Hi Joe,

it's a big honour for our small and new webzine www.rockingboy.de that you spend us the time to answer some of
my questions. Thanks a lot in advance. I will hopefully make it short andnot too much work as I have seen you will be very busy next time. So here we go:

M.R.: The release of "Live In Germany" here in Europe will be in only a few days. I have seen already an enthusiastic critic of the "Rainbow Fanclan Legacy" (besides the one in our webzine). Have you already heard other opinions or
read any reviews? Are you yourself satisfied with the finished product?

JLT: Thank you for your kind words also. I am pleased with the final project. I have received positive comments from people I know who have heard it. The only other comment I received was that fans hoped theree would be a couple more tracks from my solo days. As for reviews, I do not read reviews. Ritchie Blackmore once said if you believe all the good reviews you also gotta believe the bad. LOL! I do not like to get distracted by reviews but I do appreciate it when journalists and fans take the time to read and write reviews.

M.R.: You concentrated on Rainbow Classics this evening in Ludwigsburg. Why didn't you choose for example JLT plays Rainbow as headline for the album? Because there are only 3 JLT songs on the record. Is it really a JLT live album?

JLT: It's not all Rainbow so that would not have been a good title. It is a JLT live album because the setlist we were doing at that time on solo shows was mostly classics from Rainbow and Deep Purple. Recenetly, I have been incorporating more solo songs into the setlist because fans said that is what they wanted to hear. So, the next live album, if and when we do it will have more solo stuff.

M.R.: Well, not to be misunderstood - I love the album!!!! But the record company praises it as the first JLT Live album ever. (You have done a Turner-Hughes Livealbum already, I think.) And there's only that few "real" JLT songs.

JLT: Well as I said, I honestly was trying to please fans with the setlist and had no idea how many fans wanted to hear more of the solo material. I have since changed the list and we are doing more songs from my solo releases.

M.R.: You have just been in Iraq and Kuwait on tour and performed for the troops down there. You said something like: "I have wanted to go to Iraq and perform for the Troops for a long time. .... I know this will be a life changing experience." Can you tell us about your experiences that you just went through? Was it life-changing? I think such moments could really be very special, are they?

JLT: To be onstage looking into faces of the soldiers and knowing what they are going through is completely different than your typical concert or club crowd. When we performed "Battlefields" the tears and cheers and chills went straight to my heart and soul like no other feeling. We were not playing a hard ticket audience. It's like nothing ever felt  before...a special audience with a special reaction. Talking to soldiers personally brought me to welled up tears and hearing stories about a 18 year old soldier hit by a snipers bullet, a Dad who cannot play ball with his son because he has been deployed 6 times. It's impossible to go about your daily routine shopping eating dir look at people at the mall the same crazy

M.R.: What exactly is the difference between playing live in Iraq and for example play live at the "Classic Rock Nights" here in Germany or playing in Madison Square Garden with Rainbow? There has not been a big time difference in
between the Iraq and Germany. So the impressions could be really topical. (Don't know if you really use this word, I just looked up in the dictionary - english is not my native tongue - sorry).

JLT: C'mon dude? You gotta be kidding? It's another world. These were shows for our Allied Forces middle of a desert war zone! No comparison!

M.R.: You are for such a long time in the business. Can you tell us some short highlights from the past few years? Has there been any noticeable change in the business (except from the internet or technical emprovements) ?

JLT: There are too many highlights to name but a few that come to mind from only the past few years are: The tour of Iraq (that tops them all), playing a command performance for the Russian Prime Minister's cabinet, doing a concert with the Japan New Philharmonic, memorable shows in Turkey and Russia, thhe Melodic Rock Dot Com event, as I said too many to name and I do not want to leave anything out! LOL!

Changes in music technology have really made collaboration easier and have made it much more affordable to put out albums more frequently.

M.R.: What are your targets in the near future? Do you already work on newmaterial? I heard some rumors about a new Sunstorm album.....

JLT: I am starting to work on the next Sunstorm later this month (October). I am excited about it...some GREAT songs will be on it! As for other stuff, I always work on songs and have done a lot with a very accomplished writer from Sweden, Chris Antblad. Some of the songs I have been demo-ing are more alternative-pop and some even have a country sound to them. I do not like being labeled as a just a metal guy. I can do many genres of music.

M.R.: I have seen you have been very busy the last months and you will be very busy next time, too. Have you ever thought of settle down a little bit? I don't know if you are married (didn't find any information about that), but didn't you ever think something like: Well, now it could be a good time to marry, get some children and perhaps have a 9 to 5 job ("JLT Hifi and Audio store" sounds good for me - just a joke!) rather than work like studio-tour-studio-gig?

JLT: I am married and have a daughter who is in college now. I do very often miss my family when I am extremely busy but this is the career path I have chosen I am grateful and blessed that I have fans that still want me to keep making music so no, I do not think of doing another type of job. The only other jobs I would be interested in would require a lot of college/school so there is no time for that...LOL!

M.R.: You are one of only a few persons who have worked with very different artists and did a variety of styles of music. I just think of Mother's Army, the New Japan Philharmonic or Cem Koksal, or Jack Ponti, just to name a few.
Are there any artists left that you still are waiting to play or work with? Not only in the rock business as well as for example country,R&B or whatever.

JLT: Sure! Have mic and pen, will travel...LOL (old expression in the USA). There are some  musicians I  would like to work with. Nickelback, Chris Daughtery,  Matchbox 20.

M.R.: If you have three wishes left, how would they look like? Would you change some things happened in the past?

JLT: I would not change anything that happened in the past except that I wished my Father did not pass away when he did. I thought he had many great years in him left. Everything in life happens for a reason and it's all a great teacher...life is a great teacher. As for wishes...let's see...world peace, eternal health and hapiness for me, my family, friends and fans.

M.R.: So, again thanks a lot for your time. I am really enthusiastic about whatever comes in the future. As I have already written in the "Live In Germany" -Review: Thank you Joe for great 30 years, thank you for this wonderful live album and thank you for a countless number of moments of goose-pimples. Welcome to the WIZARDS OF ROCK again!!! - You are the only person who is twice with different projects in our small "Hall Of Fame"  ;-)

JLT: Thank you for such an honor and all your support! I am very humbled by it all.