Jim Beard

When he was only 13 years old, Joe Vana’s life was forever changed through a chance meeting with Survivor’s Jim Peterik. As Joe will tell you, Jim taught him everything he knew about music and the music business. But it wasn’t until he was 28 years old that he discovered his voice, but when he did he became Peterik’s in-house demo singer for many years. Joe and Jim eventually created a band called Project Voyager, which ultimately became Mecca. In 2002, Mecca released its debut, self-titled album that featured David Hungate on bass, Shannon Forrest on drums, Fergie Frederiksen and Joe on vocals, Mark Aquino on guitars and Jimmy Nichols on keyboards. Nine years later, Mecca released their follow-up titled “Undeniable” and on October 14 of this year, Mecca released the band’s third album “Mecca III.” Here to discuss the new album is Mecca’s Joe Vana.