Original SALIVA Singer JOSEY SCOTT To Collaborate With Band's Current Vocalist BOBBY AMARU On WAYNE SWINNY's 'Swan Song'

Original SALIVA singer Josey Scott (a.k.a. Joseph Sappington) has revealed that he is planning to collaborate with his replacement, current SALIVA vocalist Bobby Amaru. He made the comment while speaking to the Battleline Podcast about the recent passing of SALIVA guitarist Wayne Swinny. "We're gonna do a song together called 'Horizon' that is Wayne's swan song, actually," Josey said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "It was the last song that Wayne played on. So I'm really excited to do that."

Scott went on to praise Amaru for facilitating their collaboration, saying: "That's just the kind of man that Bobby is. He's created these opportunities and created these moments that we can all have and take with us that couldn't be more special and more heart-warming and heartfelt and really well thought out."

Asked if he would be open to hitting the road together with Bobby in honor of Swinny and as a tribute to SALIVA's legacy, Josey said: "Absolutely. I've learned to never say never. Anything's possible. I know he's down for something like that. I know I'm down for something like that. And Blue Ridge was a great example of what we could pull together. So, yeah, I'm totally down with whatever he would like to do."

Earlier this month, Josey announced a series of live appearances this spring, summer and fall under the banner JOSEY SCOTT'S SALIVA.

On March 22, SALIVA shared a statement on Facebook in which the band said that Swinny had been found that morning "in medical distress." Paramedics were called and the musician was transported to hospital "where he was diagnosed with a Spontaneous Hemorrhage in his brain."

SALIVA was on the road in the U.S. as part of the "Spring Mayhem" tour with THROUGH FIRE and ANY GIVEN SIN and had played in Nashville on March 20.

SALIVA launched its career in 2001 with the release of "Every Six Seconds", a double-platinum selling album with hits that include "Click, Click Boom" and "Your Disease".

The band has toured the U.S. with SEVENDUST, AEROSMITH and KISS.

SALIVA reunited with Scott for a one-off appearance at last year's Blue Ridge Rock Festival at the Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia.

Scott left SALIVA at the end of 2011 after 15 years with the group, reportedly to pursue a solo Christian music career. He was quickly replaced by Amaru, who can be heard on SALIVA's last four releases: "In It To Win It" (2013),"Rise Up" (2014),"Love, Lies & Therapy" (2016) and "10 Lives" (2018).

SALIVA released six albums with Scott and tasted platinum success and a Grammy nomination for its first big hit, "Your Disease".

In May 2021, SALIVA celebrated the 20th anniversary of its breakthrough major label debut, "Every Six Seconds", with a special project called "Every Twenty Years", an EP of classic songs re-recorded with Amaru.

In a recent interview with Rock 100.5 The KATT's Cameron Buchholtz, Josey weighed in on the announcement that the band's surviving members will carry on as SALIVA following Wayne's death. Josey said: "I'm very close with Bobby and I know in my heart and in my soul that Bobby will do the honorable thing. He never hasn't done the honorable thing. And I just trust in his steering the ship at this point, and I know he's gonna do the right thing. And I know it's all gonna work out; it's all gonna be great."

Josey also reflected on his relationship with Wayne in the months leading up to his death. He said: "[We were] just absolute brothers. I think there was things that certain news outlets said about our relationship, that we'd said things about each other or that there was some kind of tension between each of us. That was all blown out of proportion. We were always brothers. I can show you text message after text message where we would talk in the middle of the night and check on each other. And [we] always ended every text with, 'I love you, brother. I can't wait to see you again.' The last text that we shared was talking about him… I said, 'Will you come play some solos on my new stuff?' And he was, like, 'Yeah, of course I will, man.' So we couldn't have been on better terms. And I'm thankful for that."

Shortly after the news of Wayne's death was made public, Josey wrote on his social media: "I have no words. Just the love, and the little moments, and the looks that we shared, just between us and the fans, on stage, after stage, all over the world, that no one will ever know. Playing music, and writing music with a man like Wayne Swinny, for as long as we did, like we did, in all those places we did, is so very intimate. It was a love we shared together, and I will go into eternity holding on to that love, and those memories. Forever #TheToxicTwins".