Taking a detour from his main job as lead guitarist for JOURNEY, the multi-talented Neal Schon has put the finishing touches on his latest solo album, "The Calling", to be released on October 23 via Frontiers Records. Produced by and featuring Schon on all guitars and bass, "The Calling" reunites Schon with former JOURNEY bandmate Steve Smith, who lends his virtuoso drum talents to all 12 tracks on the new album.

Schon set up shop at Berkeley's famed Fantasy Studios during a break from JOURNEY's busy touring schedule and recorded the album, completely from scratch, in just four days. After overdubbing multiple guitar and bass parts, Schon recruited two keyboard masters to flesh out the music. Igor Len, an accomplished classical, jazz and film composer who had previously collaborated with Schon, is featured on acoustic piano throughout "The Calling" album.

Grammy Award-winning special guest Jan Hammer (Jeff Beck, MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA, "Miami Vice" soundtrack) recorded Moog synthesizer solos on two tracks — "Fifty Six" and "Tumbleweeds". Recently, Schon teamed up with Dan Barnett ("Journey: Live In Manila") to produce the video for the first single and title track from "The Calling".

While celebrating the release of "The Calling", Schon will be back on the road with JOURNEY as the band's 2012 tour kicked off July 21 in Southern California and is scheduled to run through December, with most dates featuring special guests PAT BENATAR & NEIL GIRALDO and LOVERBOY.

"The Calling" track listing:

01. The Calling
02. Carnival Jazz
03. Six String Waltz
04. Irish Field
05. Back Smash
06. Fifty Six
07. True Emotion
08. Tumbleweeds
09. Primal Surge
10. Blue Rainbow Sky
11. Transonic Funk
12. Song Of The Wind II

Check out audio samples at www.schonmusic.com.