from The Grand Rapids Press
Wednesday, May 24, 1995
Ex-Styx guitarist James Young
touts strong vocals of new group
by Josh Newman
Styx may not be on top of the music
world, as they were in the '70s and '80s, but James "JY" Young is a pretty
happy guy these days just the same.
But Young's current glee is not
stemming from Styx.
The group's former lead guitarist
has a new band, a new album and a new life.
"I'm doing great! My life has
been good to me thus far, and so has my career," said Young, who was speaking
from his car phone just outside his hometown Chicago.
"I have a great new band, and
I am just having a lot of fun," continued Young, a founding member of Styx.
The band Young speaks of is the James Young Group - more than just Young and
a supporting band, it is truly a group effort.
Besides the notoriety of guitarist
Young, the James Young Group features the talents of bassist Hank Horton,
keyboardist Lou DePasqua, drummer Ken Harck adn Michael Baran, who was a member
of The Urge, along with Nine Inch Nails leader Trent Reznor and Damn Yankees
drummer Michael Cartellone.
James Young Group's release "Raised
By Wolves" is out on the Chicago-based Whitehouse/Absolute label. The album,
released in mid-April, is beginning to get some radio play, too.
And Young feels pretty confident
with his band's effort.
"The production and the material
selection on (the album) is what I had hoped for, and some of the (radio)
stations are starting to play a couple of the tunes. So things are starting
to get going."
The nine-song release - in which
five tunes were written by band members - features what Young calls "a mix
of light and dark."
"So much of today's music is
dark - both in tone and in content," said Young, "but I think that this album
does a good job of giving some positive messages."
"Don't get me wrong, some of
my favorite songs in the world are dark in tone and in content, but I don't
think that it all has to be based upon that."
"Young is touting strong vocals
of four of the five band members. "I think that the fact that almost all of
the guys in the band sing makes us a little different from the rest," said
the veteran rocker.
"In the past only a few bands
- like the Beatles, Crosby/ Stills/Nash/Young and Styx - have had the luxury
of multiple lead singers."
"I think that this (luxury) definitely
allows for the music to be much more dynamic and more emotional," he continued.
What's kept Young going, through
all these years in the business? It's the emotion and sense of immediacy from
a live show, he said.
Even when with Styx, Young admits
that he was "more of a player, than a writer."
And now, after two solo efforts
- "City Slicker" which he recorded with Jan Hammer, and "Out On A Day Pass"
- Young is glad to be back in a group.
"It's really cool that this album
was a collaborative effort," said Young "but I think that playing live is
where we excel."
"Playing live is the ultimate
music experience. That's why I do what I do. That's why I love to play rock
'n' roll," said Young, whose group will perform its new songs plus older material
including some Styx tunes.
"The object of rock 'n' roll
is to distract from the everyday troubles and stresses that people have, and
as long as it keeps working for me, I'll keep doing it."