Pride Of Lions frontman, Toby Hitchcock, released a new song, “Before I Met You”, from his upcoming solo album “Changes”, which will be released on July 9th via Frontiers. The song is a cover of the Greek “Xano Esena”, originally by famous Greek pop singer Despina Vandi.
In our recent video interview with Jim Peterik, the famous song writer praised Toby: “during a show that I did in a place not too far away from Chicago I was watching a guy in the front row watching us. He was really into it…not an unattractive person but really into it (laughs). And afterwards he walked up to me and said: “I loved your set. My name is Toby Hitchcock”. That’s great, I said (laughs). He continues: “I am a singer”. Again…that’s great (laughs). You have to realize that I hear those things all the time and I didn’t know if this guy was a joker or really great. He gave me his phone number and he said that he just auditioned for a TV show and that he had met my niece, Kelly. I was kinda surprised and when I returned home I got a call from Kelly who said: “Uncle Jimmy, you gotta hear this singer…Toby Hitchcock. He’s amazing”. (…) Anyway when I heard him singing in the studio where I am talking to you right now, I noticed shades of all my favorite singers in his voice. I heard some Dennis DeYoung, some Tommy Shaw, some Jimi Jamison…all in one voice. Almost immediately, I said: “Dude, you’re my new singer”.
Click here to read and watch the entire interview.
Powerhouse American vocalist Toby Hitchcock is one of the most recognizable, powerful, and charismatic voices in the current Melodic Rock/AOR scene. As frontman of Pride of Lions, he has been the voice behind some of the best new classics of the genre, always delivering passionate and outstanding performances.
Vocally, he has often been compared to legendary figures like Bobby Kimball (Toto), Jimi Jamison (Survivor), or Lou Gramm (Foreigner), which is astounding company to be in. Hitchcock’s voice has the depth, feeling, and extension of each of them, while still maintaining his own identity and trademark style. In short, he is an absolute star in the current Melodic Rock scene.
While Jim Peterik is preparing a new Jim Peterik’s World Stage album, Toby took the time to commence work on another solo record. Following the excellent results that “Mercury’s Down” and “The Reckoning” received, this will be another welcome entry in Hitchcock’s growing discography. This time, Toby hooked up with Frontiers in-house producer Alessandro Del Vecchio, who has created an outstanding collection of songs highlighting the skills of Toby’s tenor voice. Greek music fans may also recognize an outstanding and rocking international version of Despina Vandi’s hit “Xano Esena,” here entitled “Before I Met You”.
For Melodic Rock/AOR fans, there is no reason to miss this record, which promises to easily be one of the top Melodic Rock albums of the year!
Tracklist: 1. Forward 2. Before I Met You (Xano Esena) 3. Changes 4. Tonight Again 5. Garden Of Eden 6. Don’t Say Goodbye 7. Say No More 8. Run Away Again (From Love) 9. Two Hearts On The Run 10. On The Edge Of Falling 11. Losing You Line-up:
Toby Hitchcock – Vocals Martin Jepsen Andersen – Guitars Alessandro Del Vecchio – Bass, keyboards, backing vocals Nicholas Papapicco – Drums
