Marshall Of Rock

Joe Walsh, solo artist, is back with his first album in 20 years, 'Analog Man,' due on June 5th.  The 10-song collection was co-produced by Walsh and the Jeff Lynne (Electric Light Orchestra, Traveling Wilburys).

"It's been 20 years and I have a lot to say," Walsh says in a statement. "These songs come from the heart. There is some confidence in [this record] that I never had, that's what I was hiding." he said. "Finally I feel like a complete person and a complete musician."

To get to that point, Walsh spent 10 years writing, rewriting and recording Analog Man. In addition to working with Lynne, Walsh collaborated with Tommy Lee James, a country songwriter who has written chart-toppers for Reba McEntire, Brooks & Dunn and Martina McBride.

'Analog Man' includes a tune called 'Lucky That Way,' which features Walsh's brother-in-law, Ringo Starr on drums. The track is among Walsh's favorites from the record, one that is a sequel of sorts to his classic 'Life's Been Good.' Walsh has dedicated the new album to his wife, Marjorie.

Joe Walsh has been in Cleveland-area recording studio Lava Room Recording this week working with his ‘70s James Gang bandmates on new recordings of their well-known classics.

On Tuesday, studio owner Mike Brown posted on facebook: "We are excited to have Grammy Award winning artist, Joe Walsh (The Eagles, The James Gang) in the studio today. He is accompanied by legendary producer Bill Szymczyk, Dale Peters (Bass) & Jimmy Fox (Drums)."

He also posted that so far, they’ve completed initial work on ‘Walk Away’ and ‘’Funk #49’ and longtime Walsh associate, drummer Joe Vitale (Crosby, Stills & Nash, Joe Walsh, The Eagles) added percussion on the tracks. Cleveland favorite Michael Stanley, will add background vocals to "a couple other songs."

The rerecordings are most likely for licensing purposes, but we can hope that the sessions could be the precursor for possible new material from the group. Last year Walsh talked about collaborating with his old mates and said “we [The James Gang] should record at least four things playing the way that we used to. If we can do at least four things new and get them on the Internet, I think with that and a cross section of the old stuff, we’d have all we need to go out and try and kick some a–. I hope we get to do that in the first half of 2012. I really hope it works out.”

It seems Joe may be busy with his solo project, the making of a career retrospective documentary on the Eagles, and some touring, but it would be cool to see some new music and shows from The James Gang.

Joe is featured on the cover of the new issue of Guitarist Magazine. This cover was shot by Ross Halfin.