Forever Abbey Road (from left): Jay Szalay, Mike Cap, John Salaway, Josh Horne, Adam Therrien
Rock ’n’ roll music, by its very nature, is oriented to appeal to the young—at least, when it’s new. Having passed the 50-year mark early in the 21st century, rock music can now claim generations of fans, each one carrying connections to the music that shaped their respective generation. Thanks to the internet’s ability to stream music of all styles and decades to listeners of all ages, it’s more common than ever before for younger listeners to connect with the music of older generations. But even among this growing phenomenon of multi-generational appeal, it’s rare for any musical artist to find acceptance among members of every new generation that comes forth.
This kind of seemingly ageless attraction is only one of the many aspects that set The Beatles apart from virtually every other act, past or present. With this unprecedented multi-generational appeal comes a multiplicity of contexts in which to discover The Beatles. For John Salaway, it happened while absorbing (via cassettes) the music of his own generation—heavy rock bands like Metallica, Poison and Soundgarden—alongside bands of an older vintage, thanks to parents who “played all the good stuff” on original vinyl.
“My dad is a musician and he had an amazing record collection and always had top-of-the-line stereos,” Salaway says. The elder Salaway would sing the whimsical 1968 Beatles track “Rocky Raccoon” to his young son, as he recalls. Later, Dad surrendered his dormant drum kit to then-10-year-old John and got him started down the rhythm road, where he would pick up the guitar in his early teens.
John Salaway
Somewhere in the midst of that storm of formative experiences, he encountered his destiny: a CD version of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band he saw displayed at the local Kmart in Englewood Beach, Florida, where his New York-based family relocated during his childhood. “I was just mystified by the cover,” recalls Salaway, who convinced his mom to buy it for his dad. “I really just wanted it for myself,” he admits, laughing. Little did Salaway realize that he was beginning his formal Beatles education at the point many consider to be the Beatles’ artistic pinnacle. “I took it home and I was just floored [by it]. After that, I was on a mission, and ended up buying every CD . . . read every book I could get my hands on.” Like the Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl, Salaway learned guitar by playing along with Beatles records, using an “easy guitar chord” songbook.
Salaway, an MTSU graduate and now a Murfreesboro-area resident who today is a busy pro musician, songwriter, producer and booking agent (as well as a Pulse contributor), is one-fifth of the Beatles tribute band Forever Abbey Road. The band, which bills itself as “a high-energy Beatles tribute,” commonly performs outside the Nashville and Murfreesboro areas, touring throughout the Southeast US and featured at festivals such as the world-famous Abbey Road on the River, held just north of Louisville.
On July 12, Forever Abbey Road will make an area appearance at Nashville’s The Basement East, a venue Salaway says the band hopes to make its Music City home base.
The five members of Forever Abbey Road met on a Nashville pick-up gig backing a vocalist and mutual friend, and quickly discovered (with the helpful prompting of Salaway’s Beatles T-shirt) that they shared a common passion for the music of the Fab Four. In short order, the men began learning Beatles music “note for note” but discovered along the way that the music truly came to life for them when they applied their natural musical personalities to the songs. Sharing Salaway’s taste for the aggressively played rock of favored bands from their youth and from the ’70s onward, all five musicians amped up their approach to playing Beatles’ music. This works particularly well, Salaway notes, on songs from the later period of The Beatles’ world-shaking discography, though the band’s sets run the gamut.
“We love it all, but love the later stuff the best,” Salaway says. “That might be how we got our name, because Abbey Road is collectively our favorite.”
The upcoming Nashville gig promises to be “really rockin’,” says an enthusiastic Salaway, who adds that the band will present two full sets, possibly with some special guests dropping in. Beatles fans who favor a hard-hitting interpretation of the band’s music should take note—and make plans to come together, right now, over at The Basement East.
