Concert at the Princess features north Alabama musicians performing Tom Petty’s songs
DECATUR – With the iconic sound of “Free Fallin’” and “Don’t Come Around Here No More” filling the Princess Theatre in downtown Decatur, 30 north Alabama musician will bring the songs of the late Grammy Award winning rock legend Tom Petty to life during the “Muscle Shoals Meets Tom Petty” concert on Saturday.
Expect to hear Petty’s hits performed from standout north Alabama artists, including The Fiddleworms, Rob Aldridge, Jay Burgess of The Pollies and Lenny LeBlanc.
“This is something we love to do as a band, to get together our friends and heroes and honor a musical legend,” said Russell Mefford of The Fiddleworms, who organized the concert.
The concert marks the latest in musical tribute events organized by Mefford. Previous concerts featured “Muscle Shoals Meets The Beatles,” “Muscle Shoals Meets the Rolling Stones” and “Muscle Shoals Meets Sam Phillips.”
The concert’s beginnings stemmed from Mefford’s love for The Beatles and the Fab Four’s connection to Muscle Shoals.
“I found it interesting that the first time I heard ‘Anna’ by Arthur Alexander from Muscle Shoals, it was John Lennon singing it. And the first time I heard ‘Everybody’s Trying to be My Baby’ that Sam Philips, of Muscle Shoals, cut, it was George Harrison singing it. I was essentially introduced to the music in my own backyard through The Beatles,” Mefford said.
After The Beatles concert, which sold out the Marriott Shoals Conference Center, The Fiddleworms made a running list of potential artists to showcase in tribute concerts.
“Tom Petty doesn’t have a connection to Muscle Shoals, like The Beatles, the Rolling Stones and Sam Phillips had. But we just love Tom Petty’s music,” Mefford said.
A three-time Grammy Award winning artist, Petty, who performed solo, with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and the Traveling Wilburys, is best known for the songs “Don’t Do Me Like That,” “I Won’t Back Down,” “You Don’t Know How it Feels,” “Refugee,” “Free Fallin,’” “American Girl” and “Don’t Come Around Here No More.”
The tribute concert will feature local musicians performing Petty’s tunes.
“There are certain songs in my head I hear different people doing. I suggested ‘Free Fallin” for Lenny LeBlanc and he wanted to do that one, but, obviously, I would let him do whatever he wanted to do. Rob Aldridge picked out his own song too. There’s no one reigning over anyone else. We are just all working together to put on the best show we can,” Mefford said.
The Fiddleworms, which consists of Mefford on vocals and guitar, Rob Malone and Mitch Mann on guitar, David McKay on bass and John Tombyll on drums, hosted a version of “Muscle Shoals Meets Tom Petty” at the Shoals Theatre on June 25. The event raised more than $31,000, which the band donated to charities The Healing Place and Room in the Inn.
The event in Decatur, a return trip for the Fiddleworms, who brought “Muscle Shoals Meets the Rolling Stones” to the Princess two years ago, is a for-profit concert with money going to the musicians. Mefford hopes to sell enough tickets to raise money for the historic Princess Theatre.
Along with the Fiddleworms, which will serve as the house band, Burgess, Aldridge and Lenny LeBlanc, the concert will feature Decatur’s Tim Tucker, Town Creek’s Billy D. Allen, Jimmy Hall, Daniel Crisler, James LeBlanc, Andreas Werner, Marie Lewey, Cindy Walker, Jimmy Nutt, Kirk Russell, Carla Russell, Kelvin Holly, Angela Hacker, Travis Wammack, David Hood, Dave Anderson, Mike Dillon and Wildman Steve.
Tickets to the 7 p.m. show cost $30 for general admission and $35 for premium seating. The Fiddleworms, which originally planned to make and sell T-shirts at the concert, opted, instead, to make and give away masks.
“When things started to get sideways with the delta variant of the coronavirus, we decided we would give masks to anyone willing to wear one. They will be available to every musician and ticketholder, but only 150 of them will have the logo of the show on the front of them,” Mefford said.
For the Fiddleworms, who did not perform from Feb. 28, 2020, to June 25, 2021, due to the pandemic, the rise in coronavirus cases represents a step back.
“At the show in June, we were all hugging each other and our families were backstage and we were going in the audience. Now, we can’t do any of that. We will be sanitizing the microphones between each performance and not allowing people backstage. It’s sad to go back, but I just want to do the best we can to try to take care of each other and make sure everyone is safe,” Mefford said.
The concert on Saturday culminates three days of music at the Princess Theatre, which will host two-time Grammy nominee Cedric Burnside tonight and two-time Grammy winner Rodney Crowell on Friday. Tickets for all three shows are available at princesstheatre.org.
