Gowan's Notes to You :: 2006

March 10, 2006
Hail Y'all And so we march forth... ( I wish I had sent this on March 4th )... I want you to know how much I enjoyed playing those Gowan orchestra shows and how happy it made me to see those concert halls filled with folks who still dig the Strange and the Animal in us all. Peter Brennan did a tremendous job of arranging the orchestrations and I thank him again. For you Styx fans who made the pilgrimage to the Great White North, I hope you found the experience enlightening...eh. Speaking of them Styx boys, I have to say our House of Blues run through southern California and Vegas was certainly a gas gas gas... It was great to play in Hollywood during Oscar week. (even though I was once again overlooked by the academy) obviously my character in Chilly Beach was too real for them to deal. Shame...but life rocks on. Let us all continue to Big Bang our heads and make the world shake a little better for everyone. L Gowan

February 14, 2006
Happy Valentine's Day Lovers...
This week-end I'll be performing with Orchestra London on the 17th and 18th. We will be playing the entire Strange Animal album in classical style and I'm looking forward to it. Next week on the 22nd and 23rd in Kitchener Ontario I'll do the same with their orchestra. I have not done these songs before an audience since the start of the new millennium ( that makes it sound longer ) but I think I'm almost ready to re-surface those 80's tunes...  this time without the mullet. After that it's back to Styxworld for yours truly , as another fine year awaits. Stop by if you're in the neighbourhood. Ominous Spiritus.
Gowan

December 19, 2005
People of Earth; Surrender...
And peace to men of good will hunting. After all it's Christmas and other assorted holidays so... you know, chill baby. I just returned from playing with my fellow rogues of Styx at Alice Cooper's Christmas Pudding show in Phoenix. T'was the night before and t'was great fun. I even got to sing with Alice ( who, incidently is in fact a MAN ) on Run Rudolph Run. After which "he" chopped off my head and fed me to a snake...some Christmas traditions just never grow old...  Earlier this month I performed with my pal Maestro at the Canadian Urban Music Awards on his most excellent Hip-Hop Rap version of Criminal Mind. He was nominated for that song.  After which he pat me on the head and fed me to a snake...some Rap traditions just never grow old... That show will air on December 21 (I believe ) on the SUN TV network across Canada. Yo, check it. This week on December 22, I is gonna be singin' with my main man John McDermott at Roy Thompson hall in Toronto for his Christmas show. John's new Christmas album entitled  "Images of Christmas" features a fabulous song called "Ring The Bells For Christmas" by a very humble and meek ( who shall inherit the earth ) piano player. Yo, check it. Now here's some big news: I happened to meet with Santa ( who, incidently is in fact REAL ) the other night, and guess what.?.. I've been upgraded to Naughty-but-Nice. Finally. The fat man has spoken... 
So, People of Earth, Surrender and Merry Krinkle . Lawrence Gowan

July 18, 2005
Guten tag ( you're it ! )
Get it? It's a play on nerds... er...words. I'm still floatin' on what a gas we had on our European-Summer-Vacation as it were, so excuse my rambles. The shows recently in the USA haven't been too bad to come back to either. In fact they've been rather stellar ! I've really enjoyed these last two months of touring. Oh, yes indeed. My smatterings of German, Swede, Italian, Dutch, French, Gaelic and even English seemed to cause a few folks to shoot back sympathetic stares and occasionally a nod...Now if I can just master American I'll be sittin' pretty... Oh yeah. And you know it too. There were far too many life enriching experiences for all of us, the band of Styx, to truly verbalise with any degree of justice, so I hope we'll be able to reflect those experiences somewhat musically in the future. Thanks to all of you for your words of support and continued rocking to the extreme limit. It has not gone unnoticed by any stretch. Until we rock again... Lawrence Gowan 

April 19, 2005
Greetings to the people of planet Earth,
... that includes YOU. Did you ever wonder about the origins of Rock? Where did it come from and what was there before it was here and who put it there in the first place and what was Her sun-sign?... of course you have. Well enough about that already. Did you know that our new Styx CD will be entitled "Big Bang Theory" and pertains, to some degree, to our beliefs regarding the essential components that converged to bring our universe of all things Rock into existence? Believe it. Hopefully you will, after a listen or two. May 10 is the release date for the USA and at this writing May 24 is the Canadian launch. We're back out touring currently and looking forward to appearing on the "Today Show" on May 14. Thanks for all your kind words and personal comments on this site recently. I've enjoyed reading them. Rock on dear bretheren and sisteren. L Gowan

March 5, 2005
Hey all you fine folks, I just tested my knee for the first time post-surgery and... I believe I can fly...My first attempt was off a baby-grand but by next week I'll leap tall piano's at a single bound ...as you can see the medication hasn't quite worn off yet... Thanks so much for all your well wishes. I know they had a positive affect. This was a life enhancing experience in many unexpected ways. A knee isn't such a big deal... but continuing to play music is. My mind is focused and next week in Nashville I'll be struttin'. Knee Deep In Love... or something.. Lawrence Gowan

February 18, 2005
We're just putting the final touches on the new record (with I Am The Walrus). It's sounding rather splendid, if you're interested in my un-biased opinion...Did you see the Brad Pitt commercial on the Superbowl that featured the Styx classic "Renegade"? It was awesome (once again, un-biased). Now I have some news as well. March 1st I'll be indulging in something they call "knee-surgery" but I assure you I'll be on stage with Styx on March 8th in Nashville. The surgeon has promised me a 100% recovery. I asked him if I could have 110%, but he said "No, I'm sorry but that is a mathematical impossibility "... so we've settled on 153% and that's final. Thank you all for your kind words of concern. I'll just have increase the "rocking out" thing to 200% (which IS apparently possibe if one chooses the right partner). 99.9% Yours (I have to hold SOMETHING back just to retain a hint of dignity)
Lawrence "knee-jerk-reaction" Gowan