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Dave Bickler and Jimi Jamison (top, left to right)
alternated as lead singer of Survivor through most
of the band’s history, but in 2013 they began a
rock rarity, touring as co-frontmen with the band’s
complete catalogue, until Jamison’s death in 2014.
Cameron Barton was discovered and invited to join
the band the following year by Survivor co-founder
Frankie Sullivan (bottom, left to right), singing
alongside Bickler until becoming the sole lead
vocalist in 2016.
“I love to go to Ravinia and go sit on the
lawn. I saw Steely Dan there. It was awe-
some. But from the stage, you can see
everyone so clearly. I love my mother,
but I don’t want her sitting in the second
row. (
Laughs
) I have a tendency to stick
both feet in my mouth.”
Laughs aside, Sullivan says he realizes
how blessed everyone in Survivor is to
be at this point in their careers, but he
knows that much hard work lies ahead.
“You always want to be reaching for a
note,” he says. “That’s what it’s all about.
It’s all about reaching throughout your
career, through all the highs and lows,
and always reaching toward those peo-
ple you admire. I mean, take a guy like
[Bruce] Springsteen. What he is doing
on Broadway right now is hard. But
he’s reaching toward that next goal. You
have to love your craft, and you have to
have a thick skin. If you want me to be
honest, I think some of the artists today
could use a trip to the school of hard
knocks and sign a bad document every
once in a while, just to have the chance
to learn from it.”
But he ain’t naming names.
Sullivan admits he does think about
the future often—not just for his own
band, but for all bands—and wonders
out loud about what just might lie
around the corner. “What are the youth
of today going to do?” he questions.
“How will they listen to music in 50
years? How will the world listen to mu-
sic in 100 years? I mean, they can make
music in their bedrooms, but when you
play live you are going to have a hard
time pretending. Fans will forever be
able to pick up on that authenticity. They
have frickin’ antennas to that stuff. From
the moment we started to now, we have
always been able to feel our audience.
And when they are not connecting, we
can feel it.”
At 63 years old, it wouldn’t be crazy
for Sullivan to start thinking about
calling it a career. But when his mind
goes in that direction, he says all he has
to do is recall the words he once heard
come out of the mouth of the legendary
Keith Richards. “He was talking about
how long he was going to do this, and
he said he would do it until they were
peeing on his grave,” laughs Sullivan.
“As long as I love it, I’m going to keep
doing it. But the travel is going to kill
me. (
Laughs again
) I love what I do. I
look at the [Rolling] Stones and I can
assure you that they are not doing it for
the money at this point. You’ve got to
have a passion that’s tangible. Your head
has to be in the music. That can never
change.”
Tricia Despres is a Chicago-area freelance
entertainment writer whose work has appeared
in the
Chicago Sun-Times
,
Taste of Country
,
and a number of local, regional, and national
publications. Follow her on Twitter at @CHIWriter.
ANDY ARGYRAKIS
RAVINIA MAGAZINE | JUNE 1 – JUNE 17, 2018
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