TALAS To Play Live Shows In 2027 With PHIL NARO's Son JAMES On Lead Vocals

During a July 10 appearance on SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", legendary bassist Billy Sheehan confirmed that there are plans for him to play live shows in 2027 with TALAS, the 1970s and early 1980s upstate New York band which initially earned its name while performing gigs in the Buffalo and Rochester scenes.

37 years after TALAS's 1985 split, Billy reunited with his old bandmates to release "1985", a newly recorded album consisting of material that was written with the band's lineup from back in the mid-1980s. Issued in September 2022 via Metal Blade Records, the album also stood as a moving tribute to vocalist Phil Naro, who sadly died in 2021.

"When we did the '1985' record with TALAS, which was everything that was going on with us in 1985 when I left to join David Lee Roth, all those songs, we went back and did them all right, and a singer, Phil Naro, came out and just nailed it," Billy told "Trunk Nation" (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "He got up to the mic and knocked it out of the park. We didn't know how ill he was at the time. Now we know even how much greater he was to have stepped up to the mic and done what he did in the condition he was in, and sadly we lost him soon after that record. And I'm really, really pleased to announce that his son, James, who has got an amazing voice, much like his dad, has decided to do some shows with TALAS. So we're gonna go out with that lineup, and James is gonna sing. I already had him sing a couple of our songs just to see if it fit, and he sent me his voice, and he's the spitting image of his dad. Wonderful, sweet kid, on top of it. So, we're very excited. The beginning of next year we're gonna go out and do some shows as TALAS with Phil's son at lead vocals, and we're so, so happy about it. He's such a wonderful young man, and we're gonna have a blast."

In addition to Sheehan and Phil Naro, "1985" featured drummer Mark Miller and new recruit Kire Najdovski on guitar.

Kings of the Buffalo bar circuit, TALAS slogged it out through the 1970s and 1980s, hoping for the breakthrough that never quite came. When David Lee Roth left VAN HALEN, Sheehan immediately joined Roth's band, putting an effective end to TALAS.

In 2017, Sheehan reformed TALAS with a lineup featuring Naro and Miller, along with Najdovski, to play at the "Bands At Barnard" charity event in Greece. The group has played sporadic shows since then.

After fronting TALAS in the 1980s, Naro paired his powerful voice on a number of recording projects with KISS founding member Peter Criss and later with Canadian rockers CONEY HATCH. Phil also co-wrote and recorded several tracks with guitarist and founding member of THE RASCALS, Gene Cornish, and co-wrote three songs for Canadian artist Lee Aaron for her 1989 album "Bodyrock".

Sheehan's penchant for innovation has revolutionized the way the bass guitar is played. He formed MR. BIG in 1989, achieving a Billboard No. 1 single in the USA and 14 other countries with "To Be With You" from the band's second Atlantic Records album release, "Lean Into It". While developing his trademark style of playing, he performed over 4,000 live gigs on every continent except Africa and Antarctica.

Phil Naro died in May 2021 after a battle with tongue cancer. He was 63 years old.

Photo courtesy of Palmer Turner Overdrive for Metal Blade Records