Shaw Blades is an American musical duo/group formed by

Tommy Shaw Tommy Roland Shaw (born September 11, 1953) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter best known for his tenure in the rock band Styx (band), Styx as co-lead vocalist. In between his stints with Styx, he has played with other groups includi ...

Styx In Greek mythology, Styx (; grc, Στύξ ) is a river that forms the boundary between Earth (Gaia) and the Underworld. The rivers Acheron, Cocytus, Lethe, Phlegethon, and Styx all converge at the centre of the underworld on a great marsh, whic ...

and

Jack Blades Jack Martin Blades (born April 24, 1954) is an American rock musician. He has worked in the bands Rubicon, Night Ranger (as bassist and one of the lead vocalists), and Damn Yankees (as one of the founding members). He has also recorded with To ...

Night Ranger Night Ranger is an American hard rock band from San Francisco formed in 1979 that gained popularity during the 1980s with a series of albums and singles. Guitarist Brad Gillis and drummer Kelly Keagy have been the band's only constant members, ...

, both of whom played in the

supergroup Supergroup or super group may refer to: * Supergroup (music), a music group formed by artists who are already notable or respected in their fields * Supergroup (physics), a generalization of groups, used in the study of supersymmetry * Supergroup ...

Damn Yankees ''Damn Yankees'' is a 1955 musical comedy with a book by George Abbott and Douglass Wallop, music and lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. The story is a modern retelling of the Faust legend set during the 1950s in Washington, D.C., during ...

. It is an informal duo which has produced two albums between other projects, 1995's ''Hallucination'' and 2007's ''Influence''. The first two songs on "Hallucination" -- "My Hallucination" and "I'll Always Be with You"—received modest airplay. "Influence" consisted solely of 1960s and 1970s cover songs that influenced them. Blades' son Colin, a songwriter himself, contributed backing vocals and arrangements to the album. Shaw Blades also recorded a cover of the classic

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

song "

The Twelve Days of Christmas The Twelve Days of Christmas, also known as Twelvetide, is a festive Christian season celebrating the Nativity of Jesus. In some Western ecclesiastical traditions, "Christmas Day" is considered the "First Day of Christmas" and the Twelve Days a ...

" on the ''A Classic Rock Christmas'' album by various

classic rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, primar ...

artists in 2002. Shaw Blades did a short tour of America in Spring 2007 and another in Autumn 2007. Both members still principally record and perform with the acts which made them famous. From 2007 to 2009, they were joined on tour by

Will Evankovich William Eric Evankovich (born April 6, 1972) is an American singer/songwriter, guitarist and producer, best known for his performances with the Guess Who and rock duo Shaw Blades, his co-production of Tommy Shaw's 2011 debut bluegrass album ''T ...

on the request of Blades, who had seen Evankovich’s band American Drag perform and wanted him to join them on acoustic,12-string, harmonica and background vocals.

Discography

''Hallucination''

Musicians

– Vocals, Bass, Percussion, Acoustic Guitar on "The End" *

– Vocals, Guitars, Keyboards, Percussion *

Steve Smith Stephen, Steve, Stevie, or Steven Smith may refer to: Academics * Steve Smith (political scientist) (born 1952), British international relations theorist and senior university manager * Stephen Smith (journalist) (born 1956), American journalist, ...

– Drums *The Neverleave Brothers – Backing Vocals *

Michael Cartellone Michael Cartellone (born June 7, 1962) is an American musician and artist. He was a founding member of Damn Yankees and is the current drummer of Lynyrd Skynyrd since 1999. Biography Michael Cartellone was born on June 7, 1962, in Cleveland ...

– Drums (Tracks 4, 6, 7)

Production

*Tommy Shaw – Producer *Jack Blades – Producer *

Don Gehman Don Gehman is an American record producer, engineer, and executive, best known for his work with John Mellencamp and Hootie & the Blowfish. He was one of "the most successful producers of the 1980s and 1990s." As a sound engineer, he also helped ...

– Producer, Mixer, Recorder *Eddy Schreyer – Mastering *Neil King – Production Engineer *Jeff Lord-Alge – Production Engineer *Jim Goodwin – Assistant Engineer *Janet Levinson – Art Direction/Design *Reisig & Taylor – Photography *Cory Jacobs – Studio & Musicians Photos

''Influence''

Musicians

– Acoustic Guitar, Percussion, Vocals *

– Electric & Acoustic Guitars, Keyboards, Percussion, Vocals *

Michael Lardie Michael Lardie (born September 8, 1958) is an American musician and record producer known for his memberships in the rock bands Great White and Night Ranger. Early life Lardie was born on September 8, 1958, in Anchorage, Alaska and raised ...

– Keyboards *

Brian Tichy Brian Tichy (born August 18, 1968) is an American musician, best known as having been the drummer for Whitesnake, Billy Idol, Foreigner (band), Foreigner, Sass Jordan, and Ozzy Osbourne. He was the drummer of Whitesnake from 2010 to 2013. His s ...

– Drums *

Kelly Keagy Kelly Dean Keagy (born September 15, 1952) is an American drummer and co-lead vocalist, best known for his work with Night Ranger. Keagy sang lead vocals on several of their hits, such as "Sister Christian", "Sing Me Away", and "Sentimental Stre ...

– Drums on "Dirty Work" *Ben Krames – Drums on "Time of the Season" *Colin Blades – Backing Vocals on "Your Move" *Randy Mitchell – Loops

Production

*Tommy Shaw – Producer *Jack Blades – Producer *Michael Lardie – Engineer, Mixer *Noel Golden – Mixer *Dave Donelly – Mastering *

John Kalodner John David Kalodner is a retired American A&R (artists and repertoire) executive. History John David Kalodner was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was a writer and photographer at ''Concert'' magazine. He went on to be a photographer for v ...

– Mastering *Diane Burk – Album Coordination *Leslie Langlo – Album Coordination *Jeanne Shaw – Photos *Jennifer Starr – Photos *Scott Rosen – Photos Track information and credits verified from the album's liner notes.

In other media

California Dreamin' "California Dreamin'" is a song written by John Phillips and Michelle Phillips and first recorded by Barry McGuire. The best-known version is by the Mamas & the Papas, who sang backup on the original version and released it as a single in 1 ...

" was used at the end of the last episode of season 2 of the TV show ''

Californication Californication may refer to: *Californication (word) ''Californication'' is a portmanteau of California and fornication, appearing in ''Time'' on May 6, 1966 and written about on August 21, 1972, additionally seen on bumper stickers in the U.S. ...

''. "My Hallucination" was used in the movie ''

Tommy Boy ''Tommy Boy'' is a 1995 American buddy adventure comedy film directed by Peter Segal, written by Bonnie and Terry Turner, produced by Lorne Michaels, and starring former ''Saturday Night Live'' castmates and close friends Chris Farley and Davi ...

''.

References

External links

The Official Shaw Blades site
archived at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

American rock music groups American musical duos Rock music duos {{US-band-stub