SALIVA‘s previously announced reunion with original frontman Josey Scott “has been put on hold” due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Scott left SALIVA at the end of 2011 after 15 years with the group, reportedly to pursue a solo Christian music career. He was quickly replaced by Bobby Amaru, who can be heard on SALIVA‘s last four releases: “In It To Win It” (2013), “Rise Up” (2014), “Love, Lies & Therapy” (2016) and “10 Lives” (2018).
Scott broke the news of his return to SALIVA in October 2019 during an appearance on “The Morning Dump”, a podcast hosted by “The Big Mad Morning Show” in Tulsa, Oklahoma. At the time, Josey said that he wanted to get together with SALIVA and “write a badass record.”
SALIVA drummer Paul Crosby addressed Scott‘s status with the band during a new appearance on “The Chuck Shute Podcast”. Asked if there are still plans for Josey to reunite with SALIVA for a possible album and/or a tour, Paul said (hear audio below): “Honestly, that is completely his decision. I’m not sure where his head’s at. There was talk of all that, and then the pandemic put the brakes on it. And, obviously, we’re still dealing with the remnants of the pandemic, so I’m not sure what’s gonna play out. All I can is that all that has been put on hold at least for now — till everything clears up, and then maybe we’ll revisit it.”
Last February, it was announced that SALIVA would team up with POWERMAN 5000, ADEMA and FLAW for a run of summer 2020 shows dubbed the “Nu-Metal Revival 2020” tour. A short time later, Scott revealed in an interview that he would not take part in the trek. (The shows were eventually canceled due to the pandemic.)
Almost a year ago, Josey told Meltdown of Detroit’s WRIF radio station that he wanted to write new music with former SALIVA guitarist Chris D’Abaldo and current SALIVA guitarist Wayne Swinny. “They’re kind of the original nucleus of what SALIVA had to offer, I believe,” Scott explained. The singer also expressed interest in releasing new music to coincide with the 20th anniversary of SALIVA‘s second album, 2001’s “Every Six Seconds”. As for SALIVA‘s lineup for the reunion tour, Josey said that Tosha Jones would sit behind the drums while former BREAKING BENJAMIN member Mark Klepaski would likely play bass.
SALIVA released six albums with Scott and tasted platinum success and a Grammy nomination for its first big hit, “Your Disease”.
