Since the creation of the hit Broadway musical Beatlemania tribute bands have become an indelible part of the musical landscape, playing local bars, biker rallies, banquet halls, town fairs, and, occasionally, even stadiums. In an age when famous rock groups charge $100 or more for a concert ticket, their tribute band imitators offer an accessible, intimate, and surprisingly authentic outlet for fans. The Grateful Dead have Dark Star Orchestra; Led Zeppelin Zoso, Hammer of the Gods, and the all-girl Lez Zeppelin; Van Halen have twenty-five tribute bands, including Hot for Teacher and Van Heineken; and KISS have not one but two tribute bands peopled by dwarves—Mini Kiss and Tiny Kiss.

In this droll and entertaining expedition to the heart of tribute world, Steven Kurutz chronicles the ups and downs of one of the oldest and best-established acts, Sticky Fingers, who bill themselves as “the leading international Rolling Stones tribute show.” The narrative follows Sticky Fingers as they shadow the real Rolling Stones 2005–06 tour like a remora trailing a shark. When the Stones perform at an arena in Charlotte, North Carolina, Sticky Fingers plays a preconcert bash at nearby Dixie’s Tavern. More gigs follow: a trip to Las Vegas, bookings on the southern fraternity circuit, a spectacular sold-out stadium show in the Netherlands. The band’s frontman, Glen Carroll, is a roguish and colorful Mick Jagger look-alike, and we see him onstage and off, navigating the peculiar life of a tribute performer. As Carroll says, “I know what it’s like to walk in Mick’s shoes—with lift supports, mind you.” The band’s guitarist, meanwhile, is so committed to his role as Keith Richards, he’s always in costume. Along the way, the writer travels with the members of Sticky Fingers’ archrivals, the Blushing Brides; profiles a group of Deadheads who re-create entire, highly specific Grateful Dead concerts, and examines an occupational hazard one musician calls “tributitis”: identifying too closely with the rock star one portrays, with resulting swelling of the ego. As the book unfolds, what emerges is an honest and sympathetic portrait of the musicians as they juggle work and band obligations and come to terms with middle age and their fading dreams of rock stardom.

Like a Rolling Stone is a superbly reported, affectionately told, hilarious account of life at the lower altitudes of the music industry. In its own sly way, it is also a critique of the Rolling Stones’ stadium juggernaut and the baby boomer nostalgia pervading modern culture. Above all, it is a testament to the timeless appeal of rock and roll, even in a culture of perpetual rewind.

"In the spring of 2005, freelance writer Kurutz began a year of hanging out with tribute bands, a type of cover group he rates 'somewhere between lounge and wedding singers' that is dedicated to replicating the music, sound and appearance of a more famous act. Kurutz dates the tribute phenomenon to the 1977 Broadway play Beatlemania and explores a still thriving musical subculture by chronicling the personnel and fortunes of Sticky Fingers and the Blushing Brides, two rival Rolling Stones imitators with decades of experience. Kurutz gets an insider's view of the groups' efforts to balance their limited resources, personal lives and the road pressures of performing at casinos, frat houses and out-of-the-way bars against the real joys of playing rock and roll and pretending to be rock superstars. From exaggerated accents and remarkable libraries of bootleg tapes to descriptions of the 'Keithiest' Keith Richards (Kurutz writes, 'I had assumed it was impossible to recreate the withered visage of Keith Richards'), this curious debut convincingly captures the bands' histories and successes, the players' conceits and stresses. While a lack of urgency causes the narrative to stall at times, Kurutz does bring to his book energy and insight." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Kurutz travels with two Rolling Stones tribute bands as they crisscross the country in late-model cars trailing the real Rolling Stones' 2005-06 mega-tour. Richly reported and stylishly written, the book offers a wealth of amusing and touching anecdotes.

Steven Kurutz was born and raised in rural Pennsylvania and graduated from Pennsylvania State University. He is a frequent contributor to the New York Times, where for three years he was a writer for the paper’s City section. His articles have also appeared in Details, W, Playboy, and Spin, among other publications. He lives in New York City. This is his first book.