Local musicians Gary Hill and Jeff Tutt have shared the stage with The Eagles in the early 1970s, but their new tribute band is the first time they’ve devoted a whole show to the music of the legendary California band.

Their new group, dubbed the Double Eagles Tribute, makes its public debut at the Miamisburg Moose Lodge in Miamisburg on Saturday, March 2.

“This sounded like a moneymaker, to be honest,” Hill said. “They’re probably the most popular American band in history across the board with the crossover between the rock and the country and the tremendous album sales. They still sell today. It’s amazing.

“Jeff and I have been such big Eagles fans since we worked with them in our band Blue Max in 1972,” he said. “We’ve always loved the music, and we knew we did it well, so it just seemed like a good fit.”

A lot of groups have tried to duplicate The Eagles’ harmonious country-rock sound with little success. However, Hill is convinced that he, Tutt (vocals, keyboards) and band mates Phil “Dirt” Linville (guitar, vocals), Scott Ankeney (bass, vocals) and Layne Loxley (vocals, drums) are pretty close.

“The Eagles were basically centered around their great lyrics, great vocals and, after a while anyway, their guitar playing, and I think we have that,” Hill said. “I’ve tried to listen to all the different Eagles tribute bands around the world. There is one Dutch band called The Dutch Eagles and they’re very strong, but I think we can stack up to any of them.

While the set is comprised mostly of The Eagles’ biggest hits, from “Take It Easy” to “The Long Run,” there are some exceptions.

“We don’t do much obscure stuff,” Hill said. “There’s one song a lot people probably won’t remember called ‘Bitter Creek,’ which is a real strong harmony song. We do that one because it has the five-part harmony and it’s kind of laidback. We also do some of the solo stuff of Don Henley, Glenn Fry and Joe Walsh. That adds some good stuff like ‘Boys of Summer’ and ‘Funk 49.’

“I’ve played music for a living my whole life, and I’ve never seen any more excitement about a band,” he said. “I can’t believe it. I think it’s because of their popularity. So many people like The Eagles and what’s important to a bunch of them is faithfully reproducing the sound of The Eagles. I think we do that.”