When Brian Wilson passed away earlier this year, it left a deep silence in the hearts of musicians and fans around the world — including Nashville’s own Tommy Habib, who found his musical compass in Wilson’s genius as a teenager. Now, Habib and his band, Tommy Habib and Friends, are channeling that lifelong inspiration into a one-night-only tribute concert at Wynot Saloon on October 30th.
Performing the entirety of Pet Sounds with a rotating lineup of Nashville vocalists, piano, percussion, and a live choir, the show reimagines one of music’s most iconic albums in an intimate, soulful format. More than a tribute, it’s a celebration of Brian Wilson’s message of love, mercy, and resilience — with all proceeds benefiting mental health charities.
Tommy, thank you for joining us. Let’s jump right in , so Brian Wilson’s music and story clearly mean a lot to you and to the Nashville community. Can you share what inspired you to create this tribute concert and what Brian’s legacy means to you personally?
Yes! I remember the moment I first really ‘heard’ the PET SOUNDS album as a 14 year old the summer before I was about to start high school. It immediately ‘clicked’ with me on both an emotional and musical level. Somehow, someway, the music of Brian Wilson and the lyrics of Tony Asher seemed to tap into exactly how I was feeling in that transition period of my life: youthful dreams, going out into the ‘real world,’ love from afar, a sense of ‘spirituality’ that was never stated directly but felt in every note, and the infinite possibilities in both the human voice and in instrumentation. From then on, I became a devotee of the music of Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys, and he became an influence on my playing, singing, writing and producing. Having been raised with Lennon and McCartney (who are the reasons I’m a musician), classic rock and contemporary music, it was really like learning another musical language. One of the things I realized since I was a teenager was how many people (musicians or otherwise) felt exactly the same way I was feeling and connected with Brian’s message deeply.
When Brian Wilson passed away in June, I was incredibly saddened to hear the news despite the fact he had been declining in health in the past few years. I had never met the man, but he meant so much to me musically. One of my colleagues wrote a really beautiful message on social media that day that Brian was in pain (mental, emotional and in the last few years physical) practically every single day of his life yet he chose to spread love and light through his music. He simply wanted people to feel “love and mercy” (in his words) and create “a music of joy” (in his brother Carl’s words). Nine days later, on what would’ve been his 84th birthday June 20th, I was jogging to a Beach Boys playlist, and I suddenly had the idea to pay tribute to the man the best way I knew how: to spread the message of his music. I had the idea to present the PET SOUNDS album with a rotating cast of singers from different genres and cultures here in Nashville. I texted my bandmates, whom immediately said they’d love to do a show like that, and I was off and running with the idea. Wynot Saloon was happy to host and we settled on the date of Thursday, October 30th at 7pm (with the extra ‘hook’ that Halloween costumes are encouraged).
Performing Pet Sounds with a rotating lineup of Nashville artists, piano, percussion, and a choir is such a unique concept. How did you come up with this arrangement, and what do you hope audiences will feel hearing the album reimagined this way?
Very good question. PET SOUNDS is an album that goes through so many moods and feelings, and of course The Beach Boys rotated lead vocals constantly, so I loved the idea of having a different ‘character’ for each song. All I had to do was reach out on social media to see who was interested in a tribute concert and I was inundated with messages of amazing singers who wanted to take part. You have pop, rock, indie, folk country, R&B singers, young and old, and they all have one thing in common: a heart for this music. Finding a singer for each song was both fun and easy.
I regularly play concerts of my own songs as Tommy Habib and Friends with myself on keyboards and lead vocals, an excellent percussionist (Sam Skorik) and singers who are comfortable harmonizing and trading off leads (Savannah Coplin, Quinn O’Donnell, Rachel Hambridge and Sam Morris), so I felt comfortable using them as the ‘house band’ so to speak for the backing vocals; each of them gets a lead vocal spot as well. Brian Wilson had the best touring band in the world whom recreated every instrument of the recordings meticulously on stage, and I figured that if people wanted to hear the exact arrangements of the songs, they could listen to those live performances from 1999-2022 or the original albums. Instead, I wanted to strip these songs back to their essentials: words and music, to really understand what Brian and Tony Asher were trying to convey. There’s two exceptions to the ‘piano and percussion’ rule: for the “Pet Sounds” instrumental we’re having a guitarist ‘sit in’ to recreate the James Bond guitar that anchors that track, and for “I Know There’s an Answer,” we’re lucky enough to have a bass harmonica player duplicating Tommy Morgan’s solo from the original recording. Those were essential!
You mentioned that several members of The Beach Boys and Brian Wilson community have played a role in this event. Can you tell us more about that collaboration and what it’s been like bringing this tribute to life?
Yes, it’s really a beautiful thing that the Beach Boys/Brian Wilson community is so welcoming and friendly. I’ve had the pleasure of working with Adam Marsland on various projects since 2012 (he’s performed alongside Beach Boys David Marks and Al Jardine, produced an album for David Marks, and was the music director for the Carl Wilson Cancer Benefit in 2008, which featured Brian, Carnie and Wendy Wilson). When this gig started coming together, I went right to Adam to get his help with some vocal arrangements, and he’s produced an excellent YouTube series called PET SQUARES, which breaks down every song on every Beach Boys album in great detail. I can’t tell you how helpful his work has been with this difficult music. At my first Brian Wilson concert, members of his band treated me like an old friend and in the following years they’ve been very kind with their time and stories. In May, I was commissioned to write a longform magazine article about the history of the Brian Wilson band and so far I have interviewed four members (Bob Lizik, Probyn Gregory, Scott Bennett and Nelson Bragg), I’m hoping to speak with as many as possible for that project. Finally, we will have a direct link to the Beach Boys world participating in this show…more to come on that detail…
All proceeds are going toward mental health charities — a beautiful tribute to Brian Wilson’s resilience. Why was it important to you to connect this concert with that cause, and how do you hope it helps raise awareness?
The story of Brian Wilson’s mental health struggles and perseverance is part and parcel to the creation of this wonderful music. All you have to do is watch the movie LOVE AND MERCY to see that saga unfold. I think if you asked everybody on this bill, they’d have a story of how his music has helped them through different times. It only seemed fitting as a tribute to the man to use the profits from this show to help those in need, especially in these difficult times.
This is your first time performing another artist’s full album live. If the show resonates the way you hope, what’s next for you and your band — more classic album tributes, or a return to original work?
My group and I have several concerts booked for the rest of the year performing my music, and I’m always performing solo (you can find details on my social media TommyHabibMusic). I’m starting to write new songs, I released an album last December called ME AND YOU AGAINST THE WORLD. And yes, I started toying with the idea of doing other albums…I was looking at a list of the best selling albums of all time yesterday to see which ones might be a good fit…SGT. PEPPER or 1 by the Beatles, RUMOURS by Fleetwood Mac, HOTEL CALIFORNIA by The Eagles, THRILLER by Michael Jackson…If a club owner made us an offer for a booking, it would definitely be a fun idea to pursue. I’m easy to contact ha ha.
I wanted to thank you for reaching out to me about this concert, it’s been a labor of love to organize and I’m hoping for an unforgettable night!
Connect with Tommy: https://www.instagram.com/tommyhabibmusic
