Taking a detour from his main job as lead guitarist for Journey, the multi-talented Neal Schon has put the finishing touches on his latest solo album, The Calling – released by Frontiers Records in the UK on Monday 22nd October. Produced by and featuring Schon on all guitars and bass, The Calling reunites Schon with former Journey bandmate, Steve Smith, who lends his virtuoso drum talents to all 12 tracks on the new album.
Schon set up shop at Berkeley’s famed Fantasy Studios during a break from Journey’s busy touring schedule and recorded the album, completely from scratch, in just four days. After overdubbing multiple guitar and bass parts, Schon recruited two keyboard masters to flesh out the music. Igor Len, an accomplished classical, jazz and film composer who had previously collaborated with Schon, is featured on acoustic piano throughout The Calling album.
GRAMMY Award-winning special guest Jan Hammer (Jeff Beck, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Miami Vice soundtrack) recorded Moog synthesizer solos on two tracks – Fifty Six and Tumbleweeds. Recently, Schon teamed up with Dan Barnett (Journey: Live In Manila) to produce the video for the first single and title track from The Calling.
