Barnes snubbing Working Class Man writer?

TOURING rock veterans Journey are hoping to catch up with their one-time collaborator Jimmy Barnes - but say the Aussie singer is giving them the cold shoulder.

Ahead of their first show at Brisbane Entertainment Centre on February 26, keyboardist Jonathan Cain has revealed that Barnes turned down an offer to support the band and has not answered his emails.

Journey share a long history with Barnes, dating back to when Cain wrote the 1987 Barnes solo hit Working Class Man, which is widely considered an iconic Australian blue collar song, even though it was written by an American.

Members of Journey, including guitarist Neal Schon, also performed on Barnes's No.1 single Too Much Ain't Enough Love.

Despite meeting up recently in San Francisco and writing a song together, 23 years after what Cain described as "difficult partings", the Journey man is still waiting to hear if Barnes will drop into a show.

"Hopefully he'll show up at one of these things," Cain said. "He's been a little distant recently."

Speaking about last year's meeting, Cain said he and Barnes shared a "mutual respect" and found common ground discussing the careers of their daughters, who are both aspiring musicians.

"We got back together and it felt like it did in the old days. We still had the chemistry. I said to him 'Jim, why did it take 23 years to come look me up'?"

Cain says Australian promoter Michael Gudinski is on the case to reunite them in Australia, and acknowledges that Barnes might have changed his email account.

Guitarist Schon, who fielded his interview separately to band mates during a promo day in Sydney, said he also hoped to have a beer with Barnesy.

"I'd love to see him and I'd love him to come down to the show but I don't have his number - maybe I'll ask Jonathan."

Journey are one of the most successful rock bands in US history with album sales of more than 80 million. Their song Don't Stop Believin', which sparked a career revival thanks to the musical Rock Of Ages and its inclusion in the TV show Glee, is the biggest selling song on iTunes.