Neal Schon Hoping to Reunite Original Journey Lineup

Journey guitarist Neal Schon says he'd love to get the old band back together for a few reunion shows. That's the "old" band, the pre-Steve Perry Journey. In an interview with Billboard, Schon wonders if he'll ever have the time.

"I've been wanting to get together with Aynsley (drummer Aynsley Dunbar) and Ross (bassist Valory)," Schon says. "It seems like an impossibility, because I'm always on tour." Journey -- with Valory -- just finished their biggest tour in 20 years, with Arnel Pineda on vocals, drummer Deen Castronovo and longtime keyboardist Jonathan Cain.

"I've been talking to Rolie (original keyboardist and singer Gregg Rolie) about it for years, that I would love to have a reunion, even if we only played a handful of shows at the House Of Blues in different cities and do nothing but our old songs. I think people would go absolutely nuts for it, just because of the history of it and the fact that it's not been heard in years." George Tickner was Journey's rhythm guitarist for the first three albums.

Schon explains that Rolie left the band prior to Cain's arrival in 1980 because he was sick of touring so much. Few people can keep up with Journey's schedule, including vocalist Steve Augeri, who left in 2006 after eight years.

"Steve Perry was bionic to be able to do what he did for as many years as he did under our touring schedule. That would be tough for anybody to keep up with that -- except Arnel Pineda. This boy is insane. He's got tremendous strength and … wow. We've done a lot of work this year, and not easy work. One five in a row, a lot of three in a rows, that's not easy to do with us, there's a lot required of a vocalist."

Journey will receive the Legend of Live Award at the Billboard Touring Conference in New York City this week. The conference began on Tuesday.