The Nashville Tribute Band Returns to SCERA Shell Outdoor, 8/24

The Nashville Tribute Band, a group of musicians and vocalists who merge LDS music with country music, are back at the SCERA Shell Outdoor Theatre for a family night concert on Monday, August 24 @ 7:00pm. They will be featuring songs from their acclaimed new album "Redeemer: A Nashville Tribute to Jesus Christ."

Award-winning songwriter and Nashville record producer Jason Deere regularly invites a revolving cast of talented artists and musicians that he calls the Nashville Tribute Band to join him in touring the world. Over the years Dan Truman (of the Grammy Award-winning country group Diamond Rio), Brad Hull, Matt Lopez and Tim Gates (of the country group Due West), entertainer David Osmond, actor and recording artist Katherine Nelson, country artist Billy Dean, Ron Saltmarsh, pop artist Mindy Gledhill and Dyer Highway are all among those who have often joined the stage with the band. The band has done over 500 shows for audiences in the U.S., Canada, Australia and China since 2004. They have performed in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City as well as several performances in the Tabernacle on Temple Square.

Deere explains the beginnings of Nashville Tribute Band: "In 1989, four months into my LDS mission in Las Vegas, Nevada, my companion and I rode our bikes home to our wretched little pink trailer house on Boulder Highway. After getting settled that night, I walked out on the porch with my guitar and wrote a song about Joseph Smith called 'Lamb To The Slaughter.' That moment on that porch was truly the beginning of these projects."

He continues, "Trying to make a living in Nashville, I didn't write another religious song until 2003, when I was called to teach early morning Seminary. We were covering the Old Testament that year, and I immediately had this crazy fascination with The Restoration. I was teaching Exodus in the morning and reading everything I could get my hands on about The Restoration in the evening. I was immersed in both subjects and something started to change in me. Suddenly, songs about the Restoration started coming out of nowhere. I wrote two or three, and then called my friend Dan Truman, of the country supergroup Diamond Rio. I went to his house and played him the songs. We knew we had to do something. We had no idea what the world would think of redneck Mormon songs, but we knew that we had to make an album - for us, if for no one else. In a few weeks, I had written all but one of the songs for the album (the last song, a song about Hyrum Smith, came as songs sometimes do - on the morning recording sessions were to begin)."

That collaborative album was "Joseph: A Nashville Tribute to the Prophet," released in 2006. The album won Pearl Awards for Contemporary Album of the Year, Inspirational Recording of the Year, Contemporary Instrumental Recorded Song of the Year, and an award to Deere for songwriter of the year. Other awards included LDS Booksellers Association award for Listener's Choice Award for Album of the Year and Listener's Choice Award for Best New Artist.

Subsequent award-winning albums have included "Trek: A Nashville Tribute to the Pioneers" and "The Work: A Nashville Tribute to the Missionaries." For nearly a decade the Nashville Tribute Band has been communicating its distinctive messages with a good mix of laughter and love and uplifting and upbeat music.

General admission tickets to the concert are $10 for adults and $8 for children (age 3-11) and seniors (age 65 and older). Reserved tickets range from $12 to 20 for adults and $12 to $18 for children and seniors. Group rates are $6 for 20 or more people purchased in advance. Tickets are available at www.scera.org, by calling 801-225-ARTS, in person at SCERA Center for the Arts, open 10am-6pm weekdays and Saturdays from 12Noon-6pm, or at the Shell gate prior to the concert.

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