STEVE LUKATHER SAYS RINGO TREATS THE BAND MEMBERS "LIKE KINGS"

Steve Lukather and his group Toto finished up a joint summer tour with Michael McDonald early last month, but now the guitar whiz is hitting the road again with his other main gig, Ringo Starr‘s All Starr Band.  Ringo and the band embark on a new U.S trek that begins tonight in Catoosa, Oklahoma, and runs through an October 23 show in Clearwater, Florida.

The All Starr Band for this tour is the same as it was for the group’s previous outing: Lukather, Todd Rundgren, Gregg Rolie, Richard Page, Gregg Bissonette and multi-instrumentalist Warren Ham.  Lukather says that although the lineup might seem like “a really weird group of guys” on paper, the band members play extremely well together and get along great.

“We’ve become really good friends,” he tells ABC News Radio.  “And Ringo’s like the greatest guy you could ever work with.  He treats us like kings.  He takes care of us so well, and he’s a joy to be around.  He’s an inspiration.”

Lukather adds that it’s “a wonderful experience” getting to play the various classic songs made famous by his fellow All Starr Band mates.

“I mean, Gregg Rolie from Santana, playing ‘Evil Ways’ with the guy that sang it [is great],” Steve points out.  “You know, these are songs that I grew up playing as a young musician.”

Not surprisingly, Lukather is especially delighted that he gets to perform regularly with one of the Fab Four.

“I look around the stage and…we’re doing ‘A Little Help from My Friends’ and there’s Ringo,” explains the guitarist.  “Honestly, if you’d have told me that when I was a kid, I would’ve said…’Yeah, I’ll be the first guy on Venus too,’ you know?”

Lukather says that the rapport he and the other All Starr Band members have developed with Ringo has helped bring the Beatles legend “out of his shell” while they’re on the road.

“[W]e get him out to go to the movies and we get him out to do things, because it’s hard to be that famous for 50 years of your life, you know?” notes Steve.  “There’s all the pluses and then there’s a lot of negatives.  You know, he just wants to be a regular guy sometimes, hang around and not have people stare at him.  It’s just unnerving to watch that.”

Meanwhile, Lukather tells ABC News Radio that his friendship with Ringo extends beyond their All Starr Band collaboration.

“We live near each other.  We hang out.  [And I] worked on his new album that’s coming out,” says Steve.  “[I] got to write a song with him.  That was a thrill.  And here I am sitting there [and] we’re throwing back lyrics to each other.  I’m going [to myself], ‘I’m actually writing a song with one of The Beatles.’  I mean, what are the odds of that?” 

Here’s the complete itinerary of the All Starr Band’s fall U.S. tour:

10/3 — St. Louis, MO, Fabulous Fox Theatre
10/4 — Kansas City, KS, Starlight Theatre
10/5 — Omaha, NE, CenturyLink Center
10/7 — San Antonio, TX, Tobin Center for the Performing Arts
10/8 — Austin, TX, Moody Theater
10/10 — Houston, TX, Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
10/11 — Grand Prairie, TX, Verizon Theatre
10/12 — Austin, TX, Moody Theater
10/15 — Charleston, SC, North Charleston Performing Arts Center
10/17 — Biloxi, MS, Hard Rock Café Biloxi
10/18 — Jacksonville, FL, Moran Theatre
10/19 — Fort Myers, FL, Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall
10/21 — Fort Lauderdale, FL, Broward Center for the Performing Arts
10/22 — Melbourne, FL, Maxwell C. King Center for the Performing Arts
10/23 — Clearwater, FL, Ruth Eckerd Hall