Simon & Garfunkel Tribute at the Mauch Chunk Opera House

This past weekend at the Opera House I had the opportunity to catch AJ Swearingen and Jonathan Beedle in their Simon & Garfunkel Tribute. I must say, I was schooled and in a good way.

I am familiar with Simon & Garfunkel’s music. I grew up with parents that were fans of theirs along with the Beatles and The Beach Boys. I knew a lot of their more popular hits like “Bridge Over Troubled Waters”. It was really a cool opportunity to sit in a theater and listen to these two very talented men perform such beautiful music and perform it well, almost as if they were Simon & Garfunkel themselves.

I felt as if I was in some Master songwriting class and the subject was Simon & Garfunkel. John and AJ do not simply take the stage and start singing, but they share with you the musical journey of the duo by infusing their act with stories about how a song was written, where it was written and even the why. They give you some insight into the duo, their creative energy and friendship. They share not only the hits with you, but some of their more obscure songs. For example, the first song in the clip on this blog site is a song Simon wrote when he was 15 and that the duo released under a different name. Along the way, you learn something you may not have known about the pair and you may even get a little chuckle.

I learned quite a bit on Saturday. For example, I didn’t even know that before I was born Simon & Garfunkel were no longer together (they band split in 70, four years before my birth). And, like so many kids today who hear a song on the radio that I know to be a remake, I found myself learning a thing or two about a band I used to listen to growing up, the Bangles. I had no idea their hit “Hazy Shade of Winter” was indeed a Simon & Garfunkel song that the band re-recorded. I was pleasantly surprised and amused.

Both John & AJ are from Bethlehem Pa, so coming back here to the Opera House is like coming home for them, as John has said. This is their fourth appearance at the Opera House in the last 6 years and the hometown crowd absolutely loves them, as was evident by the nearly sold out 350 seat theater.

As I always try to do before a show I had the opportunity to sit down with both John & AJ and speak to them about why they chose to do Simon & Garfunkel and about music in general

Q: What was it about Simon & Garfunkel that appealed to you and lead you to become the tribute band you are today?

John: Well, I grew up listening to that kind of music like and Beatles, Beach Boys and Simon & Garfunkel, all harmony driven music. When we met in the early 90’s it turned out that we kind of like the same kind of music even though he was younger than me. I was listening to it when the stuff came out he was listening to it later on. But you know there was that common thread through out what we liked and we both have a mutual friend who called me up out of the blue and said there is this guy playing down the street that you have to meet. I went to hear him and he was doing old music that we both liked. The three of us were sitting around doing three part harmony around the table we started talking Simon and Garfunkel as he had done a few songs the set before. One thing led to another and we started singing and things came together really quickly. You can tell the blend was really good.

Q: Have either of you met S&G?

John: No, no. I don’t think we ever will. I think if we had the opportunity that would be great, but I think it would be nerve wracking.

Q: What is your favorite S&G song and why?

John: I really don’t have one. I have no idea.

Q: How about to perform? What is your favorite S&G song to Perform?

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John: Well it would be harder to say which song you would let out; If you couldn’t do one which one wouldn’t you want to do. They all have their own quality and appeal.

A.J : I think it changes as our show grows and we perform different venues. Sometimes some songs seem to just jump off the mat like "wow, that one felt really good tonight". There will always be a few stand out songs at the end of the night. A lot of it, for me, is the performance end of it. For me if I feel we really nailed the performance than that would be my favorite for that night. It’s more performance related as opposed to composition.

Q: And what has been the most interesting place you guys have ever played?

John: Recently we were playing BB King’s Blues Club in NYC off Times Square. Doing this music in the city where a lot of this stuff was written and where they live is pretty exciting. So you know anytime you’re in NYC that’s pretty exciting. It takes on a whole different kind of air, at least for me. It’s NY music and you’re playing it there. That’s like wow.

Q: What are some interesting experiences you have had touring?

A.J: (in a sarcastic way) Everything goes perfect for us when we’re on the road. Everything goes right, we never miss a flight, never have car break down. I would say getting the guitar to and from the venue in one piece is the most stressful thing. Flying with it is a problem, a big hassle.

Q: What is it about Jim Thorpe you like when you come here?

John: We’ve been doing this show since 94' off and on and we got a little away from it for awhile and when we got back to doing it we did it here first. It’s like coming back to where it all started. We sold out the last 3 shows here that we did and so it’s great. We love it here. It’s nice to be a part of this place because it’s a cool Opera House and every time you come back you see the changes that it has undergone.

Q: Besides Simon & Garfunkel what other music do you listen to?

John: Well I was just listening to Nickel Creek on the way up here. Beatles, Johnny Cash, old country and late 60’s. I’m kind of stuck in the late 60’s early 70’s.

My son Joshua likes all the music I liked growing up Dillon, Grateful Dead. Funny, he just gravitated to it.

AJ: I grew up listening to Cat Steven, Van Morrison James Taylor, S&G. I was also into Hendrix and Zeppelin. I liked Coldplay’s first album. I try to stay current on stuff. I feel you do have to dig pretty hard to find some good music. Music is a lot noisier today too. The best stuff is not necessarily on the radio. You have to search it out. I like to listen to Pandora. It is a free streaming radio station where you can type in any artist you like and it will return artist that sound like that and will keep playing artist based on that sound.

You can find where A.J & John will be playing next at their website.