by Guy Bergstrom for OLY ARTS
Bands come and go–but The Nashville Tribute Band has endured for more than 12 years and 500 shows around the world. Now they’re bringing that show to Olympia on July 14.
Founder Jason Deere is an award-winning songwriter and producer, and he explained that the members of the band are unusual, too, featuring a rotating list of all-stars. The lineup coming to Olympia includes Grammy winner Dan Truman of the group Diamond Rio, Tim Gates from Due West, Brad Hull, Matt Lopez and the Truman Brothers, Ben and Chad.
“Everyone in the band has other obligations as artists, songwriters and record producers, so there are times when all seven of us cannot make a show,” Deere said. “What’s the glue? To play this music. We love to play it onstage together. We love the people we meet and the stories they tell. We are all at points in our careers where we wouldn’t do it if we didn’t love it.”
While they’re a country band, that changing lineup makes it a bit different.
“Every guy in the band has very different backgrounds and loves when it comes to our musical history and what we like to listen to,” Deere said. “I can hear everything from jazz to country to pop to Latin influences on our albums. We like the potpourri in the end result.”
Their specialty is gospel-country. In Olympia, they’ll be playing from their latest album, with each song from the point of view of a different character who interacted with Jesus: a blind man on the street, John the Baptist, the Apostle Peter and the soldier and the thief at the crucifixion.
“We love to walk in the shoes of historical figures and to see their situations from their eyes,” Deere said. “To encourage people to not only imagine themselves standing in the middle of these incredible stories, but to feel, smell, see, taste and hear as much of the reality of those situations as possible. Then the stories come alive to them, and to us, and they start to really mean something and to teach us something.”
What: The Nashville Tribute Band
Where: Washington Center for the Performing Arts, 512 Washington St. SE, Olympia
When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, July 14
How much: $10-$23
Get tickets: 360-753-8585 / washingtoncenter.org