"The timeless quality of the Beatles' music has made it endure long since the Fab Four broke up in 1970. No one knows this better than Alameda's Drew Harrison, who has performed the group's hits as a member of Beatles' tribute band The Sun Kings and as a soloist focusing on John Lennon's later work. Harrison will bring his Lennon solo tribute show, In the Spirit of Lennon, to Alameda's Immanuel Lutheran Church this Sunday."
"Harrison says the moment he went from being just another Beatlemaniac to becoming a tribute artist came in the Czech Republic during the late 1990s, when he was asked to sing Ticket to Ride in front of about 6,000 people with a local band. People went nuts, says Harrison, who attributes the reaction in part to the fact that many in the crowd had not had the opportunity to hear Beatles tunes from behind the Iron Curtain, which had only recently lifted"
"Tribute groups at the time in America were frowned upon, says Harrison. But they were big in Eastern Europe because they didn't have access to Western music, he says. Convinced he could make a Beatles tribute band work stateside, Harrison says he formed The Sun Kings when he returned to Alameda in 2001 and has been all Beatles all the time ever since. He's also the only original member of the tribute group left."
Harrison, 64, grew up in New York and later moved to Alameda, where he performs Beatles songs with tribute band The Sun Kings and solo as a John Lennon interpreter. He will present his Lennon solo tribute In the Spirit of Lennon at Immanuel Lutheran Church, accompanied by pianist Tommy Cosentino. Harrison identified with Lennon's peace ideals as a teenager and later pursued performing Lennon material. His move into tribute work followed a late-1990s Czech Republic performance for about 6,000 people who reacted enthusiastically after limited Eastern access to Beatles music. He formed The Sun Kings in 2001 and remains its only original member.
Read at www.eastbaytimes.com
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