It physically feels good to play like that too. It’s a job where people cheer and scream for me. Do you still enjoy touring and what do you do in your down time? You’ve spent a lot of time on the road over the years. The only thing I’ve had to overcome was being away from home for so long, but if your thinking is straight, you know it’s the job. Make the guy who hired you happy and that can go from the musical realm to the social realm. But he knows what he wants and when you’re hired you have to deliver. Working in the studio with someone like Brian Wilson can be a challenge because he often wants things that are a bit unconventional from a drumming standpoint and even a musical standpoint at times. I challenge myself in my own playing whether learning new things for trying to perfect the set. Have there been any major challenges that you’ve had to overcome with this gig or in your career in general? It’s very active and challenging from the drum chair. It’s not a “boom-whack-boom-whack” kind of gig. This band will always have an audience and I feel thankful to have been happily employed all this time. It’s great to take the stage with these guys and play this music that means so much to people–I can see it in their faces in the audience every night. I enjoy the fact that these guys can really play and sing, and that the band has never sounded better. Then I was asked to do the 1996 reunion tour and now it’s been 14 years. Then they called me on Keith’s recommendation and then they called me back for another session a year later. When they were going to re-record the song “Lady” for the Greatest Hits package in ’95, John Panozzo (original Styx drummer) was in ill health and couldn’t do it so it was just a session. His name is Keith Marks and he’s been their production manager for years. The guy who handled my cartage for sessions and took care of my kits had recommended me to them.
I was lucky to be doing a lot of session work in Chicago back in the early to mid 90s. We need to see this thing through, for every good reason.How did you first get involved with Styx? We felt like, 'Hey, this thing needs to get done. We really believed what we had originally captured had a certain vibe and a certain magic to the people in that room when it was created. It was more for Ronnie than just for himself, or for ourselves. Ricky really wanted to see this thing through. I've done enough records to know how easily the levels of 10 different singers can sound disjointed if you don't stay on top of the production." Īs per Singer, "I have to give a lot of credit to Ricky Phillips. The songs were cut to 2-inch tape and then transferred to digital, but I really needed it to be a cohesive record. "After he passed, I had to carry on with what Ronnie wanted, because he was such a purist. Rickey Phillips, with the blessing of Ronnie's wife Leighsa and assistance of Eric Singer, picked up the reigns and completed the album. Along with completion of the vocals, the songs also needed lead guitar as well. Ĭonflicts in scheduling led to the record remaining unfinished for years up until Montrose's passing in 2012. In the intervening years Ronnie battled prostate cancer and, at one point, hadn't touched a guitar for 2 years. Early on, he was able to secure contributions from close friends and collaborators like Sammy Hagar, Edgar Winter and Davey Pattison. Eventually Ronnie decided on the 10x10 concept, 10 tracks and 10 different singers. Over three days in 2003 at Doug Messenger's studio in North Hollywood, the sessions produced 10 strong tracks of rhythm guitar, bass and drums with the intention to get a singer to for the vocals. Ronnie had been touring with bassist Ricky Phillips ( Styx, The Babys) and Eric Singer ( Kiss) in the early 2000s. 10x10 is a posthumous solo album by Ronnie Montrose.