The New Yorknoughts

Start Spreading the News

So I just wrote about starting a NYC-based version of the band. It’s a difficult thing to do, like starting a new band somehow and not really knowing how the hell it’s going to go… but except with all the songs somehow prewritten and recorded. Very strange.

But would the players be able to pull it off? Would the singers hit their parts? Would the drummer be able to handle my insane, alcohol-fueled demands that they play faster at random points in the songs?

Well, start spreading the news: it’s going extremely well. The violinist, accordion player and mandolin player are awesome at what they do. We tried out a drummer who didn’t really fit, but the newer fella is very good. The bassist can actually pull off that really twangy distorted punk-bass sound that we’ve never really had in the group, and it adds a new edge to the sound that I just love.

But the real test, for this band, is in the sea shanties. We were a little nervous; we stepped up to the practice mics, I showed everyone their basic parts, and we sang the song that has become an absolute mainstay at Dreadnoughts gigs: Roll the Woodpile Down.

And look, for our literal first time through the song, it was real good. Here’s a clip of the audio I took in the tiny practice room with mics that don’t work.

Sounds a fair bit like the Dreadnoughts, eh?

So again, we’ve confidently, perhaps overconfidently booked our first gig, July 8th at Gold Sounds in Brooklyn. If you’re in the area, you should come! Why? Well, we are learning songs the other versions of the band has never done, like, for example, our new tracks Hej Sokoly, and Spanish Ladies.

Also, well, what if it’s one of those gigs everyone will brag about being at forever? How could you risk that? Future historians may look back on it and write reams about the concert when the World’s Greatest and Most Influential Band Ever finally took their final Step Forward and changed everything.

Fig 1. Future Dreadnoughts Megafans

Or, I’ll just get drunk and yell at you. Heads you win, tails you win!