Q & A
ROSS VALORY
Ex-Journey bassist on going solo, retracing his progressive roots and paying tribute to Santana.
Words: Dave Ling
A
lthough an early member of The Steve Miller Band, Ross Valory is most associated with Journey, having played bass for the US AOR giants across two spells, spanning their inception in 1973 to being fired in 1985, and again from 1995 to a second, equally ugly dismissal in 2020. He discusses Journey’s early jazz-rock era and his debut solo album,
All Of The Above,
released in early 2024.
As a recording artist of more than 50 years, why has it taken you so long to release a solo album?
That’s a very good question. The easiest answer would be that I spent the better part of 50 years building a career with Journey, but also I needed to increase confidence in my writing and arranging ability. I wasn’t sure whether people would like the songs as much as I did. It also took time to build a studio and find the players.