Interview with James Dylan ~ On Tour With Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Experience

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17 Oct

Interview with James Dylan ~ On Tour With Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Experience

Posted by kystorms No comments

*** Edit October 18 2010 ~ For those looking for Blazy and Bob, they are on the air over at 99.7 KIOO, and the graphic you see in the right hand sidebar is a clickable right to the station :p ***

Good morning fellow Rock fans… as promised, here is my surprise to you I hope you enjoy the interview with James as much as I did in doing it. I am very honored to be able to have this interview here as well as being able to call James friend.

Also, please go check out Jame’s Official Website - JamesDylanOffical.com

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Hello rock fans, today we are once again chatting with James Dylan of Virtual Zeppelin fame. James is now on tour with Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Experience Tour, coming to a town hear you soon. The list of current tour dates will be listed at the end of the interview as will the link to Jason Bonham’s official Tour website~

Q:
I have to ask this question first James, will you describe for us how you felt when you went on stage for the first song at the Dawson Creek show; it must have been an amazing experience!
A:
It was FANTASTIC! The people of Dawson Creek made it a very special night none of us will forget! And Ritchy Yorke was there to kick it off! As most Zeppelin fans know Ritchie was the first major media person to publicly predict the success of Led Zeppelin in 1969 when most other critics were panning the band. He also traveled on the road with Zeppelin and wrote “The Definitive Biography: Led Zeppelin” I got to hang with Ritchy for a bit. It was easy to see why the guys in Led Zeppelin are so fond of him.

Q:
How did you become connected to Jason and the tour?
A:
Jason had seen videos of me singing with “Virtual Zeppelin” on YouTube and one of his people messaged me requesting my phone number. Jason called me the next day and we had a good long chat about music. He is a very genuine guy and I enjoyed talking to him about music and and our families. His son and daughter are very close in age to my son and daughter. Like me, he also has a fondness for fast cars and motorcycles. There wasn’t a specific project to work on at that point, but we stayed in touch and for fun he sent me a couple of songs to add vocals to.

One day Jason called and he sounded very excited because he had just seen a production called “Rain” which is a multi-media tribute to the Beatles (Now opening on Broadway, starting October 2010). He explained that their production company (Annerin) had approached him about doing a Led Zeppelin show. This was not something that interested him when they first approached him, but, they invited him to come to a show and after seeing “Rain” he had a vision of how he could do a meaningful show which would encompass both the music of Led Zeppelin and share his personal experiences and unique perspective of being John’s son while Zeppelin rose to the top.

Jason and I got together at his place in Florida with other musicians including guitarist Tony Catania to begin work on the live music portion of the “Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Experience.”

Q:
Who else is in the band?
A:
Tony Catania – guitarist and backing vocals – from the “The Jason Bonham Band”
Mike Devin – bass and backing vocals – from “Whitesnake” and “Lynch Mob”
Stephen LeBlanc – keyboards, peddle steel, guitar, backing vocals – from A Fine Frenzy / Alison Sudol

Q:
What is the song line up, will it be static or variable? How are the songs chosen for you, do you have any input or are the songs chosen by Jason?
A:
I can’t tell you the songs! haha. Come to the show I promise you’ll know a few! The songs are somewhat variable. All the songs are chosen by Jason for their significance to his life, their chronology and for their historical importance to Led Zeppelin and their fans.

Q:
What is the touring life like, and have you brought your family with you?
A:
We find things to do, but we all miss our families very much. I tried to work out getting my fiance, our children and extended families and several good friends on the tour with us, but the management told me there was no way to justify busses for an additional 40 people! Sorry guys!

Q:
I am a huge deeply dedicated fan of Led Zeppelin and like so many other people the band came into my life at a very emotional and important time in my life so when you sing the songs for the fans, do you feel that connection as if across time?
A:
Ahhh yes, I know what you are speaking of Lisa. I think that is the magic of Led Zeppelin’s music, isn’t it… Their music is a journey. It’s like a good book. We forget the moment and are transported to other places.

Q:
Have you been able to chat with Jason about the history and the love of the fans for both his dad who is considered the King of the world of percussion music and the band itself?
A:
Yes, but more importantly you will experience this personal insight at the show. From speaking with all of John’s adoring fans over the years he understands the profound love that the fans have for John and this tour is Jason’s way of giving back to all of us. There were some horrible things written, questioning Jason’s motives for doing this tour and the people who wrote them should feel ashamed of themselves. I know Jason personally and I can assure you that I have never known a more sincere or dignified individual.

Q:
Will there be any video and audio recordings of the tour for the fans, maybe as a compilation? Also, is there a way for the fans to purchase the posters from any of the shows???
A:
One of my family members told me that Kiss sells recordings of each concert they perform. I don’t know if there are plans to do something similar, but there is some cool memorabilia available at the shows. I saw two wicked cool T shirts designs yesterday.

Thank you James for chatting with us here at the blog, we are blown away to have the chance to watch your career take off like this and wish you all success possible. kystorms ~ Admin for KOME – Fan Blog

My pleasure Lisa, see you at the show!

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Check out some videos from the show ~ http://kome-rocks.santacruzdreamz.com/2010/10/10/led-zeppelin-experience-jason-bonham-rocks-the-stage-dawson-creek-bc/

Tour Dates for the show: * date info from Led Zeppelin Online *

In Canada ~