His voice is his money maker, but Staind vocalist Aaron Lewis -- who will embark on his annual solo acoustic tour in January -- doesn't do many voice exercises to protect his golden throat. "I don't really do anything to keep my voice intact," Lewis told Noisecreep. "I don't warm up. I tend to be smoking one thing or the other on the way to the stage. And no, I don't do anything to warm up. Actually, if I play acoustically, I could play every night for weeks on end and it wouldn't hurt my voice. Playing with the band hurts my voice, because I try and keep up with volume of the band."

Lewis' solo tour finds him playing in front of packed casino crowds, but he doesn't partake in too much of the gambling vice that such a location affords -- no pun intended -- despite the proximity. Lewis said, "I will go gamble once in a while, but it's hard-earned money, so why give it back to the casino? What's the point? I play craps every now and then. Everyone likes craps, right?"

As for his main band, Staind are currently finishing up a tour with Creed and will take what Lewis termed "a much-needed and long-awaited break while I do solo stuff, and then we will eventually come out with another record. This is the final tour for the new record."

'The Illusion of Progress' came out last year and yielded several radio hits.

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