Starship comes to the US Cellular Center Saturday, April 9th at 8pm! Tickets are $29.50 and are available through the USCC Box Office, charge by phone at 1-800-745-3000, or order online. Proceeds for this event will benefit the Asheville Fire Fighters’ Association. To contact the Asheville Fire Fighters’ Association, please call 828-236-1939.
STARSHIP FEATURING MICKEY THOMAS
Loveless Fascination
Biography
“In some ways, this feels like a 70s record. It’s organic, and there’s a real edge to it.”
Mickey Thomas isn’t speaking in a nostalgic sense. The front man for Starship, the venerable San Francisco band behind several of the 20th century’s biggest pop and rock anthems (“We Built This City,” “Sara,” “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now”) is simply talking about the vibe of his band’s new album, Loveless Fascination, the group’s first studio record in over 20 years and first for Loud & Proud Records.
“We stopped and started this record so many times over the past years,” says Thomas. “But once we found the right guy and hit our stride, it all clicked.”
It’s a diverse record, too: a big gospel choir lifts up “Nothing Can Keep Me From You”, while the string-laden “You Never Know” recalls the band’s 80s pop highlights.
Still, there’s a serious lyrical tone lurking underneath the music. “The overall theme of the record has to do with relationships that don’t work out,” says the singer. He laughs. “But that’s OK. The Eagles made quite a career out of that.”
Loveless is really the cumulative effort of Starship’s longest-running lineup, which includes mainstays Jeff Adams (bass), Darrell Verdusco (drums), Stephanie Calvert (vocals) and Phil Bennett (keyboards). John Roth replaced the late Mark Abrahamian on guitar earlier this year. “The core of this band has been around the longest since any incarnation of the band, including Jefferson Airplane,” says Thomas. “And they’re all represented on there.”
Although Loveless marks Starship’s first full studio album since 1989, the group has remained a popular draw on the road. “It’s a real wide generation of fans out there,” says Thomas. “I’ve seen 12-year olds, 65-year olds and everyone in between.”
For their upcoming tour, the band will mine their deep back catalog — “we’ll play songs from every record I had a hand in,” says the singer, promising early hits like “Find Your Way Back,” as well as a medley of the group’s earliest hits as Jefferson Airplane. And, of course, the new material.
As Mickey gets ready to start a new chapter in a career that has spanned forty years, his voice is on-fire and the music is a compelling blend of then and now. Loveless Fascination is sure to appease long-time Starship fans while opening the door to a new generation of rockers.
