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August 1, 2008
Who Needs An Orange Apron When You’ve Got A Lighted Stage?
The story of how Tommy DeCarlo hooked up with classic rock group Boston is a lot like that of Arnel Pineda, the new lead singer for Journey, although DeCarlo had a much shorter trip to meet up with his new band mates than Pineda who came all the way from the Philippines.
What’s most remarkable about DeCarlo is that the guy wasn’t really a singer. Sure, the guy can obviously sing or he would not be on the road with Tom Scholz & Company, but DeCarlo worked at a North Carolina Home Depot store as a credit manager, and didn’t make his living as a singer.
Pineda, on the other hand, was already working in a band and had experience playing in front of an audience and covering Journey songs with his band. He was eventually discovered by Journey when they found a video of one of his performances on YouTube.
DeCarlo’s singing experience consisted of solo sessions in his bedroom where he would sing a little bit and play keyboards after work. When he decided to create a tribute video to late Boston singer Brad Delp, he unknowingly set in motion a chain of events that would change his life.
When Tom Scholz’s wife saw DeCarlo’s video posted on his MySpace page, she showed her husband who had a hard time believing it wasn’t Brad Delp’s voice on the recording at first. Shortly thereafter, an e-mail arrived for DeCarlo inviting him to come try out for the band. His first performance in front of an audience with Boston, or with any band, for that matter, was at the Brad Delp Tribute last summer.
Currently, DeCarlo is on the road with Boston and he recently did a short interview with The Boston Globe from a stop in Toronto that’s worth checking out.
At the end of the interview, DeCarlo is asked if he has had a chance to meet Arnel Pineda yet. He responds by saying: “I haven’t yet and I would love to. I really would because we have kind of a similar situation, and I would love to sit down and say, “Man, isn’t this crazy?”
July 23, 2008
Journey’s Jonathan Cain Speaks Highly of New Lead Singer
Currently on the road as part of a triple header classic rock tour, Journey’s new lead singer, Arnel Pineda, is reported to be easing into his new role quite nicely and becoming more comfortable onstage.
Journey keyboard player Jonathan Cain says Pineada has “found a good balance between movement and singing, working the crowd, interaction with the band, that sort of thing. And then also adjusting to up in the air, off the bus, on the bus, in the hotel room, getting sleep, eating healthy, the meet-and-greets–there’s a lot to get used to.”
Cain goes on to say that Pineda has a good set of habits developed already for life on the road and he sees Pineda as “the kind of guy you want.”
By this time it is well known to Journey fans that their new lead vocalist was discovered by Neal Schon while searching for singers on the popular video-sharing website, YouTube. Making a remarkable story even more remarkable, Pineda was half-way around the world, living in the Philippines.
Journey has been touring and making records for more than 30 years and has over 75,000,000 album sales to their credit. Although they may not be drawing crowds quite as large as they were back on the 1980’s, the group shows no signs of slowing down.
Journey’s current tour has them teamed up with two other legendary classic rock acts, Heart and Cheap Trick. It’s bound to be a show to warm the heart of many an aging rock fan, and is also attracting younger fans that have been finding out that the music from their parents’ generation can be pretty cool.
For more, check out Live Daily.
February 23, 2008
Journey Takes To The Stage With New Lead Singer
Newly-hired Journey frontman, Arnel Pineda took to the stage with his new band mates for the first time a few nights ago at the Viña del Mar International Song Festival in Viña del Mar, Chile.
In the video of the performance below, you can see how he took on the legendary Journey ballad “Faithfully.”
Personally, I think he holds his own quite well onstage with the group. He’s not quite the shoe-in for the Steve Perry role that Stave Augeri was, but there’s a definite similarity in his style and voice and I think he’ll do quite will in his new role.
January 23, 2008
New Journey Frontman Has Come A Long Way
The fact that Journey’s new lead singer, Arnel Pineda, is from the Philippines means he is in for one heck of a commute unless he plans to move to the Unites States, but Pineda’s road to fame is a lot longer and more difficult than an airplane trip from Manila to San Francisco.
Once living on the streets of Manila as a result of serious financial problems following his mother’s death, Pineda was able to work his way back from homelessness and is now on the verge of fame and fortune he could only have dreamed about.
Discovered by Journey guitarist Neal Schon on the wildly popular video sharing site, YouTube, the 40-year old singer almost sabotaged the opportunity to join Journey’s ranks when he dismissed Schon’s e-mail as a hoax. I suspect most of us would have had the same reaction. Who would expect an e-mail from a guitarist from one of the world’s best-known classic rock groups?
On the first of February, Pineda will return to the U.S. to begin working with the group on a new album that might be released as early as this summer. It surely sounds like Journey was only lacking a single important element before being able to begin recording new material: A new singer.
Journey is a classic rock group that certainly appears to have a lot of life left in them. They have toured in recent years and with a new album planned for the summer, they are showing no sign of slowing down.
How Journey’s fans react to the new frontman remains to be seen, or course, but as far as the band is concerned, this guy is the real deal and there’s little doubt he has paid his musical dues, as well as the dues that have been demanded of him just to survive.
For more on Arnel Pineda’s amazing story, check out GMA Network.
