2 Charlotte tribute bands are turning heads (and ears) on TV

If you find yourself flipping channels around 10 Tuesday night and land on a live performance of “Desperado” or “Hotel California,” you may rightly think you’ve come across an Eagles’ concert. You may notice that although the song is spot-on, that’s not Glenn Frey, Don Henley or Joe Walsh.

Welcome to “World’s Greatest Tribute Bands,” an AXS TV (formerly HDNET) series devoted to shining a light on a growing trend in live entertainment.

This fifth season of “World’s Greatest Tribute Bands” features concerts by two Charlotte-based groups. Natural Wonder: A Tribute to Stevie Wonder wowed audiences during its April 7 episode live from Los Angeles’ Whisky A Go-Go. On Tuesday, Eagles tribute On the Border plays an expanded hour and a half episode.

Producer/host Katie Daryl - a former co-host of “The Mark Cuban Show” who produced two live music shows for Cuban’s HDNet - was looking for her next venture when she got an email from Cuban, fresh from a night out with the guys.

“It said, ‘Tribute Bands. That’s your next thing,’” says Daryl, calling from L.A. “I just rolled up my sleeves and dug into the subculture.”

That subculture has existed in Charlotte for years. While Amos’ Southend has been booking tributes to acts such as Sublime, Bon Jovi, Michael Jackson and Guns n’ Roses for more than a decade, other venues have caught on recently. The Fillmore regularly hosts Journey and Led Zeppelin tributes, while large theaters like Ovens Auditorium and Belk Theater have featured globe-trotting tributes to Pink Floyd and the Beatles.

“There was a time where you’d whisper to a friend, ‘We’re going to see a tribute band tonight,’” says Daryl. That’s no longer the case.

While live music fans everywhere may flock to hear long-gone acts like Led Zeppelin and Michael Jackson, the trend makes sense in Charlotte which rarely sees some of the big name bands that are still touring. But Daryl says tribute acts are a hot ticket in the entertainment mecca of L.A.

For Tracy Maples of On The Border, who owns a production company and has played the wedding, corporate and party circuit in Charlotte bands for years, a tribute meant more consistency.

“I wanted more of a niche. With the wedding market and corporate stuff you’re constantly learning new material and keeping up with the next band and changing the lineup,” says Maples, who took a year putting a lineup together and rehearsing the Eagles’ meticulously layered songs before getting on stage with On The Border.

“ Some of those songs have nine harmonies. How do you reproduce that live?” he says. “You pick and choose pertinent parts. Some of those songs have five or six guitars. We did a lot of whittling down and adjusting.”

For On the Border it’s more about the music.

“We’re trying to mimic what you’d get if you saw the Eagles live - the right gear and dress. We obviously don’t look like the Eagles,” says Maples, adding with a laugh: “We look more like they look now.”

For smooth jazz musician Gabriel Bello, whose last album topped Billboard’s jazz charts, donning a braided Stevie Wonder wig and dark glasses was not his first inclination. It was bandmate Mike Santoro, a Long Island-native who performs a Billy Joel tribute called The Stranger, that urged Bello to give Wonder a shot.

“He bugged me about it,” says Bello. “He and Joe Bell of Who’s Bad (the NC-based Michael Jackson tribute) convinced me to do the full special effects wig and makeup.”

For those schooled in tributes, On the Border and Natural Wonder are two of the best on the circuit, which is what Daryl is looking for. She bumped another band this season to make room for Bello.

“I’d stopped reviewing incoming submissions, but I was waiting for a conference call and I was bored and clicked on (Gabriel’s). We’d booked them within 48 hours,” she says.

Maples has no desire to play original music, which is usually less lucrative. Both bands play cushy venues, theaters and festivals instead of bars. Bello has signed a deal to release another jazz album but enjoys playing Wonder.

“I love it because it really coheres to my world view,” explains Bello who worked as a music minister for 15 years but now tours full-time. “I can sing those songs with conviction. He’s singing about hope and love. I can get behind that message all day long.”

Both bands hope their television appearances will lead to more work and bigger gigs.

“It can be lucrative. It can generate some income. There’s a cap at some point, but we haven’t reached that cap,” says Maples.

“The best we can hope for is to get more opportunities to play Stevie’s music,” says Bello. “When I first started he didn’t do anything in the states other than television appearances. Now with him touring a lot of people can’t afford it. I saw him in November and between travel and parking and eating, you’re looking at $300 to $500 for a couple whereas you can see us and have a lot more intimate experience for nowhere near half that.”

This story was originally published May 3, 2015 at 2:00 AM with the headline "2 Charlotte tribute bands are turning heads (and ears) on TV."