'Rock Star' Guitarist JIM MCGORMAN Talks About Touring With PAUL STANLEY

Premier Guitar, a monthly print and web guitar enthusiast publication, has published an article by Jim McGorman, guitarist for Paul Stanley's solo backing group and the house band from the CBS-TV show "Rock Star", about the experience of sharing the stage with the KISS frontman. A couple of excerpts from the article follow:

"One thing we quickly learned about Paul is that he is an incredibly hard worker. When we first started to play, Paul Mirkovich (keyboards, vocals) said, 'Paul, you don't need to sing with us every time. We know all the singing is in a really high register.' Paul Stanley said, 'This is what I do. If you play it, I'm gonna sing it.' During rehearsals, he was the first one there and the last one to leave. You rarely see that in a singer, especially one that has had the success that he has. It was really great to see someone that I admire live up to all the expectations and surpass them.

"Having a front man like Paul Stanley gives you a lot of confidence. This guy has been killing it for 30 years and you know that he won't be the one to mess up. It was also very different for us because there were no cameras rolling. For the past two years, working on 'Rock Star', every time we played a song, we knew it was being filmed and recorded. Every little note and nuance is picked up. That can be stressful. Working with Paul was a return to the live roots that most of us are used to. That made it fun.

"Speaking of fun, one of the best things about working with Paul is watching how he commands an audience. He literally has them eating out of the palm of his hand. Most nights, people in the crowd will yell out song names for him to play. Sometimes he will acquiesce, but we usually stick to the set. It is a set that he created to have a flow, and it works. However, one night in Portland (or was it Seattle? I'm not really sure) there was a woman who would not stop yelling out the title of a song that we don't normally play. After repeated requests, Paul said, 'How much did you pay for your ticket?' She replied '$45,' and he said, 'You've gotta pay at least $50 for requests.' She then outstretched her arm with five dollars in it. He went over to her, took the five dollars and started to play the song she asked for. With no accompaniment from the band (as we hadn't rehearsed it),he played almost the whole song. When he finished and the crowd calmed their cheers, he said, 'I'm keeping the five bucks!' The place exploded with laughter and we went on to the next song."

To read the entire article, visit www.paulstanley.com.