, okay, Ozark Gigantic Show. You have a prominent part
in the episode. Do you feel any bump in business
recognition anything or is it just so that was nice?

Speaker 2 (01:49:45):
No? No, that I mean Ozark as you said that
was one of the biggest streaming shows ever. And and
of course season three dropped right in the beginning of
the pandemic when when everyone really got in the habit
of streaming shows, Ozark was the top of the heap. So, uh,
there was a big I mean Time for Me to Fly,

(01:50:06):
which was the song that they featured in the episode,
shows up as number one catalog song in Billboard from nowhere. Uh,
there were actually there were actually a couple of weeks
where I was Uh, I was the top producer of
the week, the top songwriter of the week. It's like, wait,

(01:50:27):
how do you know? So yeah, so we we definitely
got a little bump and uh we actually you know,
Dolly Parton had had recorded Time for Me to Fly
on her White Limousine album turned it into a hoedown.
It was an awesome record, and so our manager, Tommy Consola,
got the idea to go back in the studio on

(01:50:49):
the strength of the Ozark episode and re record uh,
Time for Me to Fly. He said, just go in
and you know, just just do it a different way,
and so I did. I went in and then he's
he's friendly with with Dolly's manager, so he sends the
demo uh to or actually the it wasn't even a

(01:51:10):
demo but a rough mix to to Dolly and and
she hears it and she likes it, and she sings
a part on the song and turns it into a duet.
And I will tell you something. And you I'm sure
you've talked to Dolly and met her. She is, I
mean what there was no movie score, there was no

(01:51:33):
there was nothing. There was no album, there was no
nothing was just here's the song, you know, do you
want to sing on it? And she goes in the
studio and and sings the song with me, and it
was we still haven't done anything with.

Speaker 1 (01:51:46):
It, you know.

Speaker 2 (01:51:47):
So so I talk about a person who does it
for the right reasons. You know, there was no there
was no other reason for Dolly to sing that song
except that she liked it and and she had on
it before, and you know, and of course that led to, uh,
you know, to me being asked to participate in Dolly's

(01:52:09):
rock album. And so Dolly and I do a d
wet on that one and keep on loving you on
her upcoming rock star album. So I just I there's
not enough good words to say for me about Dolly,
I just she's she's just the best.

Speaker 1 (01:52:28):
Okay. So, as you've referenced, Reo Speedwagon is a long
storied history with members, never mind other elements being up
and down. At this late date, you are the sole
surviving member. So is it really your band? And if

(01:52:50):
it is, how long has it been your band? And
to really you make the ultimate decisions?

Speaker 2 (01:52:58):
Well, you know it's uh to call it my band.
You know that I don't know that just that kind
of rubs me in in not the right way because
uh but but to say that that that I'm the
leader of the band, yeah, you know, ever since ever
since the split between Gary and I, uh and and

(01:53:21):
and Alan had our original drummer had left the band
by then, uh you know, I have been the leader
of the band. And it it took a few years
and and uh in I'm trying to think of what
year it was. It was a couple of years after
Gary left and it was obvious that he wasn't coming back,
and I thought about, uh, you know, I was working

(01:53:43):
on a solo album. Uh and and I thought that
that Ario Speedwagon had just uh you know, it was
just it was just over and and I'll never forget.
I was at uh uh. I was at the ASCAP Awards,
and after the ASCAP Awards, everyone goes to the the
tiki bar and next door and and my wife introduced

(01:54:06):
me to a guy that I never met, a producer
named Rick Knowles, who Rick at You know, I didn't
realize it at the time, but he was huge, hugely successful,
mostly with female artists and so but we were just,
you know, shooting the breeze and and and I kind
of told him that, you know that my ties kind

(01:54:26):
of loosened my lips a little bit, I guess. And
I kind of told him I was working on a
solo album and thinking about, you know, closing down the
Ario Speedwagon. And he literally stopped me in my tracks,
looked me right in the eye and said, dude, look
around this room. There's not one person in this room
who wouldn't kill to have a vehicle for their music

(01:54:50):
like Ario Speedwagon. He's like, if you do that, you
are out of your freaking mind. And I just met
the guy, you know what I mean. But it kind
of it kind of struck me that since Gary had left,
I really hadn't given it my best shot. I was
I think there was a part of me that was

(01:55:11):
waiting for Gary to come back, and at that moment,
I realized that he wasn't coming back, and I either
had to do this, I had to be the sole
leader of the band and the sole songwriter and et cetera,
or else it was over and I wasn't about I
just wasn't ready to let it go without a fight.

(01:55:35):
And so at that point, yeah, I definitely took over
the leadership of the band. And within a couple of years,
you know, John Barrett came up with the idea of
of of uh former arena headliners co headlining and having
two headliners on the show, and and that was a

(01:55:59):
way for or bands like ourselves to play the kind
of buildings in front of the kind of crowds that
we were used to playing. But you had to share
the bill with another headliner, which meant you couldn't close
every show. And that was a tough pill to swallow
at first, but over the years it's become the paradigm

(01:56:22):
and now it's like, oh, yeah, okay, so you guys
close half the shows. You know, we're in the middle
slot for half the shows. And at this point, Honestly,
most of the bands that we work with would rather
have the middle slot than the closing slot because because

(01:56:42):
everyone's in their seats, because because you know, we always
have a great opener, and no one's leaving early to
beat traffic, So you're kind of in the sweet spot.
You know. The good thing about the closing spot is
that everyone thinks you're the headliner, but you know who cares?

Speaker 1 (01:56:59):
Okay, can you email me always reference that you're a
bar band from the Midwest now, needless to say, especially
when you look at it on paper or on a screen.
You've had this unbelievable success with Rio Speedwagon, Yet you
mentioned the Grammys where you thought you were dissed. At
this point in time, do you still believe you and

(01:57:21):
Rio having gotten the respect you deserve or do you
feel comfortable? And then, of course there's a question of
the rock and Roll Hall of thing, which is completely changed.
Never mind, they're inducting acts that are not rock and roll,
but acts that have petition to get their fans or

(01:57:41):
their fans that petition to get the acts in it happened.
So are you comfortable where Ario is in the landscape,
and are you comfortable with the respect or you still
want more recognition and respect.

Speaker 2 (01:57:54):
Well, I am comfortable. I'm very comfortable with where the
band is at. And at the same time, I'm still driven.
I'm not satisfied. So yes, of course, I always want
to play a bigger gig or or uh you know,
you know, just a couple of weeks ago, uh, American

(01:58:17):
Idol called and wanted me to sing a song with
one of their contestants, and I'm like, yeah, sure, that'll
be fun. A lot of people, a lot of people
will will see me. Who think who might think that
I'm you know, long gone who knows, you know. But
but but my uh, my goal is to be the
Betty White of rock and roll, because Betty White hosted

(01:58:42):
Saturday Night Live at the age of ninety and uh
and did a great job. And so uh you know,
Tommy Shaw and I laugh often about being being the
the last two classic rockers standing and uh uh you know,
I would be happy with that and and and and
and that is a goal, man. I mean, I I

(01:59:02):
still love to play. I I you know, I keep
myself in decent shape and and I'm always always working
to get better, always working to get better on the guitar,
be a better singer, be a better front man. I
I just always want to improve.

Speaker 1 (01:59:20):
And uh so.

Speaker 2 (01:59:23):
You know, yeah, I'm I'm satisfied, but I still would
like a little more, you know.

Speaker 1 (01:59:30):
So you're still driven at the end of the day.

Speaker 2 (01:59:33):
Yeah, yeah, I still am. I still am. I still
love it and and you know, and in order to
keep doing it at the level that we are, you
got to keep getting yourself out there, you know, you
got to do you know, for me to do American Idol,
I literally had a walk off stage. We had a charter,
a jet I had to get. I got on the

(01:59:54):
plane at one in the morning, flew to l A.
Uh you know, Uh they change my my call time
from eleven am to eight thirty am, which oh I'm
not thrilled about that at all. Uh. And you know
I had to sit there all day, you know, do
a bunch of rehearsals, and then and then do the
live show and uh but that's you know, that's and

(02:00:17):
and then I had to get back on the plane
and get back on the tour and play a show.
So uh, you know, it's it's not always as luxurious
as as people think. But but that's what you got
to do. You know, you you're you got to you
gotta keep you got to keep at it, you know,
otherwise if you're not getting One of the things my

(02:00:39):
dad said to me when he was alive that that
has always stuck with me is you know, if you're
going to do it, do it right the first time.
And and so you know, I've always got that's always
stuck with me. If you if you're going to be
doing something, do the best you can.

Speaker 1 (02:00:54):
And you've done great here, Kevin. This has been wonderful.
You know, there's so many loose threads I could ask
questions about, you know, you're growing up and other details
we didn't get into, but I think we've you know,
covered it for now. So I want to thank you
so much for taking this time to speak with my audience.

Speaker 2 (02:01:11):
Bob. It's a it's a pleasure. It's uh. I love
the way we met, which was literally just me driving
down the street in my car and hearing you come
on Serious Exam and I'm like, wait a minute, I've
got the I got the hotline number to Roger Coletti.
I could actually call in. I think the show. I
think you were talking about opening acts right, and Ario

(02:01:34):
Speedwagon was I think you mentioned us as being one
of the quintessential seventies opening acts. And I'm like, wait
a minute, I got the phone number. I'm gonna call
in because I you know, I got a good vibe
from you just just on the radio, and so it's
really a pleasure to be here. And yeah, I could
talk to you for hours, and I know I kind

(02:01:54):
of strayed off your questions and that's a bad habit
of mine. But hopefully you can forgive me for that,
and you know, maybe when the book comes out we'll
talk again.

Speaker 1 (02:02:04):
Well I believe, and I say this all the time.
Digression is the spice of life. That's where that's where
all the details are. And I have to give you
credit almost always. You brought it back to the original anyway,
which is how I do it. I remember, you know,
I was in a bad space and I went to
see the psychiatrist and he said, well, well, you know,
I thought you had a problem tracking, which is something

(02:02:26):
they do, he says, but you bring it back to
the original point. I just realized you were on this
long journey and too many people, you know, they just
give yes and no answers. Where it's the flavor. I
think people have really gotten an idea of what it's
like to be you and be in these experiences. And
I certainly thank you for being so honest and open.

Speaker 2 (02:02:48):
Not everybody is, well, well, thank you, Bob. You you
definitely bring you know I do. I've done a lot
of interviews and I still do, and some of them
are more fun than others. And I will say that
I really enjoyed this time with you, and I look
forward to doing it again.

Speaker 1 (02:03:07):
I do too. You've been everything I wanted and more.
You were totally open, You were fantastic. I literally could
talk to her a few more hours. I got so
many questions about growing up, what your father did, what
your mother did, with the record you listened to, because
the other thing. Of course, you're my contemporary. I'm a
couple of years younger, but we are the generation who

(02:03:27):
saw the Beatles on TV and everybody got a guitar
and everything, as opposed to the people born in the forties.

Speaker 2 (02:03:35):
Right. I mean, I often say that I feel like
I was born at the exact right moment to do
what I've ended up doing because I was twelve years old.
I'm playing guitar. For about two years, nobody played guitar.
Playing guitar was for sissies, and I used to get

(02:03:56):
chased through the streets by dudes. Just I was walking
along with a guitar case. And when the Beatles came out,
I didn't even know why I was taking guitar lessons,
but I just did. And when I saw the Beatles,
it was like it was everything changed, Everything changed for me,

(02:04:19):
and all of a sudden, the same guys who had
been chasing me through the streets wanted to kick my
ass because I had a guitar. Now all the girls
liked guitar players overnight, and they all wanted to be
in a band with me. So I went from being
the you know, the outcast of the neighborhood to suddenly
the guy who everybody wanted to be in my band
because I was the only one who knew how to

(02:04:39):
play the guitar. So, you know, the Beatles, The Beatles
were everything for me. And I was twelve years old
when they hit right, that's right at the moment when
you're looking for an identity, and I saw them, and
I saw myself in them. I wanted to be I
wanted to dress like them. I wanted to I wanted
to be in a band like them. I wanted to

(02:05:01):
have songs like them. And they were just they were
just a huge inspiration. And man, you know, as you say,
millions of people were tuned into that Ed Sullivan show
that night. And you know, I'm just one of the
lucky few who saw the Beatles and said that's what

(02:05:22):
I want to do, and then we're lucky enough that
it actually happened. I can tell you one last quick
Beatles story. All right, So when the Beatles first came out,
we talked about Bill Trout and VJ Records. So VJ
Records is releasing Beatles songs. Then all of a sudden,
Capitol realizes that they screwed up, so they start releasing

(02:05:45):
Beatle records. Well, I'm in Chicago. WLS is the biggest
radio station in the world. But I also am taking
guitar lessons, and every lesson I would hang around and
look at all the sheep muses, and I bought the
sheep music for I Want to Hold Your Hand, which
I still have framed above my desk, that exact piece

(02:06:07):
of sheet music. But one day I saw a piece
of sheet music, and you know, because it was such
a such a feeding frenzy that sometimes the sheep music
came in before the song was being played on the radio.
So I got I saw the sheet music for this song.
I said, please please me the Beatles, and I'm like,
what's that. I've never heard this song. So I sneaked

(02:06:29):
the sheet music back into one of the lesson rooms
and I've got my little guitar and I opened the
sheet music and I wasn't good enough to be able
to play the song the there was. I knew some
of the chords and the lyrics were there, so I
just kind of faked it. And I so I had

(02:06:50):
a version of please Please Me, which I thought I
learned from the sheet music. Well, a couple of weeks later,
the song comes on WLS and it bored no resemblance
of all to my version. Right, And as blasphemous as
this will sound, I kind of like my version better.
And it gave me the thought, as a twelve or

(02:07:14):
thirteen year old kid, that maybe I could write my
own songs. So I even owe that to the Beatles.
I mean, you know that I owe everything to them

Speaker 1 (02:07:23):
In any event, till next time, this is Bob left sets,