Freelance entertainment writer Bryan Reesman has issued a new 2-part Q&A; session with QUEENSRŸCHE's Geoff Tate, in which he sounds off about his wine making, his former vegan ways, the rigors of modern touring, writing new music and the proposed Operation: Mindcrime musical for Broadway.

The following is an excerpt:

Q: It’s good to hear that Queensrÿche’s recent tour did well, especially given our shaky economy.

A: "I know a lot of media outlets have been talking about live music and saying that the whole scene is dead and that nobody cares about live music anymore, but I think that’s really false. It might be true in certain isolated places or in the country that they’re writing from, but I have to say that more people want live music. They love it. It’s not something you can replace with digital recordings. The biggest problem about live music is letting people know that it’s happening. It’s so difficult for people to find out what’s going on because the way so many websites are constructed is so convoluted, and there’s so much information, it’s hard to navigate. And there are hardly any papers anymore. That’s what I see."

Q: What was the hardest part about this particular tour in terms of reaching out to people?

A: "Just that, letting people know that the band is in town. It’s always the toughest thing, and I think other artists experience that same thing, too. We always talk about it when people get together. People are always saying to all musicians, “Oh, I didn’t know you were in town.” Great. Thank you, promoter!"

Q: Do you think that age also plays a factor in this? Even though I’m in the media, I find it hard to keep up with everything that’s going on because there’s so much information out there. I figure as people get older they don’t follow things as much, especially those who are outside of the business. They wait for other people to come to them and tell them what’s happening.

A: "Yeah, that’s very true, too. A lot of people get their information off TV nowadays. So unless you’re a TV star nobody knows about you."

Q: So the American Soldier tour did well overall?

A: "It went great. It was really a knuckle biter at the beginning because there wasn’t a lot of pre-sold tickets, and we base all of our internal economy on touring. It slowly started building, and I have to say it was a really successful tour this year. I’m very happy about that."

Read the complete Q&A; at the following links:

- Part 1
- Part 2