July 8, 2008

Kevin Cronin (lead vocals, guitar), Bruce Hall (bass), Neal Doughty (keyboards), Dave Amato (lead guitar) and Bryan Hitt (drums) continue to go full throttle with their newest album Find Your Way Home, their first studio collection of new material in more than a decade. Come see them perform their hits, old and new, on October 3 at 9 p.m. in the Grande Exposition Hall at Silver Legacy Resort Casino.

The roots of the new album go back to the spring of 2000, when the band joined forces with fellow Midwest rockers Styx for a national, sold-out, co-headlining tour. The tour proved to be such a commercial success that it was recorded live and released on both CD and DVD, jokingly entitled “Arch Allies.” The bands appeared together on the Today show, VH1 and on numerous syndicated radio shows, including The Howard Stern Show.

Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, both bands worked together to organize a series of concerts that would benefit the New York Port Authority Police and the families of the officers who tragically lost their lives.

Over the following two years, REO Speedwagon toured non-stop. In addition to performing in all the expected concert markets, the band got back to its roots in small town America.

“These are the people who supported our music from the beginning. This is REO country,” says Kevin Cronin, describing the fans who enthusiastically sing along every night to the songs he has written such as the number one hits, Can’t Fight This Feeling and Keep On Loving You, as well as the classics Roll With the Changes, Keep Pushin’, Time for Me to Fly, Riding the Storm Out, and Take It On the Run.

During this time, the band was honored with a Behind the Music special on VH1 and Cronin was a guest panelist on Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher, as well as coming in a close second place on Rock ‘n Roll Jeopardy.

In 2003, REO joined fellow classic rockers Journey and Styx for the "Main Event Tour,” a sold-out, critically-acclaimed arena tour of all the markets that they had been entertaining since the late 70s. Music critics noted that REO had “kept their standards extremely high” and were “thrilling their fans night after night with their incredible power, sheer energy and songs that will live forever.”

New songs have been the lifeblood of REO since its first album in 1971, so it was natural that inspiration would strike during the “Main Event Tour” and drive REO to start writing new songs in between concert performances. The band began introducing these new songs into their live shows and the fan reaction was positive. The new album was born.

“It has been an intense few years, crazy years for me, but that’s when I usually do my best writing,” says Cronin. “All of us have been going through some big-time changes and it shows in our performances on the new record.”

The buzz in the REO camp is unmistakable. It is a familiar feeling for this band, one they felt in 1978 during the sessions for their classic album You Can Tune a Piano, But You Can’t Tuna Fish and again three years later when they released the 10-million-selling Hi Infidelity.

“We have been through it all and you just feel it when the pieces seem to be coming together,” says Hall “and I am feeling it big time on this album.”

“With some records it feels like you are swimming upstream and others just have a flow,” says Cronin. Find Your Own Way Home was conceived out of turmoil, but as these songs have evolved there is a momentum that is seemingly unstoppable. It is cool that it is all coming from this music. That’s the way it’s supposed to be.”

The past year has been a major comeback year for a band that never really went away. While other bands went on hiatus when they hit rough times, REO has toured every year since its inception in 1971. With the release of Find Your Own Way Home, the band feels its energy rekindled and its purpose renewed. This is not an ending at all; but rather a new beginning.

Tickets are $70, $60 and $50 and can be purchased online at www.silverlegacy.com and ticketmaster.com or by calling 1-800-MUST-SEE or 775-325-7401 or at the Box Office located on the main casino floor.