By Darcie Duttweiler
FOUR PREMIER AUSTIN TRIBUTE BANDS DISCUSS SUCCESS, ARDENT FANS AND PLAYING THEIR IDOLS’ SONGS
PAYING TRIBUTE
HEARTBYRNE heartbyrne.org
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fter participating in a Talking Heads “hoot” night at Momo’s on West Sixth Street in 2010 with several different bands and musicians, it took almost a year for the official tribute band HeartByrne to formally take shape. Formed by Andy Harn, Evan Bozarth, Dustin Bozarth and Josh Pearson, the band went through several iterations before locking its current lineup, which also features Grego Loboz, Casey Byars, Erin Stein and Tricky Jones. While the chemistry and friendship are very apparent during their performances, the love of Talking Heads and David Byrne is ultimately the touchpoint that holds the band together and comes through in their showmanship.
“Once we actually played the music and felt this sort of shared connection and joy from the people who came to these gigs, it was just a very infectious feeling,” Evan says. With regular gigs at Antone’s Nightclub, Scoot Inn and 3Ten, including their last five New Year’s Eve parties, as well as the band’s annual SunByrne boat party, there are plenty of ways for even the most casual Byrne fan to catch the live version of their favorite songs, which are more numerous than one might think and span over several different decades and genres of music.
