It's been 30 years of records and roads for rockers Journey, who will join Yes and Foreigner with Lou Gramm at Arrowfest 2003 Saturday in Irvine. Although the band disbanded and regrouped and has gone through several lineup changes, its signature sound has remained true.
Keyboardist Jonathan Cain credits Journey's staying power to this sound, which he calls "soulful music with a conscience and a heart," as well as the fact that the group works hard to make their efforts seem easy.
"We make records that sound effortless," Cain said. "Because there" s no struggle there on the records, they still go down like chocolate milk to me. They still sound good because they had a pretty neat sound to them. The other thing is that Journey always worked a lot and they were good to their fans.
"And also, we have songs that were pieces of their lives and memories that have been imbedded in those songs."
Journey's current lineup includes vocalist Steve Augeri, guitarist Neal Schon, bassist Ross Valory, drummer Dean Castronovo and Cain.
Cain grew up in Chicago. He was playing accordion at age 8, piano at 12 and was in several rock bands in high school. He attended the Conservatory of Music at Roosevelt University, using his talent at playing everything from polka to rock to pay his way through school. At 18, Cain landed his first record deal, which led to a minor hit and a spot on the "Dick Clark Show."
Carving out a life as an artist and songwriter can be discouraging, even with early successes. Cain also tried his hand in other occupations.
"I had day jobs. I got kind of sick of the music business for a while and I went and I sold stereos and I worked as a warehouseman, a forklift operator, and that kind of stuff. I came back to music through songwriting, back into the band things and then the Babys auditioned some people in " 77," Cain said.
In 1979 the Babys joined Journey for their "Departure" tour.
"Neal and I hit it off, we actually were pretty good buds in the end, we would go out and jam in the local clubs together and Neal and I especially would play a lot out and about. I got a call that summer saying that Gregg Rolie, the former keyboard player, was going to retire and that I had the job. That was that," Cain said.
Cain has found that he has two different voices when writing for Journey and himself.
"You write for the Journey fan and you write for the Journey sound, so you" re looking for Neal and the background vocals and the high keys and more of the signature things," Cain said. "You" ve got to design them with that in mind and also the lyric has to be a Journey lyric, something with some positive, hopeful message.
"When I write for myself, I write about my kids, about my family, about my heart, it's a different thing. But 'Faithfully' was one example of a song I wrote for myself and ended up on a Journey record. I actually wrote it about being on the road with Journey, so it was kind of cool that it got accepted as a Journey song because it's probably the biggest song that I wrote by myself that was the most successful."
Another Journey hit, "Open Arms," began as Cain's song for his first wife during their wedding. He played it with just the choruses and the music, later Journey members helped add the verses and other touches that made it a fan favorite.
Cain has a studio at his home in California and self-releases smooth jazz records. He also writes and directs the Christmas pageant at his children's school in Novato each year which raises money for the school district.
"We do all kinds of international Christmas songs with the kids; we teach them Hawaiian, Kwanzaa and all that sort of stuff. They learn songs that I write and then we record them and we put the CDs out and sell them to their parents and then we sell CDs on my Web site too," Cain said.
Cain and his present wife, Liz, have three children, 7-year-old twins, Weston and Liza, and a 10-year-old daughter, Madison. Weston plays drums, Madison sings and plays piano and Liza sings and dances.
Even if he's out on the road, Cain finds time to pursue his hobbies -- skiing, snorkeling, scuba diving, tennis and golf.
After three decades of making music, Journey still is looking to the future. In December, the band will release a compilation video of all the Journey videos ever made.
"The videos are pretty funny, they're hysterical -- the really bad hair; Beavis and Butthead poking fun at Journey videos. They're really funny, but there's good stuff in there," Cain said.
The group is also considering trying something new when they return to the studio, such as a concept album, a rock opera or returning to their soul roots. But they still have their fans ever-present in their minds.
"It's always great to play Orange County, we have tremendous support there. It's almost like coming home. The fans are great and we can't thank them enough. Rock and roll is alive and well in Orange County. We're going to bring them one hell of a show," Cain said.
