Styx, Yacht Rock Revue, 38 Special, Tesla, Don Felder, Marshall Tucker Band, Jefferson Starship, The Outlaws, Edwin McCain, The Band Feel, and Jay Psaros

Styx is known for their unusual musical style: they meld pop rock with the extreme power of hard-rock guitar and elements of musical theatre. Their style of rock has been described as anything from progressive to soft rock.

The current line-up of the band consists of Chuck Panozzo, James "J.Y." Young, Tommy Shaw, Todd Sucherman, Lawrence Gowan and Ricky Phillips. The band was started by Chuck Panozzo and his twin brother, John, in 1961 whilst the brothers were still in adolescence. The original name of the band was ‘The Tradewinds.’ In 1972 the band signed with Wooden nickel Records and became Styx, producing their first, self-entitled, album which was followed by many more.

The band’s big breakthrough in to the mainstream market, however, did not come until the release of their seventh album, ‘The Grand Illusion’ on 7 July 1977. It reached triple platinum certification. The band then went on to achieve great success from the late 70s and moving on to the 80s.

Following their sudden success, the band suffered a number of splits and reformations, especially throughout the 90s. Various band members were lost and subsequently replaced throughout this period.

To date, Styx are best known for their hit rock songs "Lady" "Come Sail Away" "Babe" , "The Best of Times" , "Too Much Time on My Hands" and "Mr. Roboto", amongst many others.

Neighborhood friends Don Barnes and Donnie Van Zant decided to form a band in 1974 and called it .38 Special, and were joined by Jack Grondin, Steve Brookins, Jeff Carlisi and Ken Lyons. They released their first, self-titled, album in 1977 followed a year later by “Special Delivery,” both of which had a strong southern rock influence. For their third album, they shifted to a more general arena rock sound, which helped them achieve success with the albums that followed.

Alongside a sound shift, there was also a lineup change with Ken Lyons no longer a member, and the addition of Larry Junstrom, Carol Bristow, and Dale Krantz. Their first series of successful singles came in 1981 with the release of “Hold On Loosely” followed by “Caught Up In You” in 1982 and “If I’d Been The One” in 1983; all of which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Album Rock Track Chart. Their album “Rock & Roll Strategy,” which was released in 1988 contained the successful single “Second Chance.” The single reached No. 1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary charts, as did the single that followed, “The Sound Of Your Voice.” Throughout the years there were many lineup changes, with Don Barnes being the most constant member, and as of 2014 the lineup consists of Don Barnes, Danny Chauncey, Bobby Capps, Gary Moffatt and Barry Dunaway.

After bassist Brian Wheat and guitarist Frank Hannon spent a few years unsuccessfully trying to get their hard rock career of the ground during the pop orientated under the name “City Kidd”, they decided to go in a different direction, when they a hired Grammy award winning producer, Duane Hitchings.

Whilst recording their debut album, they changed their name to Tesla, in homage to the legendary scientist. Their first release “Mechanical Resonance” came out in 1986, during this time the original members were joined by Jeff Keith on vocals, Tommy Skeoch on guitar and Troy Luccketta on drums. They were often lumped in with the popular glam rock bands at the time, such as Alice Cooper, which they begrudged.

It wasn’t until the release of their second album, 1989’s “The Great Radio Controversy” that the band cemented their fan base and sound. The band went on a national tour following the release of their sophomore project, before returning in 1991 with their very hard rock effort, “Psychotic Supper”.

After 1994’s “Bust A Nut” and subsequent world tour, Tesla went on hiatus, after Skeoch left due to substance abuse. Various members of the band attempted solo careers and worked on other musical projects and bands.

Six years later, they reformed for an intimate one off show in Sacramento. The success of the concert led to the permanent return of the band, and in 2004 they released their comeback album “Into The Now” which charted at number 30 in the US. They also performed on national TV for “Jimmy Kimmel Live”

Tesla have toured all over the world, and enjoyed incredible popularity and album sales, having collectively sold over 14 million records around the globe.

Formed in Spartanburg, South Carolina, USA, it might surprise you to learn that the original line up which came together in the late 60s/70s, did not contain a single member by the name of Marshall Tucker. Instead their slightly misleading name was accidentally borrowed from a local piano tuner and was set in stone when their album of the same name was released in 1973 and certified gold just two years later.

The band followed up their album with the start of a relentless, decade-long touring schedule which saw them playing more than 300 shows a year. They began to impress fans and fellow musicians on the road including the likes of fiddler Charlie Daniels and blues guitarist Elvin Bishop.

The band soared through the 70s, finding huge commercial success for albums like ‘Searchin’ for a Rainbow’ and ‘Carolina Dreams’ however the 80s brought hard times for the band. Their bass player and co-founder Tommy Caldwell was killed in a car accident and whilst a replacement was bought in, the band was never able to recapture the success they experienced in the 70s.

As the band moved into the twenty first century they have continued to release albums and are still a popular live act playing up to 150 and 200 shows a year. They even experienced crossover success when the band were mentioned in Nelly’s remix of the song cruise which eventually went 6 times platinum.

Jefferson Starship includes members of the incredibly successful psychedelic outfit Jefferson Airplane. The incarnation centres around guitarist Paul Kantner and a concept album entitled 'Blows Against The Empire'. After this things snowballed and Jefferson Starship became a full commitment for founding members Kantner and Jack Casady.

Their first album as a unit was released in 1974 and was titled 'Dragon Fly', it was met with chart success peaking at #11 on the US Billboard and #18 in Canada. The following album 'Red Octopus' is currently the band's most successful release to date, charting at #1 on the US charts and is now certified double platinum selling. It featured a hit single, 'Miracles' which was contributed by Marty Balin, who also wrote the ballad 'Caroline' which appeared on the band's first record.

The next album 'Spitfire' was another success, charting at #3 and breaking into the UK charts at #30 however the band were disheartened at the time that it did not mirror the success of its predecessor. The band continued to tour and release material despite the ever changing line ups, most notably the loss of Grace Slick who was forced to resign at the end of the 70's due to a heavy alcohol problem. Despite all this, the next four albums went on to hold gold selling certificates and Jefferson Starship are still considered a successful psychedelic pop/rock band.

The group formed in Tampa, Florida, United States in 1972 and originally consisted of Hughie Thomasson (vocals/guitar), Henry Paul (vocals/guitars), Frank O’ Keefe (bass), and Monte Yoho (drums). They added Billy Jones (guitars) a year later and in 1975 they signed to the label Artista, releasing their self-titled studio debut, which yielded the Top 40 hit “There Goes Another Love Song”.

The Outlaws experienced a creative outpour in the 70s and early 80s. From 1975 to 1980 they averaged an album a year. Their sophomore effort “Lady in Waiting” came out in 1976 and entered the pop charts at No. 36 and featured the single “Breaker-Breaker”, which managed to break into the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 94. A year later they put out “Hurry Sundown”, which was followed by both an additional studio album “Playin’ to Win” and the live release “Bring It Back Alive” in 1978. Their 5th album “In the Eye of the Storm” did not contain any major hits for the group; however, it showcased their versatility, introducing unexpected tracks such as their cover of Elvis Costello’s “Miracle Man”.

The Outlaws welcomed the 80s with the release of “Ghost Riders”, proclaimed by many fans to be the group’s last album that exemplified their classic old-fashioned country rock sound. It produced two singles “(Ghost) Riders in the Sky” and “I Can’t Stop Loving You” and also peaked at No. 25 on the Pop Album charts. The Outlaws slowed down their album output significantly by this time and released only two more albums throughout 80s “Los Hombres Malo” (1982) and “Soldier Fortune” (1986). Their next album “Diablo Canyon” did not come out until eight years later. In 1996 they issued their 2nd greatest hits compilation “Best of the Outlaws: Green Grass and High Tides”.

The 90s proved to be a trying year for the group as they lost both O’Keefe and Jones, the latter due to a suicide. The group continued to fracture throughout the 90s and 2000s with Thomasson opting out to join Lynyrd Skynyrd and Henry Paul leaving to form the country rock band Black Hawk.

Though the band’s line up changed incessantly, cycling through 30+ members, they still managed to tour and release the occasional album such as “So Low” (2000), “It’s About Pride” (2012), and “A Matter of Pride” (2015).

McCain’s career started out when he embarked on a tour with Hootie and the Blowfish. This fortunately led to him attracting the attention of Atlantic Records, whom he signed with in 1994. He entered the studio the same year to record his debut major label release, “Honor Among Thieves” on the same division, “Lava Records” as Matchbox Twenty, Kid Rock and Jewel. He released his second album, “Misguided Roses” On June 24th 1997. The album went to number 73 on the Billboard 200 chart, and spawned the hit single “I’ll Be” which made it to number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song has since been featured in the TV show “Higher Ground” and the motion picture, A Cinderella Story.

On June 15th 1999, Edwin McCain released the album “Messenger” which made it to number 59 in the Billboard 200. It featured the hit single written by Dianne Warren, “I Could Not Ask for More” which reached number 37 in the Billboard Hot 100. Still on the Atlantic Record Label, McCain released the album “Far From Over” which unfortunately didn’t make it into the top 100, but it did however, feature the single “Hearts Fall” which made it to number 27 on the Adult Contemporary charts.

Unfortunately, between the release of “Lost in America” in 2006 and “Mercy Bound”, McCain didn’t have any commercial success, but he still tours nationally, including performing on board USS John C. Stennis, whilst it was on a Western Pacific deployment in Guam.