Here's a eastern US based Zep tribute who are gaining ground here. I had the honor of doing a short interview with them for my new position as staff writer for UpstateLIVE Music Guide here in NY state. (With a special note for our west coast tribute mates)
Kashmir The Nation’s #1 Led Zeppelin Tribute
by Greg Jackson
I was first introduced to Kashmir - The Nation’s #1 Led Zeppelin Tribute last summer at The Budweiser Amphi-theater as part of the IslandFest concert series. The band I manage, Childhood’s End - A Tribute To Pink Floyd was playing the following week so I wanted to get a peek at how the whole thing went down out there. I contacted Kashmir and found them to be really open and down to earth guys belying what I was about to see on stage. Kashmir puts on an amazing Led Zeppelin concert experience, from Jean Violet’s remarkable similarity to Robert Plant physically and vocally, to Andy Urban’s accuracy portraying and playing Jimmy Page’s parts accented with bow work and the mystical theramin. Paul Cooper rolls the John Bonham inspired thunder behind the band and under the classic bowler hat with newest member Cary Fields filling in the John Paul Jones position with the multi-instrumental ability on bass, keys and mandolin and the uncanny resemblance the other members possess as well. Although I was unable to see the entire show it was evident to me that this band had that thing, the honest love of the band they pay tribute to and the genuine energy they bring to it.
I began corresponding with Andy right after the show and fate would have it that he and his lovely wife Theresa would be vacationing in the Finger Lakes area the next week and wound up attending the Childhood’s End concert at IslandFest. We had a great time hosting them and their friends, they stayed the whole night, Theresa right at the front of the stage. She told us, "I don’t even do that for Kashmir!" I imagine after several hundred shows it works for her just as well in a nice seat watching her man rip it up onstage. I knew we’d made some good friends that night and when the opportunity came to interview them for UpstateLIVE Music Guide, I jumped at the chance. They were more than happy to share their time with me. On Valentine’s Day evening I sat and chatted with Jean, Andy and Paul at Frank’s Roadhouse in East Syracuse, NY, one, if not the number one tribute friendly club in central NY. Frank’s enthusiastic manager Teresa has reached far and wide to bring something different to the Syracuse market and this particular evening was one of the best. We took a very casual course through our conversation, here are some of the highlights.
Being Valentine’s Day the first question seemed obvious
to me.
Greg Jackson: How in the world are you guys out
playing on a Saturday night without your wives or girlfriends along with you?
Paul Cooper: Wow, I’ve been dealing with that right up until an hour ago, my girlfriend isn’t really very pleased. This one’s going to cost me big time!
Jean Violet:
Right now I’m single and it’s not a problem for me. It’s difficult in general sometimes with girlfriends due to the attention that comes with what we do, no matter how innocent you may really be.
Andy Urban: Being married it’s different for me, my wife is understanding and this should prove to anyone how dedicated we are to what we do.
G.J.: How long has the band been together?
J.V.: In total five years, three years with this line-up.
G.J.: Do you try to handle all of the band business "in house" or do you use an agent?
A.U.: Jean used to do it, then we had an agent who wasn’t in it full time and you really need to be. We have a new guy now who’s really good at it and it’s what he does, so it’s much better.
G.J.: Have you seen an affect on bookings due to the economic situation?
J.V.: Yea, we’re down a few shows for sure. Last year we cut the schedule down to about eighty shows from ninety-five the year before intentionally.
A.U.: We hoped to bring the number back up this year, but it’s been a bit harder.
G.J.: How do you guys feel when someone calls you a cover or clone band rather than a tribute band?
P.C.: It’s what we are really, it doesn’t bother me at all. We’re just really big Zeppelin fans at heart.
A.U.: We know the difference, that’s what really matters and the fact that if they’re calling us anything at least they’re talking about us.
G.J.: I know from experience that Pink Floyd tributes
are VERY touchy about it.
J.V.: We’re just huge Zep fans at heart, we don’t go over the top trying to clone Led Zeppelin, we just happen to look like them. We’re more interested in re-creating the concert experience.
G.J.: When it comes to performing your concerts, do you
find it easy to re-book once you’ve showed a promoter what you’ve got?
J.V.: You would think so, but one of the biggest issues is the turnover in management at the venues. We can play at a Hard Rock Café, have a great show, the club does great, yet next time our agent calls it’s as if they haven’t heard of us before.
G.J.: I find much the same thing booking our band, you’d think one show would tell the tale. I also think the market for these bands has changed, it seems to me that casinos and colleges are where it’s really at for bands like ours.
J.V.: Yea, festivals too, we’re really focusing on that market this year.
G.J.: These are natural venues for both bands, when we do a theater show our audience can range in age from 12 to 65 plus in age.
J.V.:That’s why I think that Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd are the best bands for tributes, AC/DC too. The audience is large and continues to grow with the younger kids. I think it’s a good combination LZ and PF together.
G.J.: Our friends in "Which One’s Pink" do this in the Los Angeles area with a band called "Led Zeppagain", they split bills and are tremendously successful with it.
A.U.:Yea, those are the ones with the same guitarist, right?
G.J.: Yep, they do a great job of it together.
A.U.: Then we start getting into the competition aspect of it, obviously there are other Led Zeppelin tributes out there. They have extra musicians on stage and try to replicate the albums, we try to re-create the concert, it’s looser, more fun too! You guys do that, that’s why I like your way rather than other more well known tributes. Floyd and Zeppelin didn’t try to re-create albums live besides "The Wall", we like this style the best.
At this point we had a good laugh trying to remember which tribute was playing at which festival and how many years ago it was. Needless to say we didn’t really settle on anything except the common thought that there’s room for everyone in the tribute industry. Long time tributes have earned their places through years and in some cases
decades on the road, building their audiences and growing their regions. In most cases there is no animosity between tribute bands, even if their "territories" cross each other.
Unfortunately there are a few bad apples out there, but karma will catch up to those who are under-handed. All of us agreed that taking the high road is the only way to go, who knows, perhaps there are some double bills for our bands in the offing. Stay tuned!
Kashmir - The Nation’s #1 Led Zeppelin Tribute will return to central NY several times this year beginning on March 21st at The Montage Music Hall in Rochester,
www.myspace.com/themontagemusichall,
June 13th marks their return to Frank’s Roadhouse in East Syracuse,
www.myspace.com/franksroadhouse
and their huge annual outdoor concert as part of the IslandFest concert series at The Budweiser Amphitheater on August 1st,
www.island-fest.com.
You can keep up with Kashmir on the web at
www.kashmirrocks.com
or
www.myspace.com/kashmirtheband. 
