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Art & Creativity Quote by James Young

"And for REO - they get to play for some Styx fans and then we get to play in front of some REO fans. It helps spread the new music to the following of other bands"

About this Quote

A touring package is supposed to look like nostalgia, but James Young is quietly describing a distribution strategy. Paired with REO Speedwagon, Styx isn’t just sharing a bill - they’re cross-pollinating tribes. The phrasing is almost disarmingly pragmatic: “they get to play for some Styx fans... we get to play in front of some REO fans.” It’s a clean, symmetrical trade, less about ego than about access. In an era where rock audiences age alongside the bands, the most valuable currency isn’t radio play or press; it’s the room itself.

The subtext is that “new music” from legacy acts doesn’t automatically travel. Fans show up with a setlist in their head, and the cultural contract can feel rigid: deliver the hits, don’t surprise us too much. Young sidesteps that tension by framing the new material as a benefit of the night rather than a demand. The shared audience becomes a buffer against the home crowd’s skepticism. If a Styx fan is lukewarm on a deep cut, maybe they’ll still be receptive because the evening already includes REO’s familiar comfort - and vice versa.

Context matters: Styx and REO occupy adjacent lanes of classic rock - melodic, arena-sized, radio-embedded - with fanbases that overlap but aren’t identical. Young’s point is that co-headlining turns that overlap into an engine. It’s not just a tour; it’s an agreement to lend each other trust. That’s how “new” survives inside “classic.”

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APA Style (7th ed.)
Young, James. (2026, January 16). And for REO - they get to play for some Styx fans and then we get to play in front of some REO fans. It helps spread the new music to the following of other bands. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/and-for-reo-they-get-to-play-for-some-styx-fans-89108/

Chicago Style
Young, James. "And for REO - they get to play for some Styx fans and then we get to play in front of some REO fans. It helps spread the new music to the following of other bands." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/and-for-reo-they-get-to-play-for-some-styx-fans-89108/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"And for REO - they get to play for some Styx fans and then we get to play in front of some REO fans. It helps spread the new music to the following of other bands." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/and-for-reo-they-get-to-play-for-some-styx-fans-89108/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.

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James Young (born November 14, 1949) is a Musician from USA.

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