The Broken Hearts bring their Tom Petty tribute to the Orange Peel in February

The tribute band co-founded by a former Petty and Mudcrutch bandmate plays Asheville on Saturday, Feb. 20, 2027.

There's a certain kind of Saturday night that only needs "American Girl" to get going. The Orange Peel has one booked for late February.

The Broken Hearts – Tom Petty Tribute play The Orange Peel on Saturday, February 20, 2027, at 8pm. The show was announced Oct. 26, and tickets are available here.

Plenty of tribute acts have a story about loving the records. The Broken Hearts have a closer connection than most. According to the band's materials on Afton Tickets, the group was created in 2017 by bassist Charlie Souza, a former Tom Petty and Mudcrutch bandmate, alongside singer-songwriter Shawn Scheller, who also fronted Save the Radio!. What started as a Florida project kept growing: after a steady stream of requests to play gigs around the state, the two decided in 2018 to keep it going as a touring tribute band.

The band's roots are in Gainesville, Florida — Petty's hometown — and Downtown Roanoke billed them as exactly that: a Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers tribute from Gainesville. That lineage is the hook. This isn't a band reverse-engineering Petty's sound from a greatest-hits record; one of its founders played alongside him before the Heartbreakers were household names.

One of its founders played alongside him before the Heartbreakers were household names.

The set reaches well beyond the radio hits. The band plays songs from across Petty's work — Mudcrutch, the Heartbreakers, the Traveling Wilburys and his solo career — with staples like "Free Fallin'," "American Girl" and "Refugee," per Visit St. Augustine. That range means longtime fans should hear a few deeper cuts alongside the singalongs.

They've been on the road well beyond Florida, too, with recent dates in Georgia, Colorado and Pennsylvania — a sign the act draws outside its home turf.

The Orange Peel, which holds 1,050, is a good fit for a show like this: a real rock club with a big floor, where a Petty crowd can sing every chorus without losing the feeling of a night out with friends. Late February is also when Asheville could use a reason to get out of the house, and a room full of people shouting "Refugee" is a pretty good one.

A note for the record-collectors: be careful not to mix up The Broken Hearts with similarly named acts. The BrokenHearted is a separate New York tribute, and Tom and The Broken Hearts is a different band based in Northern California. The one coming to the Orange Peel is billed as The Broken Hearts – Tom Petty Tribute.

The show is more than three months away, so there's time. But Saturday nights at the Orange Peel don't usually stay quiet, and Petty songs have a way of filling a room. Grab a ticket, round up the friends who still know all the words to "Runnin' Down a Dream," and plan on a loud one.

Sources: The Broken Hearts were created by former Tom Petty and Mudcrutch band mate (Afton Tickets) (aftontickets.com); Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers tribute from Gainesville, FL: The Broken Hearts (Downtown Roanoke) (downtownroanoke.org); The Broken Hearts, a Tom Petty tribute band (Visit St. Augustine) (visitstaugustine.com); The Broken Hearts: A Tribute to Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (Visit Colorado Springs) (visitcos.com); The BrokenHearted – Tom Petty Tribute (NYS Music) (nysmusic.com); Tom and The Broken Hearts (GigSalad) (gigsalad.com); The Broken Hearts tickets – Orange Peel (ticketmaster.evyy.net)