Bassist Steve Fossen hasn’t played with Heart for more than 30 years, but he just can’t stop the music.
As a member of Heart By Heart — which also includes original Heart drummer Michael Derosier — Fossen and his crew play hits made famous by the band in the 1970s and ’80s.
They perform Saturday in Lewiston.
“Heart By Heart tries to play the music the way that the music was conceived, so it’s pretty (much) like riding a bicycle (for Mike and me),” Fossen said.
Fossen and Derosier join Seattle-area guitarists Randy Hansen and Andy Baldwin, keyboardist Bob Rivers, vocalist, guitarist and bassist Lizzy Daymont and lead vocalist Somar Macek.
“We want to be good, so we try to choose people who have experience and knowledge and have done this before, so we can concentrate on putting on a good experience for everybody,” Fossen said.
The band has a number of experienced songwriters, but Fossen said there isn’t much of a market for that music, so their shows focus on Heart tunes.
“We created a concert that we feel is full of a lot of good music that we have a lot of fun playing. We know people enjoy the songs, because when we play ... the audience knows all the words and they sing along and you can see everybody mouthing the words,” Fossen said.
Top Heart tracks include “Barracuda,” “Crazy on You” and “Magic Man.”
The original band, Heart, has a handful of tours through the end of the year, and will perform Oct. 11 in Pullman. So why have a tribute band when the real thing still exists?
“We felt that there was a niche for it and we really enjoy the music,” Fossen said. “There’s no other music I really enjoy playing more and it doesn’t make a lot of sense for us to do other people’s music, because our music is popular.”
The original band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame earlier this year. “We all love music and we enjoy playing it and it’s kind of a homage to our past and to the great music we created,” Fossen said.
Heart By Heart will perform at the Clearwater River Casino Event Center. All-age tickets can be purchased for $15 at the event center box office or at TicketsWest.com. Rail, an ’80s rock band that includes Heart By Heart guitarist Baldwin, will open the show.
Treffry can be contacted at (208) 883-4640 or ltreffry@inland360.com. Follow her on Twitter at: @LindseyTreffry.
->if you go WHAT: Heart By Heart WHEN: 8 p.m. Saturday WHERE: Clearwater River Casino, east of Lewiston COST: All ages, $15. Tickets can be purchased at the event center box office or at TicketsWest.com.
