As previously reported, there is a new project featuring guitarist NEIL SCHON (JOURNEY), singer JEFF SCOTT SOTO (ex-YNGWIE MALMSTEEN), drummer Deen Castronovo (ex-OZZY OSBOURNE, PLANET US, HARDLINE) and bassist Marco Mendoza (THIN LIZZY, ex-WHITESNAKE). Melodicrock.com report that it will officially be called

SOUL SIRKUS. The quartet has been busy recording tracks for their debut album. 11 songs have been written and recorded recently in San Francisco at Jonathan Cain's (Journey - keyboardist) studio, with the album to be shopped to potential labels soon.

The band was born out of the ashes of PLANET US, the project featuring Journey's Neal and Deen with SAMMY HAGAR (VAN HALEN vocalist) and Michael Anthony (Van Halen bassist) - who have returned to their roles in Van Halen.

Planet Us demoed two tracks - 'Peephole' and 'Vertigo', but disbanded without going any further. Neal had heard of Jeff's reputation and the pair first jammed at LA's 2004 Winter NAMM Convention in Los Angeles. From there the pair quickly got working collaborating on songs and the results will be heard on their debut album. Neal Schon recently commented: "The new stuff is cool, melodic and has plenty of edge. We are very much looking forward, to getting it out soon and playing live. I definitely feel we have the goods. It is sounding very cool to say the least."

The latest in supergroup news comes from via my mates at Brave News.