By Laura Bailey
The Rockwell Theater will be transformed into a River of Dreams on Saturday with a highly anticipated performance from “Scenes – A Billy Joel Experience.”
Lead vocalist and pianist Ben Eramo developed a passion to play Billy Joel’s music when he heard “She’s Got a Way” ringing through the halls of his high school in Beverly, Mass.
“I was sitting next to a guy that I had never met before, his name is Andrew [Brian], and a Billy Joel song comes over the PA; a song called ‘She’s Got a Way,’ Eramo said. “We looked at each other we’re like, ‘Oh yeah; this is a cool song.’ We realized that two 13-year-olds in high school realizing that song from the 1970s was actually pretty cool meant that we should probably be friends.”
“We hung out later that week; he plays guitar, I play piano, and we just came up with this idea to do a Billy Joel tribute. It started out just an acoustic duo and we had a few shows in that configuration. After we graduated, we ended up picking up a bass player and drummer that we also went to high school with and it just kind of took off.”
Fifteen years later, longtime friends and musical collaborators Eramo and Brian are still playing together with a new group of musicians. While working at Guitar Center in Danvers, Mass., Eramo met drummer Rob Macy and bassist Dan Legere who shared his passion for Billy Joel’s music. After a career change to aviation, Eramo met fellow pilot Vee Vanremoortel, who complete the lineup on saxophone and vocals.
“We’re all just a bunch of really good friends up there having a really good time,” Eramo said. “That’s what’s really awesome about this group of musicians that we’re playing with right now.”
“Scenes — A Billy Joel Experience” will perform at the Rockwell Theater at 7 p.m. on Nov. 18. The celebrated tribute band will be the third show in the Downtown Live series that was unveiled earlier this year. While the band have been touring around New England and beyond for a decade, this will be their first time playing in Bristol.
“I went to take a tour of the theater and it’s beautiful,” Eramo said. “We’re looking forward to playing there for sure.”
Scenes – A Billy Joel Experience pianist and lead vocalist Ben Eramo.
The five-piece band bring authentic recreations of Billy Joel favorites from ballads like “Broadway,” to rock anthems like “Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song).” Eramo began playing through the Billy Joel catalog in fourth grade when his piano teacher Bob gave him music for “My Life.”
“Bob had given me a Billy Joel book and he said, ‘learn this one song out of it, come back next week and know it’,” said Eramo. “I went back the next week with almost everything out of that book memorized. Bob definitely set me on the Billy Joel path.”
To this day, “My Life” remains one Eramo’s favorite songs to perform, along with “Miami 2017,” “Only the Good Die Young” and “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant.”
Formerly known as Cold Spring Harbor, the Massachusetts-based-band celebrates the music of Billy Joel through powerfully distinctive vocals and intricate piano arrangements. Eramo said that the band pride themselves on bringing high quality, authentic performances of Billy Joel’s music at a low cost.
“It’s close to the real thing but for a fraction of the cost,” Eramo said. “We set out to do this project with the main intention of being able to bring really authentic Billy Joel tribute to areas that Billy Joel himself wouldn’t go, and for way less money. We do a lot of free shows, we do a lot of $30 shows; it really opens up the Billy Joel song book to those people who might not be able to get to see Billy Joel live.”
For more information or to purchase tickets, visit https://bristolct.myrec.com
Laura Bailey can be reached at lbailey@bristoledition.org
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