We first got to read Joe’s book BACKSTAGE PASS back when the ink was still wet. It’s a collection of stories from his years on the rock and roll road, with tales from tours with Ted Nugent, Joe Walsh, the Eagles and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, among others. Our favorite: Joe’s foiled plan to declare Charlie the Tuna chief spokesfish for the Save the Whales campaign.

Event info via artsinohio.com.

Mary with Joe Vitale

Joe’s been out on the road lately with the “old new” Buffalo Springfield. Founding members Stephen Stills, Neil Young and Richie Furay, along with Joe (for Dewey Martin) and Rick Rosas (for Bruce Palmer) performed a couple of days ago at the Bonnaroo Festival after doing a handful of shows in California, and Furay recently confirmed their fall tour (review @ Variety here.)

An interview with Joe is featured in the latest issue of Classic Drummer magazine. There’s also an opportunity for readers to cast their votes online for inductees into the Classic Drummer Hall of Fame. Ironically, Joe’s name is missing from the prepared online ballot, but fortunately, you can write him in.

Who knows where else Joe may turn up in the next few weeks? Stay tuned.

More at crosbystillsnash.com.

His most recent release, the Live at Shepherd’s Bush (CD/DVD) was recorded on his 2008 European tour with that configuration.

Stephen Stills will also be the guest on the syndicated radio show ROCKLINE this Wednesday, January 13th. Check the Rockline site for your local broadcast.

UPDATE 2/2/2010 – Shows added: Brooks, CA on Feb. 13 (Cache Creek Casino), Ann Arbor, MI on March 6 (Michigan Theater).

Joe is currently winding up the Crosby, Stills & Nash tour in the southern California area. He’ll be back east by October 29th playing with the band on the first night of two Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Anniversary concert shows in Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Read our Backstage Pass excerpt here

Joe recently released his third solo album Speaking in Drums as well as an autobiographical collection of stories entitled Backstage Pass, a collaboration with his wife Susie and son Joe, Jr. The book highlights some of the lighter moments of life on the road and in the recording studio during his 40+ years in professional music. Backstage Pass will soon be appearing in bookstores throughout the U.S. You can read our excerpt from Joe’s book >>here.

Although the event is free, reservations are required and can be made by email or phone. If you would like to attend this intimate appearance then don’t wait any longer to reserve a seat – over a hundred requests came in just hours after the event was made public! RSVP details via the >>RRHFM site.

Fans might want to bookmark the CSN Site Tour page as more dates are certainly forthcoming.

Update: 2-25-09: Yesterday it was announced that CSN are among the 2009 inductees into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. The 40th anniversary ceremony will be in June in New York City. Story..

It’s a real-life inner sleeve spanning a playing, recording, writing and producing career shared with the likes of Joe Walsh, the Eagles, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Dan Fogelberg, Peter Frampton, Ted Nugent, John Entwistle, Rick Derringer and Boz Scaggs among many, with the stories continuing up to the most recent tour with Stephen Stills in October 2008. Stills, along with David Crosby and Graham Nash, penned the book’s forwarding page.

“I hope everybody enjoys reading the book as much as I did writing it,” Susie Vitale tells us, “and when you finish it, you’ll feel like you had a really great time. There are many things in the book that even his friends don’t know, and I hope the fans of all of the stars Joe has played with will get a behind-the-scenes glimpse of their personalities and how sweet and kind – and funny and crazy – they are.”

“The guys have always been really wonderful to Joey and me, so I have tremendous affection for all of them,” she continues.

The project itself was, in fact, a family affair. Susie was responsible for transcribing and texting a year’s worth of recordings, while son Joe Vitale Jr. provided the graphics and technical assistance, even down to shooting the photo for the dust jacket.

“Joe Jr. and I sat and formatted the book, choosing and inserting each of the black and white photos in the stories and sizing each one to fit the layout, for what seemed like forever,” Susie explains. “His computer and graphic skills were a really important part of making this all happen.”

“It sounds ironic, but the worst part was seeing the book actually be put up for sale in August. I wasn’t nearly finished! That really put the pressure on,” she admits. “But I couldn’t rush – it had to be right. And we’re really pleased with the result.”

>Book and CD signing: Jan. 23rd at the Blue Olive Jazz Club in Canton, Ohio from 8-11 pm
>Product information: Hit records
>Joe Vitale Jr.