Arena rock veterans Jack Blades and Tommy Shaw (Night Ranger and Styx), on hiatus from their current group Damn Yankees, released a self-titled album in early 1995. The duo wrote and co-produced the album (with Don Gehman), in addition to playing almost every instrument. After a long break from the studio, the duo hooked up in 2006 to record a laid-back album of mostly soft rock covers. Influence was released in early 2007 on VH1 Classic.