An Interview With WORLD’S GREATEST TRIBUTE BAND Founder KATIE DARYL On The Upcoming 6th Season!

AXS TV’s original live concert series THE WORLD’S GREATEST TRIBUTE BANDS (WGTB) will relive some of the greatest moments in the Sunset Strip’s rock history when it returns for its sixth season Feb. 17, moving to Wednesday nights at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT live from the world famous Whisky A Go Go in Hollywood.

Host and producer Katie Daryl has curated a lineup featuring ten of the world’s greatest tribute bands this season that will perform the memorable tunes from some of the most iconic artists in history.

WGTB has called the Whisky home for the last four seasons and will pay homage to the iconic venue with tributes to a few of the many acts who started off on that stage, including the Doors (Feb. 17), celebrating the 50^th anniversary of the Doors residency as house band at the Whisky; Guns ‘N Roses (March 16), celebrating 29 years to the date since Guns ‘N Roses’ memorable performance at the venue; Van Halen with a special guest tribute to Sammy Hagar (Feb. 24); and Neil Young (March 2). Next, WGTB features music from some of the quintessential 70’s groups with tributes to Chicago (March 9), Rush (March 23) and the Bee Gees (March 30), along with tributes to punk rock icon Billy Idol (April 6) and a special episode April 13 honoring the 20^th anniversary of Sublime’s celebrated eponymous album.

The season finishes strong April 20 as a tribute to WGTB fan-favorite Pink Floyd performs the record-breaking album “The Dark Side of the Moon” in its entirety along with a few of the band’s most recognizable hits.

“This season we are truly embracing the Sunset Strip experience by paying tribute to many of the artists who called the Whisky A Go Go home and cemented its place in music history,” said Katie Daryl. “Our line-up this season rocks through four decades of hits and those who tune in will be amazed as these incredible songs come to life on THE WORLD’S GREATEST TRIBUTE BANDS.”

Tickets are available for free online at http://www.greatesttributebands.eventbrite.com

The episode line-up and where the bands hail from are noted below:

Learn more about the World’s Greatest Tribute Bands series, the formation of it and more in the following All Access interview with Katie Daryl:

Thanks for your time today! First of all, congrats on just announcing the 6^thSeason of World’s Greatest Tribute Bands! AND congrats on the birth of your new baby son! How have you been balancing it all?

Thanks for the well wishes, it certainly has been an exciting 2016! The balance has been a little tricky some days that’s for sure, but my husband has been a great partner in the parenting game and Mark Cuban has been an excellent boss. Having two rad dudes like that makes it quite manageable!

One thing that made the juggle easier is that AXS TV picked up season six last summer, this way I was able to do a ton of band scouting and pre-production while I was pregnant. With a lot of hard work I was able to prep for Season 6 before I went on maternity leave, the hard part was making sure all the bands kept the secret of their involvement until the big announcement in January. I’m sure it was torture for those guys!

Season after season, what have you learned about putting together this series? Do you get faster each year of selecting the bands?

The selection process has gotten faster, but not necessarily easier. There are so many talented tribute bands out there that it’s easy to spot the cream of the crop, but sometimes narrowing those down to make the most balanced season is the hard part. I’ve learned that having a fantastic live music experience for our AXS TV audience means finding acts that sound great, look amazing and have insane energy. Once those three items come together it’s magical.

What gave you the idea for this tribute series to begin with? Why do you think it continues to be successful year after year?

The credit goes to Mark Cuban. I’ve been fortunate enough to work for him and the network since 2001. In that time I’ve produced and hosted several different shows and we were discussing what was going to be out next “big thing” when Mark simply said something like, “Tribute Bands! That’s your next show.” From there I researched the tribute scene, figured out the program’s format and got the TV show rolling. People love music and they especially love the hits, they’re comforting and bring so much nostalgia with them. So having tribute bands performing live at the historic Whisky A Go Go on the Sunset Strip is a no-brainer if you ask me.

Can you briefly describe what the selection process is like for you? How do you about selecting which bands will get to be a part of the event? Is this a difficult task? About how many submissions do you get each season?

Bands can submit online via the guidelines set up at www.axs.tv. It’s a pretty simple process for them, but can be brutal for me. Each season we get about 150-200 submissions which leaves me sifting through the good, the bad and the ugly! I don’t care how cool a band looks, if they can’t play the music and sound like the band they won’t make the cut. Each season I try to balance what regions we select bands from, while also trying to select bands paying tribute to acts that we have never featured before as well as some ‘second look’ acts. Meaning, we may feature a really popular tribute band twice or just feature a new band doing a tribute we’ve already done. My TV viewers are priority, and I watch the ratings from past seasons and try to book acts I know they want to see.

How early do you start scouting for the next season? Have you already begun thinking about next year’s shows?

I’m always thinking of the next season and trust me I have a vision for season seven already. I’m sorta like that kid that wakes up December 26 and asks, how many days until next Christmas?!

Can you recall some of your favorite tribute bands that have played your series? What do you think makes an amazing tribute band?

Picking a favorite tribute band is like picking a favorite kid, as the tribute mom I love them all. But certainly there have been shows that stuck out like Queen Nation- their Freddy Mercury is a magical showman. Or Justin Shandor as Elvis, that guy is the King when the lights go up. I think the bands that make you forget you are watching a tribute are the ones that amaze me and the fans. The ones that just draw you in and let you get lost in the music.

Does your favorite band have a tribute band and if so, how were they? Have they played your series?

One of my favorite bands is Nirvana, and on season four we featured The Nirvana Experience from Texas. I was never lucky enough to see Kurt Cobain perform, and this band gave me that experience. It’s cheesy to say, but their name is so perfect. The Nirvana Experience was just what I imagined the real deal to be like back in the day. I guess that brings me back to your earlier question about what makes a tribute band good: it’s the experience. Does the band take you to that special spot musically that your heart holds for the tunes you love.

Why do you think Whiskey A Go Go is the perfect venue for these shows? Have you thought about moving it to anywhere else in LA?

Oh man, the Whisky A Go Go is so iconic it just pairs perfectly with the show. So many of the bands we feature either got their start at the venue or played there—it creates a good synergy. Plus when AXS TV viewers flip on the TV to watch a live music show, it’s cool to have it be at a historic venue on the epic Sunset Strip, it’s super cool.

Can you talk about this 6^th season in particular? You chose tribute bands that pay homage to bands that started off on the Whiskey stage, correct?

Yes! I tried to pick a bunch of bands that related to the Whisky A Go Go for instance the season six premiere is a tribute to The Doors, and 2016 marks the 50th anniversary of The Doors playing as the house band for the Whisky A Go Go. And I placed our Guns N Roses tribute on March 16 which is 29 years to the day that GNR played the Whisky.

Will the new little man in your life be attending any of this season’s show?

Ha! Actually for Christmas he did receive some noise canceling protective ear muffs, so I do plan to have him make at least one show. I think it will be super cool to know that his first live concert experience was at Mommy’s TV show.