TOTO 

Leland Sklar to sit in for Mike Porcaro

Any fan who attended TOTO shows over the last year noticed that Mike Porcaro had toured after having sustained a very painful injury to his left hand. Despite the fact that it was difficult, Mike persevered and played each and every date of the first leg of the Falling In Between Tour. After returning home, Mike sought medical treatment and has been recovering nicely; however, he has not been able to recuperate in time to join the band on the upcoming tour.
"I was hoping that the situation would be better by now," Mike states, "but it hasn't improved. It's gonna take a while. I'm working on it, and I hope to be back in the saddle soon enough. But, unfortunately, I'm not going to be able to make this upcoming run. Nobody feels worse about it than me, but that's the reality of it."

Despite the short notice, TOTO have recruited one of the best bass players around to substitute for Mike: acclaimed session musician and life-long friend Leland (Lee) Sklar. "Those of you on the TOTO Network have seen Lee; he's a big part of the Network and what we're trying to do there with the web. He's going to play bass and you're going to love it. You're in great hands," says Mike, and jokes, "Come on down and see him play and see a real bass player."

Sklar, a renowned player whose credits include James Taylor, Hall & Oates, Jackson Browne, Phil Collins, Clint Black, Reba McEntire, and George Strait, is looking forward to playing with his long-time friends in TOTO. He will be filling in for Mike on all of the upcoming TOTO tour dates so that Mike has the time to fully recover. "I hope to see you all soon," says Mike. "I'm sorry that this is the way it is, but this is life and I'll hopefully be back really soon. So God bless and enjoy the upcoming tour!"

Mike recorded a special video message apologizing for not being able to do the tour and introducing Lee to the fans.

http://www.toto99.com/multimedia/videos/mike.shtml