One-on-One with Kevin Cronin of R.E.O. Speedwagon

Listen in as Chris goes One-on-One with R.E.O. Speedwagon's Kevin Cronin. You'll also hear your questions answered!

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
It's one on one with Chris Kellyin the podcast channel. Hey, I've
got somebody that I'd never in mywildest dreams imagined I'd have the chance to
talk to Kevin Cronin of r Uspeedwagonlead singer. You've heard his voice on
the most iconic songs from several decadesof music over the years. Kevin,
it is an absolute pleasure. Thankyou for joining me. Oh well,

(00:20):
that's a kind introduction there, Chris. Thank you man. You're out there,
you're touring. Where you headed Austin, Texas to Biloxi, Mississippi down
there on the Gulf. I usuallyknow the next city I'm going to be
going to is anything past that,I can't keep track, but I will
tell you this, whenever I getto town, I like to get out
and you know, walk around,take in the vibe, you know,

(00:41):
get a feel for the for thepeople and for what's going on in because
every town has their own personality.So I like to kind of experience things
and then I can bring that energywith me during the show and you know,
just kind of relate to the peoplea little bit more. You know.
It's funny you mentioned that because wehad in Mansfield. Obviously I'm on
the air in two markets. We'lltalk about Wheeling in a moment, because

(01:03):
you're playing there too. We hadConstantine Marulus who's touring with a Foreigner's Journey,
and he was in town here andI said, hey, we've got
the Reformatory where shall Shank was filmed. Do you want to go there?
I'll take you there. And thoseguys loved it. I mean just being
able to get out there and theywere able to add some of that excitement
and some of that thrill that theyexperienced throughout the day during their show.
So that's fantastic. Do you getto do that a lot of that though

(01:26):
when you're touring? Yeah? Sure. You know, my main energy is
about having my voice in the bestshape possible, you know, so everything
kind of trickles down from there.And so yeah, if we've got a
couple of shows in a row anda long travel day something like that,
sure, then you know, Iget down to the gym. I got
to stay active, and it's justkind of who I am, and we

(01:47):
do get to do things. Andyou know, when we played in Panama,
they took us down to the canaland we literally got to stand right
next to the lock when these giantboats through. It's unbelievable. I mean,
we're pretty lucky that we do getto kind of experience some things that
are pretty unique. But wait,so are you talking about Constantine, the

(02:09):
dude who was the lead in Rockof Ages? Yes, in the musical.
Yes, and Constantine. I'll tellyou what, man, he's the
real deal. He did great inRock of Ages. I really dug him.
Well, I'm glad. I'm gladhe's I'm glad he's found himself a
niche there. That's cool. Ifyou ever get the chance to pass through
Manfield Hire between Cleveland and Columbus,hey, look me up and I'll take

(02:31):
it on a tour through the ShawshankPrison in the heartbeat that sounds that sounds
very cool. It would be alot of fun. I've just got to
say first, I was telling mymother earlier today. I'm like, Mom,
I talk to these people and it'sso cool. And She's like,
will you please tell him that Ilove his music. I love RISP,
going to listen to them forever.So Kathy says, she absolutely loves everything

(02:53):
rusped Wagon does. So I justhad to drop out there otherwise I had
to be in trouble. Well,I don't want to get in trouble with
your mom. That is the lastthing that I would wish on anyone.
So Mom, thank you very much. We appreciate that, and you know
I love it. Reaching out toour listeners, I said, hey,
if you had the opportunity to talkto Kevin cronin risped Wagon, what would

(03:14):
you ask? And I got somepretty cool questions I pulled out. One
question was from Darren. He says, how did you like working with pit
Bull in Messing Around? Ah?That's right, Yeah we did that.
Pit Bull was totally cool. Theonly problem was that we didn't really get
up a sound check. We geta sound check just with us, but

(03:35):
we didn't get to rehearse what wasgoing to happen when Pitbull came on.
And so we're out there on thestage and pit Bull has I believe he
had six dancers with him, andthese dancers they had they had like direct
choreography that they were doing. Theywere going to be in certain places at
certain times, and they're moving andthey're running and they're jumping. And now

(03:58):
that Bruce and I literally on almostgot trampled by by the by the dancers,
by Pitbull's dancers. So other thanthat, though, it was it
was you know, hey, youknow, being on TV is always fun,
and hearing another artist's take on ourmusic is you know, as as
a songwriter, as an artist,there's nothing quite like when someone else takes

(04:19):
your song and uh and and makesit their own. And I thought Pittbull
did a really good job. I'mtaking on the Run. I thought it
was really interesting, such a greatsong, Bethany, she says, who's
your idols, both in the industryand out? Well, yeah, you
know, and you know, I'mI'm just putting the finishing touches of six

(04:40):
years of work on my memoir andand in the in the in the book,
um, you know, I talkabout who my musical hero was and
and uh uh you know, whenI first bought the first Crossti Stills a
Nash record, and brought it tomy girlfriend's house, p and on,
and I heard Sweet Judy Blue Eyesfor the first time, and I literally

(05:03):
picked up the needle twelve times andI just I couldn't, I couldn't believe
what I was hearing. It wasso amazing, And you know, of
course I started out with being youknow, the Beatles were everything, and
they still are. But other thanthe Beatles, and the Beatles is a
given. But but Stephen Stills isreally the guy who just, uh just

(05:25):
was a huge influence on me.And and I tell the story in the
book of How I. You know, it's funny, you know, my
daughter talks about manifesting about you know, thinking about something that you want to
accomplish and and just putting that mentalenergy into it as if it's already happened,

(05:46):
but it hasn't happened, right,And so you know, I guess
I must have been manifesting, youknow, the things that that have happened
through the years with Stephen Stills fromhe went from just as my influence,
from being my hero to I endedup writing a song with him that that
was on a Crosby Stills a Nashalbum. And just a few weeks ago

(06:10):
after David Crosby's passing, there wasa show that was put together in Vegas,
and h and Stephen and I wereboth there and we sang a duet
on almost Cut My Hair in DavidCrosby's amazing song. So yes, long

(06:31):
winded answer because I'm just so youknow, Stephen is just I feel like
he's underrated, underappreciated. He's oneof the greatest acoustic and electric guitar players,
songwriter, singer. I mean,his voice is just you know,
a gift from from some force beyondus. And so yeah, it's all

(06:54):
about Stephen for me. We're talkingwith Kevin Cronin, lead singer Rio Speedwagon.
Kevin, speaking of your voice,what's your secrets to keeping yourself sounding
so good? Richard Mars told mewhat his secret is, But what is
your secrets keeping yourself sounding so good? Well, I'll tell you what you
know. Richard. Richard and Iare are old friends. Richard. The
first tour that that Richard ever didwas opening Ferrario Speedwagon in nineteen eighty seven,

(07:16):
and Richard and I became fast friendson that tour and we're friends this
to this day. In fact,I got I got a video text from
him as he sang along with theradio on Can't Fight This Feeling the other
day. So his voice is stupidgood, is all I can tell you.
I mean, you know, we'vedone a lot of shows together.
Matter of fact, Richard and Ihave a couple of songs that in the

(07:39):
oven that that we need to finishnot now be mentioned. But my son
Shane, who just graduated from collegeas a vocal music major, he turned
me on to his professor, whowas also a you know, does outside
vocal coaching. And for the lastthree years I've been religiously, um,

(08:01):
you know, at least twice aweek, I'm meeting with with my vocal
coach, Jeffrey Allen. And thebeauty of it is, you know,
with the advent of zoom, youcan you know, I can you know,
do vocal sessions over zoom. Idon't. I can do it wherever
I am. And uh, I'mabout three years in working with Jeffrey consistently

(08:24):
and and I you know, that'ssomething that I put as a very high
priority. And I still work atit. You know, You've got to
work at it. And I think, I think maybe you know, it's
tempting to think, well, youknow, I don't I don't need to
work out. I've been doing thisfor fifty years. I know what I'm
doing. And you know, ifyou start thinking that way, that's to
me, that's the first step,uh, you know, on the road

(08:46):
to ruin. You've got to alwaysbe looking for new ways to raise the
bar and improve what you do andpreserve what what what you've done. And
uh, you know, for me, uh, you know, working with
Eeffrey Allen has been Uh, it'schanged my life for the better for sure.
Do you or any of the groupown an Ario speedwagon? That was

(09:07):
a question from Ben Aha. Youknow, I've been I've been offered Ario
speedwagons. You know, we get, we get you know people who who
send in photographs of their Orio speedwagonand uh and are wondering if we are
interested in purchasing it. And Iwill tell you that right before I left

(09:30):
on this tour, I bought acar back in nineteen eighty four, and
it was a Mercedes convertible that thatwas just my dream car and I bought
it and I bought it new innineteen eighty four. And it's been in
one of the stalls of our garage. You know. I take it out
for a ride, you know,not often enough. And my wife,

(09:52):
who is a wonderful woman, she'sput up with this car being sitting in
the garage. That's been driving hercrazy for all this time, because what
she sees is just space that shecould expand her exercise area. And so
finally I acquiesced and I and Iput the old Mercedes in storage. And

(10:16):
so the last thing I need isanother old car property. And unfortunately,
so I'm gonna have to I'm gonnahave to pass on the on the Aria
Spieling. But but but I dolove when we get pictures of them.
And you know sometimes uh, youknow, someone will will will bring it
to a gig and we will lookbackstage and here they'll be a you know,

(10:37):
just those that you know, andthey're in mint condition. They're gorgeous
and and you know, it wasa cool vehicle though, those old Ario
speedwagons, they were the original sprintervans, you know. And uh so,
uh, it's it's pretty cool.And here's another fun fact. The
Ario Motor Car Company. Uh it'sstill you know, they still have a
museum in Lansing, Michigan. There'sstill an active company on some level.

(11:01):
And uh but you know, backin nineteen seventy one, when what when
the band was named, they gaveus the rights to the to the name
that they let us use their hoodornament basically that wing logo that that that
you know that we've been using allalong. That's right off the hood ornaments
of those original speedwagons and they nevercharged as a penny. So I mean,

(11:24):
that's there's an example of how theworld has changed. You know,
it used to be that that thatthat a company was was thrilled that a
rock band would want to use theirtheir name as their own. You know.
Now it's like, you know,they would have been we'd be paying
them a royalty for you know,every year. But uh so, Yeah,

(11:46):
the Ario Motor Car Company has beenreally cool with us, and we've
been we've been very lucky that thename was prophetic, you know it it
was a hard working vehicle. Itwas it was fast, it was reliable,
and hey, so are we.Two of my favorite songs from Rio
Speedway, because you know, i'vebeen playing your music since it started in

(12:07):
the radio industry many many many yearsago. Here with me and in my
dreams, two of my all timefavorite Ario Speedway. And there's so many
to point out a favorite, buttwo of my favorite ones are those two
songs. Well, you know,it's funny, that's that's really interesting because
those are two songs that that wewant to that we haven't played in years.

(12:28):
And uh and you know now thatDerek Killings has joined the band on
keyboards. Uh. You know,Neil Neil down you retired after fifty five
years, which we and we're happyfor him. And uh, but having
a new member of the band,it's it's it's been really uh, you're

(12:48):
just a shot of energy for us. It's been really good for us and
it's really fun. And so thoseare two songs that we like. I
said, we haven't played them inyears, but we are in the process
of of working those songs up anduh and we'll be uh. I don't
know that we'll have them ready.Uh you know, but uh, you
know, anytime super soon. Butuh, but but we're gonna I got

(13:16):
a new idea for for in myDreams, for for the, for the
for for a new arrangement of it. We're going to start messing with that
at sound check tomorrow. So youknow, we're getting there a little by
little. That's so exciting. We'retalking with Kevin Cronin, lead singer of
Are Your Speedwagon. Kevin, Iwant to thank you again for joining me.
I appreciate you taking the time.Hopefully we can catch up again soon

(13:37):
sometime that would be great. Youknow, my my book is almost ready,
and I'm sure I'm gonna want tobe getting out there and talking to
people about it when it gets released. So we'll let's make a date to
reconnect then. And I think I'mtrying to remember so Brad Paisley, who
my pal. Brad is from Wheeling, and he tells a story of the

(14:00):
when he was like fourteen years old, fifteen years old. He the his
first rock concert was an Ario Speedwagonshow which he snuck into and it may
be at this venue that we're playing, so that that'll be a nice,
uh a nice memory for us.Bratt, I mean Brat, you know,

(14:20):
turns out that that he's been afriend now for for twenty years.
Just a great dude, you know, ridiculously talented as as you well know.
So we'll be uh well, youknow, you know, I'm sure
Brad will have some some spies inthe in the building, so we're going
to be in our best behavior.We're going to play our asses off so

(14:41):
some good word gets back to ourbuddy. Mister Paisley. We'll try to
set something up on you here becausei'd love to talk to you about the
book. You know, it's goingto be from from my whole life before
I got into Ario Speedwagon. It'sgoing to tell the whole story and and
in doing so, it'll tell thatthe story of Ario Speedwagon as well.
That you know, the the storyof of of Gary Richrap and and I

(15:03):
is uh, you know it's umuh you know, it kind of had
a tragic end, sadly, butthe but for the years that you know
where where we were uh, youknow, both at full strength and uh,
there's some uh you know, somepretty amazing things happened that neither of
us would have experienced without the other. And uh, so that you know,

(15:24):
that's uh, you know, that'sa story that I think a lot
of Ario Speedwagon fans are curious about, like, you know, what happened?
How come you know what what brokeyou guys up? You know all
and and so there's it's something thatuh that I I understand better myself having
written the book, because you know, when you're going through it, it's

(15:46):
it's it's just what you're going through. But I can tell you this that
we played Peoria, which is Gary'shometown, um last year and uh and
Gary's oldest son, Eric who youknow, I've known since he was too
years old. He came, hecame and came backstage and and we had
a nice conversation and uh and Ipromised Eric that, um that in this

(16:11):
book, I would do everything inmy power to uh you know, because
Gary's not here to tell his sideof the story. So it's kind of
incumbent upon me to be to makesure that I tell both sides of the
story as as as as much ashumanly possible. And you know, I've
got nothing but love and respect forGary and for for what we accomplished together,

(16:37):
for all we went through. Andso so that's a big part of
the story as well. Um.So yeah, it's you know, I'm
it's taken me a long time.It's been over six years now, but
it's the kind of thing that uh, you know, I want to get
it right and uh so I'm I'malmost there. So so we will talk
again. Oh that sounds so good. Well listen, thank you so much.

(17:00):
Enjoy the tour. It's going tobe a lot of fun, no
doubt. Nice. Yeah, Andyou know, if you're in the building,
if you want to come down andsee the show, we'll we'll put
you in the guest list just youknow, just as you say, contact
the the you know, our PRpeople who are awesome and uh here,
maybe we'll be able to say helloafter the gig. Oh that'd be awesome.

(17:21):
Thank you so much for that invite. I will certainly do that,
all right, man. Thank you. Nice talking to you you too,
Kevin, take care, okay,bye now bye bye