Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers\u2019 music will \u201ccome around here\u201d when Damn the Torpedoes performs Jan. 9 at the Musikfest Caf\u00e9, located in SteelStacks\u2019 ArtsQuest Center, Founders Drive, Bethlehem.<\/p>\n
The Central\/North New Jersey tribute act takes its name from the same-titled, breakthrough 1979 Petty\/Heartbreakers album. \u201cDamn the Torpedoes,\u201d which includes hits such as \u201cDon\u2019t Do Me Like That\u201d and \u201cRefugee,\u201d heavily influenced Rich Kubicz, the tribute band\u2019s lead vocalist\/rhythm guitarist.<\/p>\n
Damn the Torpedoes, which regularly plays area venues, also features: Lee Boice, lead guitar; Gary Castelluccio, keyboards\/piano, guitar, harmonica and vocals; Johnny Pisano, bass and vocals; and Ross Kantor, drums\/percussion and vocals.<\/p>\n
Petty and the Heartbreakers, inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2002, released 13 studio albums from 1976 to 2014. Petty, who passed away in late 2017, also recorded three solo efforts, plus two albums each as a member of rock bands The Traveling Wilburys and Mudcrutch.<\/p>\n
Raised in Union, New Jersey, 1970s child Kubicz grew up on classic rock and late-1960s psychedelic and British Invasion music.<\/p>\n
\u201cTom Petty fit those influences perfectly for me all in one package,\u201d he said. \u201cI fancy myself a singer\/songwriter, although with only one fully produced album\u201d and some unrecorded material.<\/p>\n
How it started<\/p>\n
Kubicz, who with his wife, maintains a micro farm in their residence of Sussex County, New Jersey, conceived the Petty tribute act with another player as early as 2006. He formed the band, which fully came together in 2007, to fulfill his desire to play live music to an appreciative audience.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter years of playing in small coffeehouses and bars, I wanted to find something special that might get me to step up to better venues and larger audiences. The early years were a revolving door, with a mix of talent and abilities within personnel.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs I got better,\u201d he continued, \u201cI was able to attract better players. We made some major breakthroughs in 2014; a stellar cast came together, which attracted better venues and dedicated management. I haven\u2019t looked back since.\u201d<\/p>\n
In regard to what made Petty and the Heartbreakers such admired and important figures, Kubicz believes it was \u201cthe hooks, the looks, the production and the attitude of their music. None of it could be ignored. It\u2019s rare when stars such as those all align.\u201d<\/p>\n
A dedicated group<\/p>\n
Each Damn the Torpedoes member saw Petty and the Heartbreakers live on several occasions, though \u201cnone of us have ever met any of them, as far as I know,\u201d Kubicz said. \u201cWe were slated to play a show the day after Mike Campbell\u2019s Dirty Knobs were to play a show at the same venue as us.\u201d<\/p>\n
That show, he added, was postponed because of a snowstorm, \u201cbut we were on the same marquis. That\u2019s the closest I can attest to any of the Heartbreakers being aware of us.\u201d<\/p>\n
When it comes to Petty and the Heartbreakers\u2019 catalog, Kubicz has favorites. He suggests putting headphones on and listening to \u201cWon\u2019t Last Long,\u201d \u201cDrivin\u2019 Down to Georgia,\u201d \u201cSomewhere Under Heaven\u201d and \u201cAngel Dream.\u201d<\/p>\n
Favorite live songs, Kubicz said, \u201care when we engage the audience. \u2018Don\u2019t Come Around Here No More\u2019 is one of those. I also have a tendency to favor songs we don\u2019t always do at every show.\u201d<\/p>\n
Damn the Torpedoes has 80 songs in its repertoire, with 25 maximum slots for a two-hour-plus show. Songs, Kubicz said, such as \u201cAmerican Girl,\u201d \u201cThe Waiting,\u201d \u201cRefugee,\u201d \u201cFree Fallin\u2019,\u201d \u201cEven the Losers,\u201d \u201cDon\u2019t Do Me Like That\u201d and \u201cMary Jane\u2019s Last Dance\u201d appear in every show.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe greatest challenge I have putting together the set list is the in-and-out songs,\u201d the musician added. \u201cNot all of them appear every time, but they appear some of the time: \u2018Fooled Again,\u2019 \u2018Honey Bee,\u2019 \u2018Room at the Top,\u2019 \u2018King\u2019s Highway,\u2019 \u2018Rebels,\u2019 \u2018Saving Grace,\u2019 \u2018Somewhere Under Heaven.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Not just Petty<\/p>\n
While Damn the Torpedoes has not considered recording an album of Petty music, \u201cwe are all currently working on original music,\u201d said Kubicz, adding that he released an album, \u201cEcho Lake,\u201d in 2005.<\/p>\n
Other members have released or played on several albums. Pisano, a member of the Willie Nile Band, has worked with a number of mainstream artists, including Bruce Springsteen, Billie Joe Armstrong, Joan Jett, Alice Cooper and Ryan Adams.<\/p>\n
Damn the Torpedoes\u2019 career highlights, Kubicz said, include playing big stages and garnering a vast following, with live gigs ranking among the band\u2019s top achievements.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe show we\u2019ve created gets continual buzz. I consider that a very big accomplishment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Damn the Torpedoes performs at SteelStacks\u2019 Musikfest Cafe on Jan. 9. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers\u2019 music will \u201ccome around here\u201d when Damn the Torpedoes performs Jan. 9 at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":76396,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,154],"class_list":{"0":"post-76395","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bethlehem","8":"tag-bethlehem","9":"tag-bethlehem-headlines","10":"tag-bethlehem-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76395","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76395"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76395\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76396"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}