That Joe Payne discusses album with Dream Theater keyboard player Jordan Rudess

What he wasn’t expecting however was for the member of prog behemoths Dream Theater to ask him to sing on his solo album.

What followed was a back and forth with Rudess and Devin Townsend band drummer Darby Todd on creating the album Permission To Fly which was released this month.

Explaining how the scenario came about, Payne said: “Roie Avin is the man behind a podcast called The Prog Report, it’s probably one of the best platforms for news about prog related stuff in America.

“I reached out to him to ask if he'd review or do an interview around my first solo album, By Name By Nature.

“This guy had absolutely no experience of my music whatsoever, he’d never heard of me or the work I'd done with The Enid previous to that.

“He took a look to see if I was worth doing a podcast with and apparently he fell in love with my voice I guess.

“He said to me, ‘Joe, I think you've got one of the best voices in prog and there’s this guy who’s the keyboard player for Dream Theater, Jordan Rudess, he’s the best keyboard player in the world and I just think it would be just amazing if you two did a collaboration’.”

Payne admits that while being flattered, he didn’t think Rudess, would be that interested in working with him and instead, opt for a more established name in the prog scene.

Talking about the conversation where he was asked if he’d be interested in working with Rudess, Payne said: “My brain exploded a little bit. I had a lot of nervous and excited energy around it, but I didn't get my hopes up too much because he did say at the time he had some other singers he was also considering.”

Months passed and Payne didn’t hear back, assuming Rudess had opted for someone else.

However, he eventually received the call.

“One way or another Jordan chose me,” says Payne.

“He said, I was the voice that he wanted for his music and sure enough it seems to have been a perfect compatibility between his sound and mine.”

Keyboard player Rudess has been a member of Grammy award winners Dream Theater since the turn of the century and has played on the band’s last 11 albums.

Dream Theater are currently working on a new album which will be the first to feature original drummer Mike Portnoy who rejoined the band in 2023 after leaving in 2010.

Payne said: “Dream Theater headline everything – if there’s a metal stage at a prog event – they’d be headlining it.

“They're so big you feel they’re out of reach, I’d never have expected to fall into the lap of someone like Jordan Rudess.”

After picking Payne to work with, the pair set about working on material, sending demos back and forward across the Atlantic.

The lyrics for the record had already been written by Rudess’ daughter Ari with Payne recording them in his home studio in Northampton.

“Jordan’s daughter is a real wordsmith,” explains Payne.

“She used to work in casting for film and stage and really understood the need to find a singer that could adapt to each scene.

“Me with my acting background as well as being a rock singer, I guess that’s the thing that made me most suitable because although these aren't musical theatre songs, I guess like that sort of discipline and flexibility is the approach that's still needed for it.

“I received the whole album’s worth of lyrics came through and that was when I was really able to start working.

“The lyrics were amazing, every song had a bit of a story to it.

“My favourite has to be Shadow Of The Moon which was the last single.

“It’s a story about having the chance of gaining eternal life, immortality, but the secret to immortality is on another planet.

“In order to obtain it you have to risk your life getting to that other planet. You have to travel across the stars, risking solar flares and asteroids hitting you – it couldn’t be a more dangerous trip.

“For eternal life would you be willing to risk shortening the life you have?

“I’m torn between that and a song called Footstep In The Snow which I think is so beautiful.”

Because of the remote working, the first gig Payne played with Rudess and drummer Todd was at this year’s Cruise To The Edge – a festival on a cruise ship sailing around the Caribbean.

In recent years, there’s been an explosion of genre specific sea cruises for fans looking to combine, seas, sun and live music.

Payne was joined on board by a few thousand prog fans – including some from Aylesbury who saw him perform in one of his first bands when he was growing up in the town.

Payne said: “Another lovely thing for me was that during my first ever gig with Jordan, Mike Portnoy actually came on and did a guest appearance on drums – I couldn’t believe I was on stage not just with Jordan but also Mike.

“Because I was a relative unknown from the UK, I had complete anonymity until the moment I stepped on stage and the last 48 hours was a very flattering experience for me.”

When the eight track album was released at the start of September, it was met with almost universal praise.

“Jordan is an incredible composer and an amazing artist but I don’t think he’s put so much focus on vocals before in his previous work,” explains Payne.

“It’s been pretty much close to 100 per cent positive reception from the critics.

“It’s really lovely because previous albums I’ve released in collaboration with other people - particularly when it's their brand that's already very much established - I’ve not always been met so warmly by people that prefer things didn't really change.

“I think it just goes to show the strength of what we've done together, it really does speak for itself.

With a new Dream Theater album on the horizon, the ability for Rudess, Payne and Todd to tour the albums will be limited to working around the former’s world tour.

However, Payne explains it’s still something he hopes will happen.

“Dream Theater's world tour will go to every single continent in the world but there’s gaps in there,” he says.

“If Jordan says we’re going to tour and we’re going to do ‘X’ many dates – just say ‘jump’ and I’ll say ‘how high’ because I cannot wait.”

Permission To Fly is out now. For more information visit https://www.jordanrudess.com