If you are thinking about booking a tribute artist, this new information series can help you understand both the artist and the band who pay tribute to them. This is the first of a series of posts profiling major artists and the acts who pay tribute to them.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Tribute
Tom Petty of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers left this world on October 2nd, 2017; a year ago. With a career that spanned over four decades and several musical projects (Mudcrutch, The Travelling Wilburys, etc.), Petty’s discography was among the most prolific of his rock n’ roll colleagues.
In celebration of his life, the posthumous box set entitled An American Treasure was released last week on September 28th. The deluxe version of the box set contains sixty-three tracks that encompass the entirety of Petty’s musical career. Among these sixty-three tracks are a handful of unreleased songs such as “Keep a Little Soul,” an outtake from the Long After Dark sessions, and “Gainsville,” a song written in 1998 about Tom’s hometown in Florida.
Petty’s lyricism was simple, but at the same time connected with almost everyone who heard his songs. Words from songs such as “Free Fallin’” and “American Girl” can be seen regularly plastered across tee shirts worn by people both young and old. Even if they are unaware of the origination of the words themselves, they still resonate with people across the world and across all ages.
The unique detail about Tom Petty is that he never quite went out of style. His music remained relevant from his debut in the seventies all the way until his sudden passing last year. Major albums of his include:
- Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (1976),
- Wildflowers (1994), and
- Damn the Torpedoes (1978).
Several duets with Stevie Nicks topped the charts as well, such as “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” and “Needles and Pins.” Tom worked with several notable musicians during his career, including Stevie Nicks, George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Roger McGuinn, among others as well.
Thinking about booking a tribute artist such as Tom Petty?
TSE Entertainment tribute band and Damn the Torpedoes namesake, The Damn Torpedoes, are a Texas-based and impressive tribute to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. For those looking to book a tribute artist, TSE can help. As a tribute band booking agency, TSE strives to have quality acts such as The Damn Torpedoes with our agency.
The group is fast-approaching their nine-year anniversary and has several accolades under their belt. Most recently, the group hosted an official listening party for the box set, An American Treasure. Tom Petty fan club, Tom Petty Nation, reached out to The Damn Torpedoes and invited them to host the listening party for “Pettyheads” located in the Austin, Texas area.
What made that invitation special is that Tom Petty Nation is the only fan club to be officially recognized by Tom himself, his family, and members of the Heartbreakers as well. At this party, The Damn Torpedoes paid tribute to Tom with a set that included outtakes “Keep a Little Soul” and “You and Me,” released with the An American Treasure box set.
The tribute band has also made several appearances at House of Blues in Houston where they played to a sold-out crowd of 2,500 people. Other venues in their repertoire include House of Blues Dallas, The Aztec Theater in San Antonio, Threadgills in Austin, and Eldorado Resort/Casino in Shreveport, Louisiana.
In addition to having a very large, rock-n-roll presence in front of a huge audience, The Damn Torpedoes are versatile enough to be an entertaining live music option as a wedding band or a party band, even. They are capable of playing over sixty of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers songs and can capture the attention of both casual listeners looking forward to hits such as “Learning to Fly,” but also hardcore listeners hoping to hear deep cuts such as “Crawling Back to You.” They could even be Christmas entertainment, seeing as they play Tom Petty’s “Christmas All Over Again” among other holiday tunes come December.
If you are looking at booking a tribute band, the Damn Torpedoes are one of the strongest live music bands for hire in the Texas area. The Houston Chronicle has given the band their stamp of approval, which only solidifies the claim that The Damn Torpedoes are one of the best cover bands in Texas.
For those who missed out on seeing Tom Petty live, or for those who wish they could see Tom petty again, The Damn Torpedoes will satisfy that wish. Anyone hesitant about booking tribute artists should come witness The Damn Torpedoes in action.
Their portrayal of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers will convince anyone of the validity of tribute acts. Front man, Ty Hurless, takes the tribute to a new level by playing a Rickenbacker electric guitar near identical to the one Petty wears on the cover of the album Damn the Torpedoes.
Annually, The Damn Torpedoes celebrate Tom Petty’s birthday with a birthday bash concert in Austin, Texas. On October 20th, the band will pay homage their late inspiration with a show at the iconic Austin venue, Threadgills.
Any other upcoming events The Damn Torpedoes are playing can be found on their social media pages. Their Instagram handle is @thedamntorpedoes and their Facebook page can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/thedamntorpedoes/.
It’s time to lock them in now for your event while you still can. Call TSE Entertainment at 1-800-865-8203 or email us at tsebooking@tseentertainment.com for The Damn Torpedoes’ availability and pricing information.
Booking a tribute artist is as simple as that.
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