Start Making Sense: Talking Heads Tribute w/ Groove Merchants at Assembly – Kingston, NY

https://www.tixr.com/groups/assembly/events/start-making-sense-talking-heads-tribute-192776

START MAKING SENSE: TALKING HEADS TRIBUTE
The music of Talking Heads has excited, inspired, and healed folks worldwide since their first show at CBGB’s in 1975.If David Byrne is one of the geniuses of modern times, then Start Making Sense is a tribute to genius. The musicians in this seven-piece band celebrate the entire Talking Heads’ catalog, meticulously executing the sounds and iconic live visual elements in every performance, bringing so much of the Heads unique live show that you know and love to the stage.

THE GROOVE MERCHANTS

The Groove Merchants are here to throw down and break out. Founded in 2012, out of the practice rooms and Main Street basements of Kutztown University in Pennsylvania, by lead vocalist Tye Vallone, lead guitarist Luke Ferracone, and bassist John Evin Groome, the band discovered their chemistry almost instantly. Twisting in elements of blues, funk and soul resulting in a revival of authentic performance, The Groove Merchants have been pushing that sound forward ever since.

The group now boasts a driving 9-piece lineup, ideal for larger stages, featuring Josh Maskornick on drums, Mike Talento on Tenor Sax, Jimmy Boyle on Trumpet, John Bickel on Hammond Organ, and Brie Parry & Jenny Founds on backing vocals. This full-bodied, energetic, and soulful sound can be heard on the Groove Merchants’ 2023 release, “Real Estate,” produced by Grammy-winner Phil Joly and mastered by Colin Bryson out of The Bunker/Electric Lady Studios in NYC, the song has received major airplay on WXPN Philadelphia and NPR affiliate WDIY in Bethlehem. New music is planned for release in late 2026.