John Payne unveils new Asia featuring John Payne line-up featuring Francis Dunnery and Ryo Okumoto

(Image credit: Press)

Asia featuring John Payne have unveiled a new-look line-up that features It Bites frontman Francis Dunnery and Spock's Beard keyboard player Ryo Okumoto.

The band, who also feature Canadian drummer Aaron Olson, are currently working on a new studio album, Aviana, and will tour the US from August with UK dates slated for November.

"We welcome esteemed guitarist and vocalist Francis Dunnery to the band," says Payne. "Currently, we are in the studio working on the new album Aviana. Francis is well known for his incredible work with It Bites and Robert Plant.

"I have been a long-term follower of his works with It Bites from day one. He's a superlative musician and his chemistry fits the band so well. We all welcome Frank on board."

The news comes as the Asia line-up featuring original keyboard player Geoff Downes, with Lonely Robot’s John Mitchell, Planet X drummer Virgil Donati and singer Harry Whitley, recently performed the band's first three albums at Trading Boundaries in East Sussex and have signed to the Frontiers label to record a new studio album.

Payne explains why there are two versions of the band: “John Payne was the lead singer with Asia for 14 years, touring the world and recording eight albums. In 2006 John Wetton returned to the band for a reunion it was contractually mutually agreed that Payne would continue as Asia Featuring John Payne and Howe, Wetton, Palmer and Downes would proceed as Original Asia. The music of Asia, old and new, has been John Payne's main drive for 36 years and will continue to be so.”

You can see the full list of tour dates and ticket details below.

Asia Featuring John Payne 2025 tour dates

Aug 2: NY New Paltz
Aug 12: TX Tomball
Aug 13: TX Arlington
Aug 15: CA Plymouth
Aug 17: CAN Saksatoon Rock The River Festival
Aug 30: CA Macarthur
Sep 20: FL Jacksonville
Sep 27: KT Ashland
Oct 2-6: Japan TBC
Oct 24: NY NYC
Oct 25: PA Sellerville
Nov 15: UK Great Yarmouth HRH Prog Festival
Nov 16: UK London Shepherd's Bush Empire

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Writer and broadcaster Jerry Ewing is the Editor of Prog Magazine which he founded for Future Publishing in 2009. He grew up in Sydney and began his writing career in London for Metal Forces magazine in 1989. He has since written for Metal Hammer, Maxim, Vox, Stuff and Bizarre magazines, among others. He created and edited Classic Rock Magazine for Dennis Publishing in 1998 and is the author of a variety of books on both music and sport, including Wonderous Stories; A Journey Through The Landscape Of Progressive Rock.

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