Faragher Brothers & Family at the Alcazar

I talked with Tommy Faragher this week about his band, The Faragher Brothers, who will be doing a two-night residency at the Alcazar Theatre, Carpinteria, August 9 and 10.

The original band was formed in the 1970s up in Redlands, CA by four brothers, Tommy, Davey, Jimmy,and Danny Faragher. While their long history in the music industry and cult fan base can be found all over the internet, Tommy and I talked about where the band is at in 2024, and what fans can expect from their upcoming performances. 

Q. What is on the set list for the Alcazar performances?

A. This year we have decided to feature our first LP titled, Yellow Album, in its entirety. Last year we did most of that album, and it was so well received that we decided to do all of it. Our songs are written by us, and original. There will be two sets for each performance, and Saturday before the show we will have a meet & greet. There will be our merch for sale.

What band members are playing at the Alcazar?

Original band of our four brothers Tommy Faragher, Davey Faragher, Jimmy Faragher and Danny Faragher, and our sister Pammy Faragher. Davey’s son Charlie Faragher will be on drums, he just graduated from USC with a music major. My daughter Daisy, who is a current UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music student, is performing on alto saxophone and singing vocals. This year we will be featuring our wonderful tenor sax and flautist Danny Moynahan as well as guitarist Marcus Watkins.

Where are you with your music in 2024?

We sing, we play, no auto tune, no computer-generated tracks. We are doing the same thing we have been doing all of our lives. Music has always been the gathering point for our family, and that will never change. As the music industry gets more dependent on AI, people who enjoy watching other humans performing and putting their heart and souls into it love what we do. We call it Family Soul.

Has the band stayed in music since the 1970s?

We have all stayed in music, though we have taken different individual paths. Davey has been playing with Elvis Costello in The Imposters for the last 20 some years earning a Grammy and two nominations along the way. Before that he was a founding member of a successful band called Cracker. I have changed my musical journey many times, as a recording artist singing on the soundtrack to Staying Alive (Grammy nomination), to writing / producing top 10 hits for Taylor Dayne (ASCAP Pop Award), Paul Young, Al Green & O’Jays etc. to producing music for TV including “Teenage Dream” for Glee which was a top 10 hit. Jimmy continued to write and perform music in various bands and collaborations and has the voice of a bird which you will hear at The Alcazar. Danny has also worked on various TV shows and recordings and has been teaching and mentoring young students in Los Angeles. Pammy has been singing and developing her following as a performer. Davey’s son Charlie has become a busy session and live drummer in the L.A. scene and is working with many great artists. My daughter Daisy is studying different ethnic styles of music, sings in fluent Farsi and Spanish and is a big jazz buff.

And where does the band want to go with music?

That’s funny, the title of one of the songs we decided to include in our set at The Alcazar is, “Go Where We Want to Go.” We want to keep playing for our fans and celebrating our musical collaboration on stage. This is a unique situation, and we want to enjoy it while we can. Do you know of another music group with seven family members all playing together on the same stage? We realized that our music from long ago had left an impression on a group of people that never stopped listening to our music and we wanted to
reach out to them. 

We decided to get the band back together because the owner of Vitello’s Club said to me that he’d be happy if the Faragher Bros would get back together and do a show. I mentioned it to my daughter, Daisy, who decided to listen to our full LPs and encouraged me to reach out to my brothers and start playing.

Daisy happened to walk in when Tommy and I were talking and she shared, “I grew up with my family doing jam sessions, but I never really heard all of the band’s music except one video on YouTube. So, when I recently listened to all their albums, I encouraged my dad to get the band back and play. I listen almost exclusively to music that is from 40 years ago. I’m more interested in stuff from the ‘60s and ‘70s. At UCLA, among music students, it’s impressive, their knowledge of all eras and styles of music.”

Right now, we are being featured on two Spotify playlists “Yacht Rock” and “Soft Rock” and we have over a million streams and almost 60,000 monthly listeners on our Artist Page so who knows what’s to come? We will keep doing what we do and hopefully people will discover our music and our children and grandchildren will carry on our musical tradition.

Grab tickets which are selling out!  

411: www.thealcazar.org