Jim Irsay Collection Concert
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Honoring Jim Irsay + Tour Updates
Hi friends, I am very fortunate that my years with REO Speedwagon have allowed me to be a guest vocalist with some amazing “house bands” at various charity events during REO downtime. Most recently I joined my friends in The Jim Irsay Collection Band for another night of good fun and great music at the Shrine Auditorium & Expo Hall in LA.
The mood was a combination of somber and joyful. Somber due to the illness of our leader and benefactor, a man as generous of spirit as with his riches, humble, respectful, and loyal, and a lover of music and everyone involved in creating it, a man I am proud to call a friend, the inimitable Jim Irsay. I wish Jimmy the best as he faces this terribly tough challenge, and I have faith that he will come through it stronger than ever.
Jim wanted the concert to go on, with or without him, and we all dedicated every note we played and sang to his recovery. I was honored to be among the guest singers that night, all giants in their own right: Ann Wilson of Heart, Peter Wolfe of the J. Geils Band, and Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top. I think you can feel my joy in these photos from my performance, as this amazing band lifted me up and put their masterful imprint on my songs.
As I write this, the REO boys and I are on a flight from LA to Orlando, for a co-headline show with Styx on Thursday night. It will be great to see Tommy, JY and the boys, and the great audience our bands attract when we join forces. We will be playing a new and exciting setlist this year, and the band is raring to go.
The 2024 tour officially begins on March 20 in Reading, PA with very special guest, Rick Springfield, and lands in Estero, FL with our old buddies Cheap Trick on April 6. I will be writing about our adventures as our tour winds its way through Charleston, WV, Knoxville, TN, Columbia, SC, Montgomery, AL, St Augustine, FL and many points in between. You can check reospeedwagon.com for a full list of Spring tour dates. We will be announcing a very special summer tour later this month, and are stoked to be sharing the stage with an awesome band with an amazing lead singer, that we have never played with before. So stay tuned! … kc
Pictured below at the Shrine Auditorium: kc with Kenny Wayne Shepherd, with Billy Branch, and with Tom Vukovich, and doing his “lead singer thing”.
