Front Page > Beatles NewsWannaBeatles to Twist and Shout Atlanta into 2010
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (December 2009) – The popular Nashville tribute band The WannaBeatles will "Twist and Shout" Atlanta into 2010 with a Fab Four-styled performance at the "21st Annual Peach Drop at Underground Atlanta".
The WannaBeatles will perform from 9:45 to 11 p.m. before an expected 100,000 merrymakers. They will be followed by the legendary recording act Morris Day and The Time. Described as the largest New Year's Eve party in the Southeast, "Peach Drop 2010" will air on local, regional and national radio and TV.
"This time when we play the song 'It Won't Be long', we'll be counting down the minutes until the new year -- Beatles style," said two-time Grammy winner Dennis Scott, who sings and plays guitar for The WannaBeatles. "The Beatles ushered in the sixties with music that changed a generation. What better time than the new year to remind everyone that 'All You Need Is Love'."
Members of The WannaBeatles are Dennis Scott, vocalist-bassist-keyboardist Jim Hayden, vocalist-guitarist-saxophonist Bryan Cumming, and vocalist-drummer-percussionist David Toledo. Playing to standing ovations in Middle Tennessee, the group is creating a bit of Beatlemania of its own. The band consists of Grammy Award-winning and nationally acclaimed music producers, arrangers, studio players, and singers who have "Come Together" to play the music they grew up with. Their first "all Beatles" gig together was "love at the first note". And while other Beatles cover bands often use "hidden" musicians offstage, The WannaBeatles are a four-piece group who use their multi-instrumental skills to re-create all eras of the Beatle song catalog.
For Cumming, the Atlanta gig will be a return to the hometown where his musical career started. The Nashville songwriter and session player fondly remembers playing Beatles covers at North Fulton High School as a member of the fledgling band The Neatles. A chance nightclub encounter with legendary musician Martin Mull led to a number of career opportunities and an introduction to John Lennon at the Record Plant in New York.
"I'm looking forward to being back on stage in Atlanta, singing the same songs I learned, loved and played only blocks from the stadium where I went with my brothers in 1965 to see The Beatles themselves," Cumming said with a hint of his trademark laughter.
Other members of The WannaBeatles took a more whimsical "twist" on their Atlanta appearance.
"We ran through the set-list last night, and I've got to tell you, we're really gonna rock," Hayden said with a smile. "My one fear is that we may cause the peach to drop prematurely."
No to be outdone, Toledo quipped, "Wow! My birthday is on New Year's Day, and I'm glad the whole city is showing up for my party."
This isn't the first time that The WannaBeatles have appeared on the national stage. On Jan. 30, 2009, the band received international news coverage by performing on the roof of a downtown Nashville nightclub. The celebration, which marked the 40th anniversary of The Beatles' last live performance, drew a standing-room-only crowd that included Nashville Mayor Karl Dean. In June, they staged a benefit for the W.O. Smith Community Music School, appearing with legendary producer and Beatles historian/author Ken Mansfield, country star Wynonna and CCM artist Phil Keaggy. The Metropolitan Council of Nashville and Davidson County honored the band by proclaiming Jan. 30 as Nashville Beatles Music Day.
Since forming several years ago, the band has appeared at a host of Southeast venues, including The Sommet Center, the "Music City Bowl", Riverfront Park (for Nashville's July 4th celebration), the Tennessee Performing Arts Center, and a host of major fairs and festivals. For more information about The WannaBeatles, visit www.TheWannaBeatles.com.
Published December 29, 2009
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