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*UPDATE Due to unforeseen circumstances, The BeatLads were forced to cancel their June 16 free concert in Troy. 

The BeatLads – a Beatles tribute band – will be playing a free concert on the campus of Troy University this Friday, June 16, at the Adams Performing Arts Center.

The BeatLads are a Birmingham-based tribute band founded by childhood friends Jamie Glass and Lawton Higgs Jr. The band was created from an inside joke between the two.

“We used to do a junior high church camp together,” Glass recalled. “We were being silly and we used to do this thing with Chewy Spree candy where I would ask him if he wants a Spree and he would say, ‘Sure, I haven’t had a ‘spree’ since my mom took away my credit card.’

We would laugh and no one else would but that’s okay because it was an inside thing between us. We did different things with it and did one with Beatles voices and then we did a spoof where we took Beatles songs and made it about Spree candy called the Spreetles. We filmed it in black and white and all the junior high kids though it was really old.”

Out of the Spreetles came the BeatLads, a more serious tribute to the band considered one of the best of its era.

“We’ve been doing it for over 20 years now,” Glass said. “I grew up listening to the Beatles. I had a badminton racket pretending it was a guitar, all that stuff. My sister had the ‘Meet the Beatles’ album and I wore that thing out listening to it.”

The BeatLads founders are joined in the band by guitarist Daryl Hardy, drummer Kevin Higgs and sound engineer and keyboardist Brian Westbrook. The group plays all over the state for churches, fundraisers and other events.

“I kind of am surprised we’re still doing it,” Glass said. “It’s hard for me to believe it’s been 20 years, though. It’s just fun, it’s fun to do. I’ve always loved the Beatles and have always enjoyed their music.”

The BeatLads play all authentic instruments, the same 1960s-era equipment the Beatles used. Glass said listeners could expect to have plenty of fun if they decide to come out for the free concert.

“We’ll play the Beatles’ older stuff but some of their newer stuff, the whole gambit,” he said. “We try to do most of the hits, the stuff people really know. Occasionally, we’ll do some other songs from that era (from other bands), too.”

The BeatLads will start playing at 7 p.m. on June 16 at the Adams Performing Arts Center on the campus of Troy University. Admission is free for everyone.