REO Speedwagon’s known for many things including arena filling ballads, ‘80s anthems and the wailing sounds of former guitarist Gary Richrath. In the early days, there’s no Speedwagon without him, putting his stamp on classics “Take It on the Run,” “Golden Country,” and “Ridin’ the Storm Out.”
Though he passed in 2015, his music and influence continues to carry through generations. Keeping the memory and art going is guitarist Michael Jahnz, who spent over a decade touring and recording with Richrath. He now helms the Richrath Project 313. Though the name sounds biblical and is pretty close, the numbers refer to the weird hours spent in the studio which ironically could be considered, ungodly. Though as Jahnz says, after 3:13 am you’re no longer responsible for your actions and that’s the bottom line.
The new album, L.A. Is Mine is now available offering first single “Help Me Save Me from Myself,” Jahnz made the song his, isolating Richrath’s guitar tracks, adding Gary’s original vocals to a modern recording. Jahnz experimented with different vocals giving the track a great, rich sound.
Jahnz guesses Richrath’s lyrics were about confronting your demons, whatever they are, reaching out for help. “The video starts off with a sad, desperate, even angry kind of mood, working through trying to get rid of their vices and ultimately coming out the other side with friendship, family and love, the bright light at the end of the tunnel. It serves as a powerful message for people struggling with assorted issues and emotions. I truly hope it’ll strike a chord with people and give them a sense of hope.”
The project stretches back several decades with the connection of Jahnz and REO when he became vocalist for Richrath in the early ‘90s after he left. Over 10 years of on the road friendship/mentorship followed as the Richrath Band, playing songs Gary had written for Speedwagon, and originals that Jahnz had written with Gary resulting in 1992’s Only The Strong Survive.
In 2019 it was rereleased with Jahnz resurrecting the Richrath Band into Richrath Project 3:13.
L.A. Is Mine will include never before heard songs Richrath and Jahnz worked on together, and a few with Richrath’s guitar tracks featuring five new originals, three new Richrath songs with original guitar, and re-recorded versions of “Ridin’ the Storm Out” and “Son of A Poor Man.”
This is Speedwagon in their early years, rocking harder without, the ballads. Jahnz says Richrath played with his soul. No effects, just him. “In my opinion, I think part of his soul was lost when he left REO.” 3:13 takes you back to the beginning, telling his story through music.
Jahnz’s played all the famous Hollywood spots and haunts. “I’ve played in some pretty infamous places depending on how you want to look at it. I played the Whisky and The Roxy. Another place I liked to play that’s no longer with us was Gazzarri’s. I don’t know if I should say I liked playing there but it was the place to play in the ‘80s.”
Jahnz says the experiences alone were enough to pen a memoir. “I moved to Los Angeles to get a record deal playing all these places, that’s how you did it. That was the thing to do. We met Gary in the process and I started working with him doing different things, lifting the bar a little higher.”
Jahnz says Richrath shared plenty of vintage Speedwagon stories. “He told me stories about back in the day. We had some stories too. That’s where 3:13 comes in. The 3:13 is the mystery thing, after 3:13 in the morning you can’t hold yourself responsible for anything, anymore.”
Richrath passed in 2015 still fighting his demons, “I believe he continued to struggle. That’s not the reason I decided to put this out and that’s one of the songs we worked on together, “Help Me Save Me from Myself. Now we’re working on filming “Heard it on the Radio” in L.A.
Some may think with the REO ingredient, they’re a tribute but Jahnz disagrees, “I wouldn’t say we’re a tribute at all. We’re doing a lot of original songs. We do REO stuff but we have our own edge to it.” The show’s a mix of Richrath penned Speedwagon tunes, solo material/collaborations with Jahnz and songs written by Jahnz and current members. It’s a thorough tribute to the life and art of Richrath if anything.
They do more than just the hits too, digging into deep cuts, “We do everything. Any night we do something, we do it differently. If people want to hear certain songs that Kevin wrote, I’ll sing’em.” “Golden Country’s” been in the set forever.” They’ve even done a Steppenwolf song here and there.
It’s been a minute since Jahnz’s been in the Buckeye State. “This is the first time I’ve been in Ohio in a few years. I don’t know how it’s going to be but I know I’m scheduled to be there,” he laughs.
They spent a lot of time on the record in 2020, giving it a no frills, hard rock n’ roll sound.
Jahnz has played on many beaches, surfing the sands in California and Florida but hasn’t seen the sands of J.D. Legends yet. They toured through Ohio in the ‘90s hitting Cincinnati, enjoying the chili, playing Dayton and Cleveland.” Jahnz hopes for a good turn-out.
Jahnz says REO could’ve invented the power ballad. “I think we’re taking it back to the roots of what REO was all about with Gary’s guitar.”
People know the ballads but might not be as familiar with the rocking stuff. “That’s what we’re here for. We want them to hear this stuff. It’s a live band, no tracking. No mysterious things coming out of the speakers, it’s all real.”
Fun/weird fact, back in the early days before Cronin, they did a radio jingle about pimple cream, “That was 157.” Few if anyone’s asked him about that since Richrath first told him the story. “In the early ‘70s, they did this, when the original singer was in the band. That whole “157” thing was supposed to be for a pimple cream commercial, it was bizarre.” He says it might have been done in Bridgeport, CT but can’t be sure.
When touring, Richrath did all his own stuff, “When we toured with him he wouldn’t do any Kevin stuff. I kind of like doing everything, if we’re asked. We have an arsenal. That’s why it’s hard to say we’re a tribute band but I like to keep the fans happy.”
Another bizarre and somewhat scary story came from an early ‘90s show when REO played Mexico with a ventriloquist act on the bill. “I heard Neal tell that story, the keyboard player. That was true. They opened for a ventriloquist and thought that was the end of it. When I heard it I couldn’t believe that. That’s like Spinal Tap when they’re playing for a puppet show.”
It would’ve been extra creepy if the ventriloquist had the doll watching them play, moving its eyes around. That was of course, years before Dead Silence but any horror movie would come to mind if you’re playing on stage with the eyes of a creepy wooden doll watching you. Let’s hope it didn’t look like Fats from 1978’s Magic. Especially if the mouth jerked open real fast or you looked elsewhere a moment or moved, looked back and it was gone.
Speedwagon took on different meanings depending on decade, “There are ups and downs. Everybody partied back then. That’s the thing. You can act like it didn’t happen but everyone knows it did. That was what they did in the ‘70s and ‘80s and some didn’t know when to quit. There were definitely stories from that time.”
Jahnz says Hi Infidelity was their peak but was also the divider from original band to ballad REO.”
Richrath’s last performance with them is on YouTube. ”In my opinion it was very sad to see Gary like that. I choose to remember Gary when he was still with it.” Sadly it went with the song “Help Me Save Me From Myself.” “There are a lot of people who want help, you just have to ask. The glass is always half-full. It doesn’t have to be with za-booze, could be water.”
Richrath had stomach issues and internal failures. “His heart stopped. I don’t know the full extent nor will anyone. There wasn’t a formal autopsy done.”
Jahnz has no bad bones or anything bad to say about them. “I think Kevin’s a great songwriter. I can sing his songs and do them justice. When I perform I give 100% every time and that’s what Gary would want you to do.”
They do a 90-minute show with encore, though they have about 10 hours of music they could play.
Jahnz says the new records phenomenal, “I’m very proud and I think Gary would be extremely proud of it. It’s what he wanted to do. It’s a live rock show.”
They’re gonna stay out as long as they can. “It’s a different virtual world. A lot of people from all over are reaching out to us now. We haven’t had that kind of response.” People from around the globe are showing their love through social media. “There’s a lot of people that love him.”
The Richrath Project 3:13 play J.D. Legends Friday August 27. 5 Story Plunge support. Check J.D. Legends Facebook for details.
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