TRIXTER's STEVE BROWN On His BON JOVI Tribute Band: 'I Have This Crazy Ability To Where My Voice Sounds Just Like JON BON JOVI At His Prime'

In a new interview with Mark Strigl, TRIXTER guitarist/singer, producer and songwriter Steve Brown spoke about his new BON JOVI tribute band ALWAYS JOVI which is scheduled to make its live debut on April 18 at BMI Event Center in Versailles, Ohio. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's a tribute like no other.

"I think a lot of people know, over my career, I've always done numerous things outside of TRIXTER. Sadly, being in a band like TRIXTER, I wish I made a couple hundred thousand dollars a year off of it, but I don't," he explained. "That's the reality. P.J. [Farley, TRIXTER bassist] and I, and a lot of musicians, we all have to do multiple things, and I've played in different tribute bands over the last 20 years to make ends meet.

"And so what had happened was, back [when I was doing] the DEF LEPPARD [fill-in guitarist] gig, Phil [Collen, DEF LEPPARD guitarist] and Joe [Elliott, DEF LEPPARD singer] would always make reference to how much I sounded like Jon [Bon Jovi, BON JOVI frontman] and even like a combination of Jon and Richie [Sambora, original BON JOVI guitarist], because they were such a huge influence on me. But I have this crazy ability to where my voice sounds just like Jon at his prime.

"So, last year my good friend Greg Smith from TOKYO MOTOR FIST and THE WIZARDS OF WINTER, he's in a great JOURNEY tribute band with Robby Hoffman, EXTREME's manager, called VOYAGE. And they were changing their singer, and I was sort of on the road with Greg, hearing all the ins and outs and listening to different singers. And it kind of got in my head, 'Cause the BON JOVI thing was always on my mind that I'm gonna do this. And I was, like, 'You know what, man? I gotta do this.' Especially when I started hearing some of the numbers about how much money some of these tribute bands are making. My other buds are in a great band called MAGICAL MYSTERY DOORS, and my friend Tommy Zamp's in GET THE LED OUT, which is the number one [LED] ZEPPELIN tribute band.

"So I put this band together," Steve continued. "And it's a unique lineup. We have [my bandmate from] THE WIZARDS OF WINTER, Fred [Gorhau] on guitar, Kevin Humphris on bass. Joey Cassata, who you know now is the new TWISTED SISTER drummer. He's on drums, and he's gonna be doing some of the shows. We have a guy, Frankie D'Esposito from HOLY MOTHER, is gonna be the fill-in drummer for Joey while he's out on the road. Chris McCoy, who played with TOKYO MOTOR FIST, on keyboards. And then the X factor of the band is our female singer, Devon Marie, who was in a bunch of things with me, my country live tribute. And people ask me, like, 'Why do you have a girl in the band?' Well, one of BON JOVI's biggest hits over the last 20 years was 'Who Says You Can't Go Home' [one version of which was a duet with Jennifer Nettles of the American duo SUGARLAND]. So, again, we're able to do songs and it adds a different element, of course, a different visual element."

Regarding what separates ALWAYS JOVI from the other BON JOVI tribute acts, Steve said: "I looked at all the BON JOVI bands around the world and around the country. Some of my friends are in SLIPPERY WHEN WET —great guys. They do more of the lookalike thing, if you will, the wigs — I don't know if there are wigs involved — but the costumes. That's not what my thing is. My thing is very much rooted in the GET THE LED OUT. There's a guy, Marc Martel, the ONE VISION OF QUEEN guy. He does a QUEEN show where the music is the star of the show. It's not about costumes. Yeah, we dress up in rock stuff. We put on a great show. I have a whole video wall and this incredible content that me and my partner Nick — he's in the band THAT ARENA ROCK SHOW — he's my partner and co-manager in this band, and he's been such an incredible help. But we've put together this incredible production."

As for his motivation in paying tribute to BON JOVI, Steve said: "Most importantly, for me, BON JOVI has always been one of my biggest influences and inspirations. So to do this at a level to where it's pitch perfect, album perfect, and we're incorporating some of the live show elements, man, 'cause, again, one of the most important shows I ever saw as a kid was BON JOVI, 1985 at the Meadowlands Arena [in New Jersey], when they opened up for RATT. And it was my first time seeing them. And when I saw them, and it was also the night they got their gold records, so, of course, Jersey pride. We were, like, 'Yeah,' the hometown boys getting their gold records.' And I remember seeing them and just going, 'This is the coolest band. This is the new VAN HALEN,' because they looked amazing. They sounded so cool. They were having fun. Wow. Smiling. Jon was arguably, at that point, the best-looking, coolest frontman that I had seen since David Lee Roth. But the X factor for me in that show was seeing Richie Sambora. And that was the night that I saw him as a guitarist-performer, but most importantly as a lead singer-guitar player who, he could sing better than Jon. And I think most people know that, most real fans and stuff. I mean, Richie's voice is ungodly. And he was so great. And that was the night I said, 'Man, I need to stop worrying about playing all these guitar solos and focus more on singing.' And that's what I did… Again, it's one of those things to where all I wanna do is honor the music and my friends."

Detailing his personal connection to BON JOVI, Steve said: "Jon Bon Jovi, I don't know if you know, he was the first guy back in 1986 to get behind TRIXTER. We gave him our first demo tape before 'Slippery When Wet' blew up. He called us and he was a mentor, especially for me, because I would send him songs as we were going on. And he would always call me up and say, 'No, you need to do this. You need to do that.' And Jon introduced us to the SKID ROW guys. Jon was a huge, huge help. And coincidentally, the night we found out our record went gold, we were on tour with the SCORPIONS in L.A., and the day we found out, man — I grabbed Jon; he was backstage with us. And I said, 'Dude, we just found out our record went gold.' And he goes, 'I always knew you guys were gonna do it.' And I said, 'Guess what? We're gonna get our gold records at the Meadowlands just like you.' And I said, 'You better be there for us, man.' He didn't make it.'

Referencing the fact that BON JOVI is scheduled to return to the road in July for the band's first shows since Jon Bon Jovi's 2022 vocal cord surgery, Steve said: "We're all pulling for Jon. I gotta say I've reached out to him numerous times to try to help him with his voice, 'cause I don't know if you know, but I had vocal surgery about 15 years ago on my voice. And I'm kind of an expert at vocal sort of performing and keeping your voice together. And I've reached out to him. I texted him and e-mailed him and reached out to a bunch of people in his camp because I would love to be able to help him. And I jammed with Dave Bryan [BON JOVI keyboardist] in December, down in Nashville, and I told Dave the same thing. I said, 'Man, I love Jon. I love you guys.' No one wants to see Jon go out there and crush it like the old days more than me. I think we all do. 'Cause seeing what he's been through over the last 10 years or so with his voice, it's really, really rough. And I'm pulling for him. I'm hoping that these shows go well over the summer. And Jon, if you're listening, brother, you got the text and the e-mail. Call me back, man. I'm always here to help. I love you, man. And I want your voice to come back."

ALWAYS JOVI is:

Steve Brown - Vocals, Guitar
Joey Cassata - Drums
Devon Marie - Vocals, Percussion
Kevin Humphris - Bass, Vocals
Fred Gorhau - Guitar, Vocals
Chris McCoy - Keyboards & Vocals

SiriusXM radio personality Eddie Trunk commented: "As someone who grew up in New Jersey and saw BON JOVI on their earliest days, I can tell you that ALWAYS JOVI captures the true spirit and energy of the band they are paying tribute to. Steve Brown nails it vocally, as does the rest of the band. With the original [BON JOVI] band not being active currently, ALWAYS JOVI is the next best thing!"

Brown was born and raised in New Jersey destined to live a life submersed in music. The mostly self-taught artist picked up his first guitar at nine years old and never looked back. Steve began his lifelong love affair with live performing at the ripe old age of 12, when he became a regular on the voltaic New Jersey rock scene of the 1980s. At 12 years old, he began writing music, lyrics and founded his first band, TRIXTER. It wasn't long before Steve led the mighty TRIXTER to a record deal with MCA, sold out arena tours and lived every aspect of the rock and roll dream.

In his 40-plus-year career, Steve has sold millions of records worldwide (RIAA certified gold album),written three Billboard Top 100 singles, starred in three No. 1 MTV videos, and shared the stage with the likes of KISS, JOURNEY, Alice Cooper, SCORPIONS, POISON, CHEAP TRICK, STYX, BOSTON, NIGHT RANGER, Rick Springfield and TESLA. As not only a master guitarist, but as an accomplished songwriter, singer, engineer, producer, and performer. Steve has become one of the music industry's most sought-after and entrusted talents. From personal endorsements by Eddie Van Halen to churning out original music for some of television’s most popular hits, to regularly hitting the stage with an ever-growing list of rock and roll greats, Steve Brown is in constant demand.

In 2013, Steve was invited to be the temporary replacement guitarist for Vivian Campbell of the legendary DEF LEPPARD, which led to him joining the band at the historic Wembley Stadium along with other arena and stadium shows throughout North America. In May of 2018 he pulled off a job never done before when he was called in with 24 hours' notice to fill in Phil Collen for three shows, thus giving him the distinct honor of covering duties for both DEF LEPPARD guitarists.

ALWAYS JOVI photo courtesy of Steve Brown / bio courtesy of Headrush