Tribute bands: cultural parasites or well-meaning imposters?

Having just enjoyed a fine Simon and Garfunkel musical impersonation (called a "tribute" act in the biz) in Egg Harbor, I was puzzling over this question: Do such imitators constitute a parasitical scourge on culture or a deserved homage to great musical artists? It's a busy world of perpetual entertainment, so I'll brief.

Some, like tacky Beatles tribute band Rubber Soul, which I saw recently at a casino in Madison (Wis.), commit crimes against culture. I could devise no more fitting punishment for the likes of those insect-feeding clowns than the one they've already condemned themselves to: earning their bread by competing with the deafening din of slot machines being pulled by a thousand obese grannies. The Native Americans' revenge on the British Invasion perhaps.

Others, like Messrs. Swearingen and Beedle, keep fond musical memories alive. Nostalgia, after all, sells better among Baby Boomers than sex nowadays. Besides, since the real Simon and Garfunkel are on medical hiatus (instead of touring as planned this summer), what could A.J. and Jonathan possibly do that might hurt the eardrums of a harmless crowd of old folkies hungry for a memory-taste of the Sixties?

I only hope the Roy Orbison tribute act, booked to play the Door County Fair in Sturgeon Bay on August 4th, won't disappoint those who know and love that weird genius's music. If you go, you'll have to let me know. I'll be at the New Pornographers show at the Orpheum Theater in Madison that evening - ain't nothing uncreative or especially derivative about Neko Case and her Canadian gang!

A Chinese fiddler in Egg Harbor

This summer I'm volunteering at the Peg Egan Performing Arts Center in Egg Harbor, Door County (Wisconsin/USA), home of the 2010 Sunset Concert Series. At the opening show on Sunday evening, June 27th, hundreds of sun-drenched music fans enjoyed Chicago harmonica virtuoso Corky Siegel's eclectic Chamber Blues project.

Siegel presented an intriguing fusion of the blues, classical & world music. His touring group features a beautiful young Taiwanese-born musician named Chihsuan Yang on violin & erhu, a traditional Chinese two-stringed fiddle. The highlight of the show for me was when Ms. Yang led the group on her own untitled composition - "a Chinese blues," Siegel quipped - which started with a long, captivating erhu solo.

At the post-concert reception, I asked Ms. Yang whether she agrees with critics who claim that the violin is the most emotionally expressive instrument, aside from the human voice. She disagreed, asserting that the shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute) is actually the most expressive instrument. Ms. Yang, who also plays piano & Okinawa shansin, admitted that she was distracted during the concert by the sublime clouds floating around the Egg Harbor venue.

Ms. Yang is versatile, having played erhu for the Dalai Lama (during his June 2007 talk at Millenium Park in Chicago) as well as having toured as a violinist with Brian Wilson (The Beach Boys). The Corky Siegel Chamber Blues group is playing at the Chautauqua Festival in upstate New York & the Montreal Jazz Festival this week. Catch them if you can.