Three acts spanning six decades of British rock history are converging on Nashville, Indiana, next month, when Colin Blunstone of The Zombies, Peter Asher of Peter and Gordon, and new wave veterans The Fixx share the stage at Brown County Music Center on September 23 at 7 p.m. The show is one stop on a 19-city United States tour that kicks off September 2 in Somerville, Massachusetts, and wraps up September 30 in Troy, New York.
The pairing brings together three distinct chapters of British pop history under one roof, as first reported by The Republic. Blunstone fronted The Zombies, whose 1964 single “She's Not There” made them only the second British band after The Beatles to reach No. 1 in America, according to the Downtown Development District. The keyboard-based band, which also featured Rod Argent and became known for its three-part harmony, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 29, 2019 — exactly 50 years to the day after “Time of the Season” topped the American charts, per Best Classic Bands. That induction ceremony at Barclys Center in Brooklyn also honored Stevie Nicks and Radiohead the same night.
From St. Albans School to Global Stages
Blunstone, who turned 81 on June 24, was born and raised in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, roughly 25 miles north of London, per the tour's own account relayed by The Republic. He got his first guitar at age 12 and met future Zombies bandmates while attending St. Albans School, joining a band being formed by Paul Arnold at age 15 before becoming the group's lead singer. Blunstone has said there were “a lot of coincidences and a lot of chance” that led to him joining The Zombies, and he has described the band as different from traditional rock and roll formations of the era.
The Zombies' current touring lineup includes Argent alongside Tom Toomey, Steve Rodford, and Søren Koch. Blunstone has said he values the audience support that has followed both The Zombies and his solo performances over the years, noting that American fans travel to the United Kingdom and European fans travel to the United States just to see the band play. He has also said he is looking forward to seeing this new joint show for himself.
A Beatles Connection Predates the Tour
Sharing the bill is Peter Asher, a guitarist and singer who became a manager and record producer after his own hitmaking career. Asher and Gordon Waller formed the duo Peter and Gordon, whose 1964 debut single “A World Without Love” reached No. 1 in more than 30 countries, including the U.S. and U.K., after being written and handed to the pair by Paul McCartney, according to Gretsch. McCartney was reportedly dating Asher's sister, actress Jane Asher, at the time. Peter and Gordon joined the American charts in 1964.
Asher later became director of A&R at The Beatles' Apple Records before moving to the United States in the early 1970s, where he went on to manage and produce artists including James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, Joni Mitchell, and Carole King. Gretsch notes he left Apple Records specifically to manage Taylor full-time. Asher's studio work earned him two Grammy Awards for Producer of the Year, in 1977 and 1989, and in 2015 Queen Elizabeth II named him a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to music.
The Fixx Bring Their Original MTV-Era Lineup
Rounding out the bill is The Fixx, a band regarded as a driving force of the MTV-fueled English new wave movement of the 1980s. The current touring lineup — Cy Curnin, Jamie West-Oram, Rupert Greenall, Dan K. Brown, and Adam Woods — represents all five members who recorded the group's 1983 breakthrough album *Reach the Beach*, an unusually intact roster more than four decades later.
That album's single “One Thing Leads to Another” reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in November 1983 and helped push *Reach the Beach* to double-platinum sales in the U.S., according to Classic Rock Review. The band's catalog also includes the hit “Saved by Zero,” and The Fixx has continued releasing new music, including the album *Every Five Seconds*.
A Nonprofit Venue Built Into the Local Economy
The show lands at Brown County Music Center, a 2,017-seat venue at 200 Maple Leaf Blvd. in Nashville, Indiana, that opened in August 2019 with a grand-opening performance by country star Vince Gill, according to Visit Indiana. The hall was built along Salt Creek near Brown County State Park. Operating as a nonprofit, the venue distributed $267,000 in profits early in 2024 to the Brown County Auditor's Office and the Brown County Community Foundation, per The Republic's coverage of the venue's five-year mark — a bounce-back after more than 600 days of pandemic-related closures.
The Brown County stop follows recent Hoodline coverage of another act at the same venue, including Loretta and Conway's grandkids' show earlier this month. Tickets for the Blunstone, Asher and Fixx triple bill are on sale at browncountymusiccenter.com.
