Posted by Jeff on his myspace page today. Thanks for always taking the time to update us Jeff!
Brazil, Beautiful Mess & Booze!!
Ahh, Brazil….so nice to be back in South America!! My capacities seem to get bigger & better with each visit, if only there was this much interest in me back at home. I guess in a way it's a double edged sword though, as much as I want to move forward & not just be known for a few musical postcards in my life, they embrace the 'older' genre I was known for here which is why things continue to go so well for me abroad. Bands like GNR, Whitesnake, Saxon, Deep Purple are played in clubs & fans get as excited about this music here as much if not more than they did when it all came out. And these are young people, 19-22 year olds we're talking about! So I guess I have to be happy they love what I did so I can sneak in the new little by little ?
Backing up a bit, after wrapping up my album in Sweden, I headed to Tampa, FL for a month to work some more on the new TSO album. It's a great experience being involved with that company, they are everything everyone says about them, talented, good hearted, loyal & charitable people. It's rewarding to see an organization at that level who truly care & make a difference as well as entertaining the masses, I am truly honored to be a part of the family.
From there, I did a month tour with my brothers from Sao Paulo, Brazil, Tempestt, where I assisted in booking a launch tour for their debut CD, Bring 'Em On. I sang a duet on the album with them & in '07 we did a small tour of South America where they would go onstage doing 6-7 songs, I would then join them & do another 7-8 of my more 'known' songs in my career & it went great! I wanted to extend this idea to Europe so the guys would get more out of the gate notoriety. It's hard enough for a new band to get media attention much less the opportunity to tour on their 1st album but I believe in these guys & wanted to do my best in getting even my fans to take notice. The tour was of one of the most fun I have ever done, there wasn't more than 5 minutes of EACH day where we weren't laughing, pulling pranks, etc., The coolest part is I got to drive the big van through all of Europe! I love driving & always dreamt of driving thru Europe having already done the US TWICE! There's nothing in the world like cruising the Autobahn in Germany at top speed with nothing but open road! Every time the tour manager asked or wanted to take the wheel, I jumped in before he could think of it, I'd do it again in a heartbeat! The other reason for the tour was I knew it would be a while before I would be hitting the road in Europe again, between the release of the new album & other things brewing, I won't have time to get out there any time soon. I can't reveal just yet when or where but I will be on the road this & next year but not doing my stuff, not yet.
So here I am on a day off in Porto Allegre, BR. We've done 4 shows on this run so far with 4 more next week with my bud Jimi Jamison of Survivor opening the shows. Tempestt once again are my backup band & will also back Jimi's set (talk about work overload for them!). This tour was more a fun thing here as my Queen DVD from 2003 is such a hot item here, there was a demand to do a tribute show. It's certainly not as involved or long as the show on the DVD but it is fun to step away from my own material for a while & just have working vacation honoring Freddie & Co. The shows have all been to capacity attendances thus far & I am just loving it…the weather, the food & of course THE drink, CAIPIROSKA!!
The 1st 2 shows were in Manaus, Amazona…never been to the Amazons so it was exciting to say the least. The heat & humidity was something I still can't get used to, 92°F/33°C & 91% humidity…ouch! The gigs were in a half open air venue so all we had there for ventilation were 3 huge fans blowing from the walls but hell if you felt the slightest breeze! The dressing room was a cool 61°F/16°C but as soon as you step onto the stage, immediate sweat. I looked like I came out of swimming pool in all my clothes after the show, nice! 2nd show was also in a city I've never heard of, Florianopolis, which thankfully was in the south & much cooler (strange to think you have to come south of anywhere for 'cooler' weather, but look at the Equator & you'll know why!). Great city, great fans & full house!
Last night was the show here in Porto Allegre, this time in a big theater with a BIG stage. FINALLY, back in my element of being able to rock a large platform. Again, full house & the best show I've done with these guys to date, everything went without a hitch.
There you go folks, for those who care to read, just killing time before we head to a bud's house for a traditional Brazilian BBQ, caipiroskas all in included! I have the next few days off to get ready for our brutal 4 in a row (brutal only because I'm a wuss now & hate doing more than 2 in a row, haha) then I'm off next week to Sweden for the weekend at the Sweden Rock Festival. From there, I'm heading back to LA for 2 shows in CA, one at home, one in San Fran. After that I have to return to Europe to do a one off album I'll be able to speak more of for Frontiers Records which I will be collaborating with members of Sweden's AOR Gods Eclipse & Work Of Art. I will be meeting up with my boy, Luke (that's Steve Lukather for the rest of you, haha) in Amsterdam to hang at his show on July 8, rumor has it we will jam something out which, damn it, it's about time! I've known the guy for 23 years & have NEVER jammed with him. Good thing we'll be a in boring, quiet, safe town like Amsterdam to hang & keep us out of trouble ?
From there, I have some videos to shoot for my album, the CD art will be completed, and we will finally launch it early September starting with a free download sometime in August. By the way, the new album is appropriately titled 'Beautiful Mess'. I love the title as it signifies much about my life both professionally & personally ? There will be a page dedicated the album created along with soundbytes, video clips, info & more regarding BM coming very soon.
Then in October comes the mighty Firefest show in the UK on Oct 25. I will be shooting a live DVD at this one as the last one was over 6 years ago now & it's time to update what I'm up to live. In tow with me will be the guys that have been with me all the years, Howie Simon, Gary Schutt & David Dzialak. It's gonna be great to be around so many friends in the biz again, this festival is run by some very good people who do it for the love of the music & genre. It's more fun than work to be a part of this event.
Lastly, as if it isn't enough already, Luke & I have been talking again about doing this postponed album together finally. We both got too swamped to go for it back in '06 but 3 years later, we will put our collective minds together & blast out something we wanna do! Somewhere in there, I will eventually tour for Beautiful Mess, one thing at a time!
See ya, JSS
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Mon May 26, 2008 1:25 pm
, the one with Lukather etc...