The guitarist has been working alongside alongside longtime members Arnel Pineda and Jonathan Cain and new lineup additions Randy Jackson on bass, drummer Narada Michael Walden and keyboardist/vocalist Jason Derlatka.
"Given that the pandemic has been going on, we haven't all yet been able to be in a room together, but it's going really, really amazing,” Schon tells Eddie Trunk on the latest edition of his podcast. “We have 13 new tracks in the can that Arnel is now singing on, but the band is on fire. I'm excited about this record and I believe we'll start releasing things after the New Year.
"We have new management that has come into play, and they've been amazing to work with - Q Prime and Cliff Burnstein - and they have quite a team put together, and they get it. I thought we were going to release the single a lot earlier, and then this (pandemic) all came down and they wanted to push it back a bit, and it makes sense,” adds Schon. “So we're gonna release a single, another single, a few months after that another single, and hopefully by then near the end of '21 we'll be back on tour when everything gets up and running again.
“But yeah, I think the band is on fire, man. It's been really pretty much either Jonathan working in his studio, sending us a track, and then we're overdubbing on it, or it's Narada and I playing live together, which is working quite well — just drums and guitar. And then we send it to Randy and to Jon, and then have Arnel on it. So, it's coming together, man. For being a virtual record, it sounds amazing."
Jackson and Walden were added following the firing of longtime bassist Ross Valory and drummer Steve Smith over the pair’s alleged efforts to take control over the band’s name; Valory has since countersued former bandmates Schon and Cain over the issue.
Journey’s most recent studio album is 2011’s “Eclipse.” See also:
Steve Perry to release acoustic version of Traces album
Journey singer leads quarantine version of Open Arms
Journey working on new music during pandemic
Journey debut new members with Don’t Stop Believin’ performance
Search Journey at hennemusic
