EAST AURORA, N.Y. (WIVB) — This Halloween, Music Monday is featuring Western New York’s Finest Fleetwood Mac Tribute Band, Songbirds.
“It also works out really well that all of our primary instruments kind of map really well to everyone in Fleetwood Mac,” said Jeffrey Fischer, who plays bass and provides vocals for the band.
With Fischer, Songbirds consists of vocalist and auxiliary percussionist Julia Riley, keyboardist and vocalist Maryssa Peirick, guitarist and vocalist Christian Jude, and drummer Dave Cocuzzi.
The band began playing music individually in their youth and started joining bands together in high school.
“I made a Facebook post about a year and a month ago,” Jude recalled. “And I said, ‘If anybody wants to start a Fleetwood Mac cover band, I’ll be your Lindsey (Buckingham).’ And then a month later, Dave messages me, ‘Hey, you wanna be Lindsey?'”
The band said discussions about its formation had been a running gag between the members for a long time, leading up to the creation of Songbirds in late 2021.
“I used to hear Fleetwood Mac on the radio listening with my parents, and then one day, about a year ago, Jeff said, ‘We’re starting a Fleetwood Mac cover band, would you like to be our Stevie (Nicks)? And I said, ‘Oh my God, yea!'”
The band does not exclusively play Fleetwood Mac songs, though it is their forte. According to Fischer, they also sprinkle in other covers and party songs.
Favorite songs to play:
Julia Riley
The Chain
Jeffrey Fischer
You Make Loving Fun
Maryssa Peirick
Rhiannon
Christian Jude
Never Going Back Again
Dave Cocuzzi
Rhiannon
Ideal Concert Lineups:
Julia Riley
Crosby, Stills, & Nash (feat. Julia Riley)Songbirds
Jeffrey Fischer
Billy JoelElton JohnBen FoldsSongbirds
Maryssa Peirick
QueenSongbirds
Christian Jude
Fleet FoxesWhitney (band)Iron & WineSongbirds
Dave Cocuzzi
Genesis (1975 lineup)Songbirds
To learn more about Songbirds, follow along on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
Music Monday is a weekly series designed to showcase artists from Western New York and their work. To be considered for a feature, email Adam Duke at adam.duke@wivb.com.