In the early‘ 80s, I wasn’ t doing much. And I was at a party with Jimmy, who I’ d

fan and an Eagles fan? TBS: I have no idea. I would imagine that they’ re the same people, pretty much, but I don’ t really know for sure. And Rusty( Young) is the only original guy left in Poco at this point, and I wish him well.

IE: Were you stunned by the passing of your longtime Eagles bandmate Glenn Frey last year? TBS: Well, the sicker he got, the more we saw it coming, so it wasn’ t a complete shock. But when they actually proclaimed

known for a few years, and he said,“ What are you doing for a couple of weeks this summer? You want to play bass for me?” And I said,“ Yeah, sure!” And it grew into a couple of summers’ worth of work with him. And honestly, The Eagles were gone, I hadn’ t been in the band that long, I had gone through a divorce, I’ d lost property, I had a new family – and I’ m very happily married, still – we had young children, and I was trying to keep my head above water. So it was like work – it wasn’ t like I was going to go work at some grocery store. Jimmy offered me some work, and I said,“ Yeah – I’ ve got to keep wood in the fire, you know?”

IE: What’ s the difference between a Poco

him gone, it was pretty profound – we’ re still processing it. I mean, I remember the last day I saw him. I remember what I was doing when I was told he had passed.

IE: If you study Leap of Faith cuts like“ This Waltz,”“ Slow Down,” and even“ All Those Faces,” which talks about Father Time marching coldly on, it sounds like you were going through an existential crisis. TBS: Yeah, well, I had some... I had some …. physical issues that I was dealing with, and it was threatening my singing voice. I don’ t want to get into details, but I really was thinking all that stuff – I call“ This Waltz” my‘ woe is me’ song. I was pretty shaken up by this, because it could

have gone in any direction – not necessarily my life, but my career. And the truth is, my voice has been affected – I just have to approach things differently and sort of reinvent myself. I don’ t sing way up in the stratosphere anymore. For instance, on that song“ The Island,” I got two other younger guys to sing, and they happened

The Eagles, circa 2010

to be Al Jardine’ s sons, who are great singers. I was counting on Al, too, but he got sick. And I knew what I wanted, I heard it in my head, but I physically couldn’ t do it anymore, myself. So I sang the lower parts.

IE: Are you okay now, physically?

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