—Valerie James
There’s nothing you can’t find on Craigslist. That fact was confirmed by drummer Mike Alcini on Jan. 16, 2009, when, determined to realize his dream of starting a Heart tribute band, he posted an ad looking for other willing musicians in Las Vegas on the site.
Almost immediately, Julie and Danny Torchin, musicians who had experience performing with two tribute bands, one of which was a Heart band in Chicago, saw the ad. “I called Mike and said, ‘I’m gonna make your day,’” says Julie with a laugh. “I told him that I could bring him an entire Heart band.” She and Danny met Alcini the next day.
The Torchins, along with lead guitarist Dave Davis, bassist Danny Buss and keyboardist Benjamin Winbery had been performing with a Fleetwood Mac/Stevie Nicks tribute band, but they jumped at the opportunity to take on a Heart project, too. Heart Alive had its first rehearsal that March and quickly began landing dozens of gigs, including a spot in Fremont Street’s TributePalooza3 last New Year’s Eve.
“We had gotten a great start, but we had one member who wasn’t the right fit, and we didn’t feel she was professional enough for these shows we had lined up, so we parted ways in September,” explains Julie, who performs as Nancy Wilson. “All the musicians were freaking out, wondering how we were going to replace her in time.” It was estimated 30,000 fans would show up for the New Year’s Eve show, and two nights later, Heart Alive was booked at the Cannery Casino for a completely sold-out, two-night gig.
Fortunately, a friend recommended vocalist Valerie James, an artist with her own repertoire of original work and newborn twins at home. But after sitting in with the group on just two songs, they all knew it was the right fit. She not only performed ably as Ann Wilson on Fremont Street and at the Cannery, but she completely rocked the house. The band earned heaps of praise—it’s been called, “one of the best tributes out there today” by KKLZ radio in Las Vegas—and continued building a roster of tour dates for both Heart Alive and Fleetwood Nicks, for which Torchin sings as Stevie Nicks and James is Christine McVie.
“We have great respect for Heart, and I think it shows on stage,” says James. “I don’t ever want to seem that we’re trying to take away from what Ann and Nancy Wilson have established. We’re paying tribute to them, honoring their music and making people happy onstage. That’s where my heart is.”
So why would a vocalist earning success with her own, original music, want to join a tribute band?
“The appeal is that the audience is already there, and already in love with the music,” says James. “But if you’re gonna do it, you’ve got to do it right. There are thousands of critics judging every single note. I love a challenge, and this is a great challenge for me. I can’t be me on stage; I have to be Ann Wilson, and if I can emulate her in a way that pleases the crowd, I’ve done my job and paid good respect to her.”
Nancy Wilson has been Torchin’s idol for years. “I love her so much, I want to do everything possible to do her justice,” she says. Plus, she explains that they get more work as a tribute. Every city has bands, so why book another one from Las Vegas? “But now we offer something special, and we get to travel to great places. A lot of places can’t afford to book the real thing, so they book the next best thing, which is bands like us.”
James and Torchin say that what fans love about the Wilson sisters is that their hearts and souls go into every performance, and that their harmonies are so strong and memorable. “Even people who are fair-weather fans come to our shows and are shocked by how many hits came from Heart,” says Torchin, whose favorites include “Dream the Archer,” with its lush mandolins, and “Fire,” for which she plays harmonica. Meanwhile, James leans toward “Alone” and “Dog and Butterfly,” an acoustic piece she used to sing to her son as a baby that always got him to smile.
“It’s really cool to educate people who haven’t grown up with Heart, and they fall in love with it,” says Torchin. “Others recognize songs that they’d forgotten about, and come up to us and say we brought back memories, which we love.”