Styx keep right on rocking toward Phoenix

With 100-plus shows performed a year, Styx doesn’t have — if you’ll pardon the awful pun — too much time on their collective hands. So, catching a band member on the phone takes some careful planning and a little dexterity. Luckily, co-guitarist James Young (“JY” to both friends and those cheering forms in the dark) freed 30 minutes between his robust concert schedule and the sold-out Rock Legends Cruise XII, which sailed from Feb. 13 to 17.

Styx had just a week or so of respite before hitting Phoenix for shows on Feb. 26 and 27 at the Celebrity Theatre. Ten more dates follow before the start of yet another multi-city tour — a Brotherhood of Rock jaunt with Kevin Cronin (ex-REO Speedwagon) and Don Felder (ex-Eagles).

This marked the group’s second cruise since climbing aboard in 2022. Young said it’s “been a few years” when asked for naive specifics, including “How tough is it to perform on a moving ship?” (Answer: It's not much trouble at all. However, temporary stages are another story.)

“But we had fun,” says Young of the cruise. “The fans get a chance to rub shoulders with the artists, and the atmosphere is friendly. You’re away from your trials and tribulations back home, so you can put them to sleep for a few days before returning to reality.”

Styx has comprised the bulk of JY’s reality since 1970, when the then-21-year-old veteran of two bands (one even toured Europe) was recruited into a collective called TW4 alongside keyboardist/vocalist Dennis DeYoung, guitarist/vocalist John Curulewski and the fraternal Panozzo twins, bassist Chuck and drummer John. At that point, Young had been playing guitar for seven years.

“Everyone in my family started on a musical instrument,” says Young. “My father was a great pianist by ear. My two sisters played the clarinet and oboe. I got a hand-me-down clarinet to play something in the high school band. But the [1960] ‘Bo Diddley Is a Gunslinger’ album got me. I was charmed by the cover, the whole idea of an R&B artist being a gunslinger. [Jimi] Hendrix and [Eric] Clapton were big influences later. By listening to their records at half-speed, I could figure out how they were playing.”
When he wasn’t gunslinging through amps himself, Young pursued a degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering at the Illinois Institute of Technology. He graduated but later succumbed to a decidedly much higher call.

“A young man reaches a certain age, and hormones in his body guide him in different directions,” says Young. “Being up on stage and having screaming females in the audience appealed to me. There were musicians at the college, but nobody really came my way as far as being a bandmate. I wanted to quit, but my parents said, ‘We paid the money so you could have a good education and earn a good living.’ It was there to fall back on.”

Science’s loss was clearly rock music’s gain. The next four decades became, with oft-relayed signposts, the usual rock music whirlwind. And that makes chronicling Styx and its massive catalog difficult enough. How much do you include? What hasn’t been asked? Everyone’s plumbed this story: journalists, documentarians and the guys themselves. Even Dan Rather — who wouldn’t know “I’m O.K.” from “Aku-Aku” — threw “Is Dennis coming back?” at the band with the gravity reserved for cornering Henry Kissinger about 1972's Christmas bombing in Vietnam.

Much of the essential action takes place between 1977 and 1983. Still, one shouldn’t skip those first four Wooden Nickel Records LPs, when TW4 became Styx. That juvenile but ambitious sound was a stygian swallow of progressive rock, thick-throated harmonies and bloody-meat riffs. Those were evident in the 13-minute opening track from 1972's "Styx," Young’s masterful “Movement for the Common Man,” plumped by extended jams and, yes, cowbell.

Meanwhile, “Styx II” (1973) included the initial Top 10 hit, although DeYoung’s balladic “Lady” wouldn’t chart until after the band signed to the larger A&M. At that point, Styx unveiled 1975’s “Equinox” before jettisoning Curulewski and picking up another melodic young gunslinger, Tommy Shaw, who with Young keeps the flame going today.

“He’s a great rock singer and an incredible guitar player,” says Young of Shaw's contributions. “His style is very different from mine. Nonetheless, we do complement each other. I’m much more Hendrix; he’s much more Clapton. We’ve had one heck of a run now, almost 50 years together.”
Their fortunes changed for good with album No. 7, the sprawling, triple-platinum “The Grand Illusion” (1977). In fact, the next three records — “Pieces of Eight” (1978), “Cornerstone” (1979) and “Paradise Theatre” (1981) — each hit the same sales milestone. All four bore such perennials as “Come Sail Away,” “Fooling Yourself,” “Blue Collar Man (Long Nights),” “Renegade,” the chart-topping “Babe,” “The Best of Times” and “Too Much Time on My Hands.” Styx was an essential part of the late ’70s/early ’80s cultural firmament, as can attest everybody who all-skated to “Mr. Roboto” in 1983.

However, hindered by internal creative struggles that eventually exploded, Styx's rush of momentum couldn’t last. Following 1983’s “Kilroy Was Here” (home to “Roboto” and “Don’t Let It End,” which peaked at No. 3 and 6, respectively), Styx fell into long hibernation. They reawakened briefly with Glen Burtnik subbing for Shaw — who, at the time, was embedded alongside Ted Nugent and Night Ranger’s Jack Blades in the Damn Yankees supergroup — and a new album, 1990’s ”Edge of the Century.” Alas, though, Styx soon tumbled back into slumber.

“Being a touring and recording band can break up a family,” says Young. “It can break up a marriage. We all decided to put certain things about our creative lives on a backburner and get everything else on a solid foundation. Then we came back.”

Tommy Shaw came back, too. Unfortunately, John Panozzo’s deteriorating health prevented his return; he died in 1996. HIV sidelined Chuck Panozzo (though he plays when he can) after 1999's “Brave New World,” which also proved to be DeYoung’s last. Shaw and Young have since refreshed the configuration a few times, including with mainstays Todd Sucherman on drums and Canadian rock god Lawrence Gowan (adept at DeYoung-ian flights) on vocals and keys.

The post-millennial Styx has issued four studio albums, starting with 2003’s “Cyclorama.” A foundational musical youth was then explored on 2005’s “Big Bang Theory.” From there, multi-instrumentalist Will Evankovich, a Shaw friend from Nashville, produced 2017’s “The Mission,” and he became a full-time member following 2021’s majestic “Crash of the Crown.” Gowan’s brother, Terry, joined on bass last year. And so we land, at last, in the present..

“We’re in great shape,” says Young. “I’ve been on that stage since the very beginning. When I’m out there playing, I’m looking at the crowd, just happy to be doing what I’m doing at this juncture in my life.”
Phoenix New Times: The world knows you as “JY.” When were you first called that?

James Young: I went to a Chicago public high school [Calumet High School, closed in 2006] with a kid who wasn’t in the same neighborhood, but we grew up together within a four- or five-mile radius. He began calling people by their initials. James Young is not the most common name a person could have, but it’s in the Top 50. I liked having the idea of a nickname people could call me, and it caught on. So “James Young” became “JY.”

Among my possessions are your 2012 live performances of the “Grand Illusion” and “Pieces of Eight” LPs in full. What’s it like to play whole albums in sequence, including the songs that never usually made setlists?

Typically on an album, you might get two or three songs everyone knows. Four out of eight if you’re lucky. They want to hear “Come Sail Away,” “Renegade” and “Too Much Time on My Hands.” “Miss America” gets in there every now and then. (laughs) It was great revisiting those songs. There are some in our catalog that we still have never played live. But it took a little bit of work on our part to make it all happen. We got it done, and it was fun.

How’s Chuck doing? How do you determine at which shows he joins you?

He comes back off and on. But no more traveling and not getting proper rest. He lost his brother, who was our drummer, so the band is kind of a second family to him. When we’re in his vicinity, whenever he feels like showing up, we and the fans welcome him. He was there at the beginning, and he deserves as much flexibility and adaptability as we can give him.

Could you talk a little about the upcoming Brotherhood of Rock tour with Kevin Cronin and Don Felder?

Kevin’s a guy who grew up not far from me on the southwest side of Chicago. We and REO Speedwagon traded No. 1 spots on the Billboard charts in the old days. I think, ultimately, they won that round. (laughs) But our “Grand Illusion” sold 7 million copies before they ever sold 7 million copies. (laughs) Don has joined us onstage, where we’ve played a number of his songs. [Felder helped pen the Eagles’ “Hotel California” and “Victim of Love,” among other tracks.] We’re just old buddies who like performing together.

We’re going to see a blend of different styles, but ultimately, the songs will remain the same. (laughs)

For audiences that have followed you all these years, these aren’t just songs; they’re integral parts of their lives. As part of the music’s creation, what are you thinking when you’re up there ripping into “Miss America” or “Snowblind” or the like?

For me, it’s a joyful moment. It’s great to be able to have these friends and be doing what we’re doing, going out to play for those who appreciate it. We’ve sold a lot of concert tickets, albums and T-shirts (laughs), which was never a business I intended to get into. Our music’s been used in movies and television. I love what I do for a living, and although I’m no spring chicken, I intend to continue for some time to come.

Styx play Celebrity Theater (440 N. 32nd St.) on Thursday, Feb. 26 and Friday, Feb. 27. Both shows are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and feature opener Jay Psaros. Tickets run from $45 to $135; grab yours now via celebritytheatre.com.