REO Speedwagon - Kevin Cronin (lead vocals, guitar), Bruce Hall (bass),
Neal Doughty (keyboards), Dave Amato (lead guitar) and Bryan Hitt (drums) -
rolled into 2007 full throttle with their brand new album FIND YOUR OWN
WAY HOME, their first studio collection of new material in more than a decade.
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". 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". 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."
While not on the road, the band has been in the studio for the past 2 years working
on their first CD of new songs since 1996's Building the Bridge. 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. Find Your Own Way Home was conceived
out of turmoil, but as these songs have evolved there is a momentum that
is seemingly unstoppable. While other bands went on hiatus when they
hit rough times, REO has toured every year since its inception in 1971.
"We love to play live," says Hall, "it just keeps getting better."



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