Imbued with nostalgia, familiarity and an often-impeccable talent for mimicry, tribute bands are seemingly everywhere these days. Just looking at this week’s calendar alone, Boca Black Box is presenting “Simply Dylan: A Tribute to Bob Dylan” (Wednesday), “We Remember Jimi Hendrix” (Friday) and “Rock of ABBA” (Sunday). Crazy Uncle Mike’s has three tributes on tap this week, with the Dave Matthews Tribute Band (Thursday), “GDR: The Greatest Decades of Rock” (Friday) and the Van Halen tribute Completely Unchained (Saturday). Sunday at Arts Garage, you can catch One Hit Wonders performing ‘60s and ‘70s pop staples.
And these are just the tributes that landed on my radar; there are likely others, and the number will increase as we rush headlong into the heart of Season. Tribute bands are having more than a moment.
With this in mind, longtime event producer and Boca Raton resident Mike Gendler is launching a new podcast this week: “The Tribute Band Sessions.” Distributed by Pantheon Media, whose dozens of music podcasts include “The Metallica Report,” “History in 5 Songs” and “Whatever, Nevermind,” “The Tribute Band Sessions” will explore this billion-dollar industry—what Gendler calls “a global business hiding in plain sight”—in detail, and with expert guests.
The series, which launches today (Oct. 15) as both an audio and video podcast on all major platforms, will feature interviews with managers, agents and, of course, musicians, including from some of the most influential tribute bands, such as Get the Led Out and Dark Star Orchestra, that long-preceded the international trend. Other celebrity guests include Ray Yslas of Chicago and TV host Rachel de Barros.
Visit tributebandsessions.com or search for it today on your preferred streaming app.
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