Dukes of the Orient is the masterful pairing of vocalist John Payne (ex-Asia, GPS) with keyboardist Erik Norlander (Last in Line, Lana Lane).
The group has its origins in 2007 as “Asia Featuring John Payne,” a band that continued on after Asia keyboardist, Geoff Downes, left to re-form the original 1982 lineup. Payne recruited Norlander to join Guthrie Govan and Jay Schellen for tour dates in the US and initial recordings, some of which endured to appear on the Dukes of the Orient album here. Govan left the band to form The Aristocrats and was replaced by guitarist Bruce Bouillet followed by Jeff Kollman and Moni Scaria. The final lineup resulted in the track, “Seasons Will Change,” released as a video in 2013 and also appears on the Dukes of the Orient first album. Following the death of original Asia vocalist, John Wetton, in early 2017, Payne and Norlander decided that these recordings should give birth to a new band, both out of respect for Wetton and for clarity with the Downes-led “Asia”.

Dukes of the Orient release their second album, “Freak Show” on August 7, 2020 again via Frontiers Music.