Island-based Tribute Band Honors Tom Petty
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Tom Petty tribute band Even The Losers is scheduled to play their first gig on Feb. 8 at The Paramount in Huntington.
By Connor Beach
cbeach@longislandergroup.com
When iconic rock legend Tom Petty passed away in October at the age of 66, a couple of local musicians felt they needed to do something to honor his legacy.
For Brian Byrne, 32, of Locust Valley, and Brad Cordaro, 34, of Huntington, that something was to form a Tom Petty tribute band called Even The Losers.
“Me and Brad thought we should do something, and that’s how it really started snowballing,” Byrne said.
Lead singer Byrne and Cordaro on drums expanded the band to its current eight-piece arrangement in the months leading up to next month’s show at The Paramount, which will be the bands first gig.
“I think we picked a good group of songs that span his whole career,” Byrne said.
Cordaro added, “We have a 17-song playlist, and it was hard to even sequence that because every song we are playing is a gigantic, well-known hit.”
The pair said they felt a strong connection to Petty because his songs served as their introduction to music.
“We are all younger guys so Tom Petty for us was kind of the soundtrack to our childhood, so we wanted to bring back that feeling for everybody,” Byrne said.
Cordaro said the band is trying to create an atmosphere of celebration on stage that keeps the audience involved with Petty’s most popular upbeat hits.
Although all the members of “Even The Losers” have experience touring and playing on stage, both Byrne and Cordaro said their new project has an added level of importance because of the emotional connection that many people have with Petty’s music.
“I think people are going to cry,” Cordaro said. “People are going laugh, cry and feel every emotion.”
The duo said that “Even The Losers” is not going to use any costumes or gimmicks to emulate Petty and his band; their focus is strictly on learning the music and playing it well.
“You can’t pretend to be Tom Petty,” Byrne said, with Cordaro adding, “It’s about the songs; it’s about the music.”
Tickets for the Feb. 8 show cost between $16-$20.50 and can be purchased at the box office or online at Paramountny.com. Doors open at 7 p.m. for the 8 p.m. show.
