Founding Yes frontman Jon Anderson has just released a new album titled True, his first full-length recording project with his current touring group, The Band Geeks. The nine-track prog-rock collection deftly incorporates all the sonic elements for which Anderson’s former band became known during the 1970s and ’80s, including soaring vocals, cosmic and spiritual lyrics, virtuosic musicianship, and inventive time signatures.
Anderson first hooked up with The Band Geeks for a 2023 tour. The group is a collective of talented musicians, led by longtime Blue Öyster Cult bassist Richie Castellano, who’ve been posting videos of them covering various classic-rock songs during the past several years. Anderson told American Songwriter that he became aware of The Band Geeks after his friend John Amick of SiriusXM satellite radio showed him a YouTube video of them performing the Yes classic “Heart of the Sunrise.”
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After the 2023 tour, which showcased a mix of Yes hits and epics tracks like “Close to the Edge” and “Gates of Delirium,” Anderson said he approached Castellano about recording an album of original material.
About the Making of True
True features new songs that Anderson co-wrote with Castellano and other members of The Band Geeks, as well as some compositions that pre-dated his collaboration with the group. Jon and Richie co-produced the album.
Anderson told American Songwriter that True was recorded in late 2023 and early 2024. The project came together remotely, since Jon lives in California and The Band Geeks are based in New Jersey.
[RELATED: Jon Anderson Channels Yes on New Song with The Band Geeks, “True Messenger”]
Anderson noted that although he didn’t work directly in the studio with the other musicians, the collaboration reminded of his days making albums with Yes during the 1970s.
One particular example of this was an epic, multi-part song titled “Once Upon a Dream,” which is 16-plus-minutes long.
“I would send ideas to Richie, and then he’d send ideas that he has back to me,” Anderson explained about how the track came together. “And I’d pick out what I was thinking [worked together well,] and adding more to this, more to that.”
Anderson continued, “[O]ne of the interesting things was that we zoomed every Tuesday, because they’re [in] New Jersey, and I’m [in] California, you know. I just spent a couple of hours with them every Tuesday, fixing this or projecting that idea. And I’d finish a couple of hours work with them, and go … and have dinner with my wife, and say, ‘It’s just like being with Yes.’”
More About Anderson’s Collaboration with Castellano
Anderson said he quickly became impressed by Castellano’s talent as a producer as well as a musician. Jon praised Richie’s ability to create a sonic landscape around a simple recording of one of the tunes he sent him.
“I’d sent … ‘Counties and Countries,’ just me on guitar, singing the song,” he noted. “And he sent me back a beautifully constructed version of it, that you can hear on the record. It’s just beautifully done.”
A new music video for “Counties and Countries” has premiered in conjunction with the release of True.
About the Song “Still a Friend”
True features a song called “Still a Friend” that Anderson said is a tribute of sorts to his late Yes bandmates Chris Squire and Alan White.
Anderson told American Songwriter that he recently was listening to the song while he was out walking and he imagined his departed friends were there with him.
“I came to that part, ‘still a friend of mine,’ and, strange as it may seem, I was holding hands with Alan and Chris,” he shared. “As I walked, I actually had my hands out, consciously thinking of them, you know?”
Future Tour Plans with The Band Geeks
Anderson has been touring with The Band Geeks throughout much of this year. Jon and the group have one more leg on their 2024 schedule, running from a September 11 concert in Beverly, Massachusetts, though a September 27 show in Staten Island, New York.
Anderson said he is looking forward to playing more shows with The Band Geeks in 2025, and hopes to include more songs from True when they hit the road again.
“I’m excited now, of course, ’cause I think of next spring, when we tour the album,” he told American Songwriter. “A lot of people will have listened to [Ture] and loved it, and then we’ll be still doing the classics and epics of Yes, and then True.”
Tickets for Anderson’s concerts can be purchased now via a variety of outlets, including StubHub.
True Track List:
- “True Messenger”
- “Shine On”
- “Counties and Countries”
- “Build Me an Ocean”
- “Still a Friend”
- “Make It Right”
- “Realization Part Two”
- “Once Upon a Dream”
- “Thank God”
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