STYX singer-songwriter-guitarist Tommy Shaw performs with the Contemporary Youth Orchestra on AXS TV on July 9

I've been loving the new STYX studio album "The Mission," so had to share this media release about Tommy Shaw joing forces with the Contemporary Youth Orchestra for a special televised event coming early next month...

STYX frontman Tommy Shaw celebrates the 10^TH Anniversary of one of the band's most iconic performances in the premiere of the 2016 special SING FOR THE DAY! TOMMY SHAW AND CONTEMPORARY YOUTH ORCHESTRA on Sunday, July 9, 2017 

The Career-Spanning Set includes beloved STYX hits, as well as Classics from Shaw’s acclaimed solo albums and his time with the supergroup Damn Yankees

LOS ANGELES – June 26, 2017 – Classical music and classic rock collide as AXS TV presents STYX frontman Tommy Shaw in the premiere of the 2016 concert special SING FOR THE DAY! TOMMY SHAW AND CONTEMPORARY YOUTH ORCHESTRA—airing Sunday, July 9, at 10 p.m. (Eastern Time). The broadcast follows the season premiere of the popular AXS TV original series ROCK AND ROLL ROAD TRIP WITH SAMMY HAGAR at 9pE/6pP, which features Shaw and STYX with Sammy Hagar backstage at the Venetian Theater in Las Vegas.

“Ten years after STYX and CYO performed for the first time together, I’ve joined forces with them again, this time for a solo acoustic symphony show!,” said Shaw about the special.

SING FOR THE DAY! was filmed live at the Waetjen Auditorium in Cleveland, OH, in May of 2016, commemorating the 10^TH Anniversary of STYX’s landmark collaboration with the Contemporary Youth Orchestra with an unforgettable night of music. Wielding a mandolin and an acoustic and electric guitar, Shaw sails through a career-spanning set of STYX hits, solo favorites, and more, backed by the impressive 115-piece teenage orchestra and choir. Highlights include soaring renditions of the STYX staples “Too Much Time On My Hands,” “Renegade,” “Sing For The Day,” and “Blue Collar Man,” as well as Shaw’s acclaimed solo hits “Diamond” and “The Great Divide,” Damn Yankees classics “High Enough” and “Come Again,” and many more, delivering an incredible one-of-a-kind experience that music lovers of all ages won’t want to miss.

Check out this first look of @tsgreatdivide performing "Sing for the Day" on @AXSTV July 9 at 10pE - http://bit.ly/TommyShaw_SingfortheDay

ABOUT AXS TV

Launched in July 2012 by visionary entrepreneur CEO Mark Cuban, AXS TV is dedicated to providing groundbreaking music programming, stand-up comedy performances from today’s top comedians, and hard-hitting mixed martial arts promotions. The network’s hit franchise series include THE BIG INTERVIEW with Dan Rather; ROCK & ROLL ROAD TRIP WITH SAMMY HAGAR; THE WORLD’S GREATEST TRIBUTE BANDS; GOTHAM COMEDY LIVE; and AXS TV FIGHTS.

AXS TV is a partnership between Mark Cuban, AEG, Ryan Seacrest Media, Creative Artists Agency (CAA) and CBS. The network is available in the United States via AT&T U-verse, Charter/Spectrum TV, Comcast/Xfinity, DIRECTV, DIRECTV NOW, DISH, Frontier, Sling TV, Altice/Suddenlink, Time Warner Cable/Spectrum TV, Verizon FiOS, and other cable, satellite and telco providers, including members of the National Cable Television Cooperative. The network is also distributed in Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. For more information, please visit www.axs.tv and www.axs.tv/press. Follow AXS TV on Facebook,Twitter @axstv; In stagram; Cyber Dust and YouTube.

Sights and Sounds: Elvis Presley, writer Ben Wener, Johnny Winter, Ted Nugent, Pistol Day Parade

Happy Friday everybody. Here is your morning roundup...

Photo: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment

In 1970 - after spending much of the 1960s making movies - Elvis Presley made a highly-celebrated return to the concert stage. Elvis: That's the Way It Is is a long-unavailable documentary that looks at Elvis' rehearsals and road back to music that is being remastered by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment. Click here to see the trailer and learn more.

As many Southern California-based readers know, long-time Orange County Register pop music critic Ben Wener left the newspaper last month voluntarily as part of a buyout that impacted approximately 75 writers, editors and photographers at the publication. Fortunately, Ben continues to write on a freelance basis (welcome to my world...) and has had several reviews published in the Hollywood Reporter. You can read his review of several jazz greats who performed at the Hollywood Bowl on July 17 including Boz Scaggs here. You can read his review of Steely Dan's July 12 concert at The Forum here.

Johnny Winter at the Doheny
Blues Fest in 2012. Photo: Bob Steshetz

Sadly, I never saw Texas guitarist Johnny Winter at the height of powers, and actually only watched a bit of his set at the Doheny Blues Festival in May 2012. But his impact on the blues scene, including influencing a number of blues fans, was notable. Read the nice celebration of his legacy penned by Randall Roberts in the Los Angeles Times here. Billboard also has a nice appreciation of the guitarist, who died while on tour earlier this week.

I think one of the lessons of the loss of giants such as Winter is that if you have a chance to catch a legend in concert, don't wait. For example, over the years I have sought out to attend to attend shows to catch aging masters before time ran out. John Lee Hooker, Link Wray, Joe Willie "Pintop" Perkins, James Brown and Glen Campbell are among the other greats I caught live not long before they stopped performing or were taken from us far too soon...

Ted Nugent on July 14.
Photo: Bob Steshetz

Finally, I caught the forever loud and proud Ted Nugent for the first time (okay second time; I did catch him as part of a brief Damn Yankees reunion at the NAMM show in 2010. You can read my coverage of that in The Orange County Register here) when he performed at the second night of his two-night run at the City National Grove of Anaheim on Monday, July 14, 2014. I had heard that his political rants were the norm, so I expected that. But to the 65-year-old Detroit rocker's credit, he sure played the heck out of his guitar and seemed pumped up from start to finish. From his high-powered opening ("Gonzo") to the satisfying night-ending one-two punch of "Cat Scratch Fever" and an extended "Stranglehold," I did come away with a somewhat deeper appreciation of his powers playing the electric guitar.

Pistol Day Parade in Anaheim on July 14.
Photo: Bob Steshetz

I was also very impressed by the opening band, Detroit-based Pistol Day Parade. The band, whose hard-rocking straight ahead approach recalls 3 Doors Down and Chris Daughtry impressed early with the infectious "Better" and not long after with the power ballad "Where I Lay." The quintet closed with the ultimate sing-along, the catchy "Rockstar's Girlfriend."
Visit the band's official Web site to learn more.