By Marissa Baecker

Last night, my work as a photographer brought me to cover the Journey concert. I remember Journey from high school but didn’t necessarily consider myself a ‘fan’. Their music dates back to the late 70’s and like any other rock group, has had some changes and growing pains but the one element that remained constant over the years was guitarist, Neal Schon.

From the moment Schon stepped on stage, he caught my attention with his style, demeanor and genuine sense of passion. It was apparent that he was a seasoned professional performing for the love of the music. As I am not particularly familiar with the group’s history, I did some digging.

Did you know that these guys celebrated 30 years in music in 2011? Did you know that Journey has almost a dozen studio albums? Did you know that they are now on a North American tour for the next few months and DID YOU KNOW Neal Schon is a rider?

Eclipse is the latest and 11th album from Journey. Steve Perry may not be the front man but the vocals of Phillipine native Arnel Pineda are nothing short of spectacular with all new and previous Journey favourites. I was surprised at last night’s show that I knew most of their music despite my belief otherwise.

Back to Schon – wow can he play the guitar. He did an electric rendition of Oh Canada, without vocals that left the crowd screaming. It made sense afterward when I learned that Schon left home at 15 years of age to join Santana. If those two ever get together on stage again, don’t miss it.

My digging on Schon brought me to a video on YouTube where I watched, listened and learned that Schon likes motorcycles as he rides a Road Glide (I think) in the video with a smile on his face big enough to catch the smallest of bugs. He has launched a solo album titled The Calling of which the video is the title track.

Check out his music video below and check your local calendar as Journey continues their North American Tour.

Visit the band’s website www.journeymusic.com