Burning Down the House in Sarasota: Talking Heads Guitarists Play Centre Stage at RoSFest

SARASOTA, Fla., March 25, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Take two iconic guitarists, a 9-piece funk band, and one of the most innovative albums of the 1980s, and you may just have the musical celebration of the decade.

Talking Heads guitarist, Jerry Harrison, and Grammy-nominated guitarist, Adrian Belew, will be bringing their joyful tribute to Talking Heads' critically-acclaimed album, Remain In Light, to the Sarasota Opera House on Friday, April 15, kicking off the first night of the art-rock festival, RoSFest. Members of the currently disbanded New York City funk group, Turkuaz, will be backing the performance; a reimagining of the original tour production that took place over 40 years ago.

Belew, whose immense resume includes singing and playing guitar with King Crimson from 1981 to 2009, touring extensively with artists such as David Bowie, Frank Zappa, and Paul Simon, not to mention releasing 20 solo albums of his own, performed on the Remain In Light album and joined the band on stage for the original tour. More importantly, he has stayed in contact with Harrison throughout the years, both as a session musician on Harrison's solo work and as a friend.

Harrison, who was originally a member of the rock band, The Modern Lovers, before joining Talking Heads, has produced albums for bands No Doubt, Crash Test Dummies, and Live (amongst others). In 2019, he met up with Belew to discuss his vision of recreating the Remain In Light live show to celebrate the 40^th anniversary of the record's release. After seeing a performance by Turkuaz, who often covered Talking Heads songs in their live shows, it was agreed to hire the funk group as the backing band for the proposed tour.

In an interview with 'Riff Magazine,' Belew stated that after discussing the plan with Harrison and seeing Turkuaz perform, it was an easy decision to make. "I felt the world needed this joyful, danceable kind of upbeat thing that's still real cool," said Belew, who always enjoyed working with Talking Heads. "I loved touring with them because there was so much excitement around the tour itself and the band. Redoing this again… is the same for me."

Talking Heads' fourth album, Remain In Light, was the most inventive of their albums, incorporating funky guitar and keyboard sounds, and African polyrhythms which solidified their signature sound, and delivered the singles 'Once In A Lifetime' and 'Houses In Motion.'

In addition to performing songs off Remain In Light, the RoSFest performance will feature other songs from the Talking Heads repertoire, as well as songs from Harrison and Belew's other groups, such as King Crimson and The Modern Lovers.

RoSFest is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to providing the community with innovative live music by both lesser-known acts and established major artists in an intimate, high-quality setting with a warm and welcoming atmosphere.

To reserve weekend and single-day tickets for RoSFest go to www.rosfest.org/tickets/

For More Information Contact:

John Blangero, President, RoSFest Inc.
phone: (210)219-2066
[email protected]

SOURCE RoSFest Inc