A Bruce Springsteen tribute band couldn't make it, but apparently the Beach Boys were available. It's believed that the Mike Love-fronted group will play at the Texas State Society’s “Black Tie and Boots” inaugural ball this Thursday (Jan. 17).

The news is unconfirmed, but the Washington Post's Reliable Source column cites people "close to the planning" of the event as saying that it will happen. They'd been linked with the inauguration since shortly before Christmas, when it was reported that they'd been asked to perform. But a spokesperson for the group said that they hadn't made a decision, nor did they specify whether they were asked to play the official concert or an inaugural ball.

As the article reminds us, the Beach Boys weren't always so popular in Republican circles. In 1983, they were scheduled to perform a free concert on the Mall in Washington, D.C., as part of the nation's Fourth of July ceremonies. But Secretary of the Interior James Watt prevented it from happening, saying that it would attract "the wrong element." Instead, they booked the U.S. Army Blues Band and Wayne Newton.

In other Beach Boys news, there may be a thawing in the relationship between Mike Love, the only original member still in the Beach Boys, and his cousin, Brian Wilson. Love told ABC News that Wilson, whom Love fired after their 2012 50th anniversary tour, that Wilson "has expressed the desire to rectify things." While they haven't spoken about it yet, Love said, "If it were possible to make it just Brian and I, and have it under control and done better than what happened in 2012, then yeah, I'd be open to something."