Popular Fredericton band celebrate the end of an era with three song EP.
After several years making music as The Shorty Tubbs, the group’s members have decided it’s time to try something new. With the understanding that guitarist Pat Reinartz would soon be bowing out of the band to focus more energy on his long-time creative outlet, The Trick, the band thought it best to close this chapter of the group’s lineage and reform as a new project, under a new name.
But before dropping the mic and leaving the stage altogether, The Shorty Tubbs took to the studio to record a few tracks for posterity, resulting in the new EP, Pie-Eyed in the Hills.
Guitarist Chris Giles will join the remaining members of the band who will re-emerge later this year as Hundredaires. According to Shorty Tubbs’ founder and principal songwriter Mack Brockton, Hundredaires plan to keep some of The Shorty Tubbs most popular songs in their set list while eagerly exploring the new lineup’s creative potential.
“We decided to get a little bit of closure by choosing three songs that we like a lot,” said Brockton, “do as good a job as we can realising the recorded vision, let Pat move on and then have us assume a bit of a different direction sonically with the substitution of Chris Giles in the role of electric guitar colourer.”
The new group will also be rearranging the format to allow bassist Penelope Stevens more time on the mic, as well as embracing a more collaborative approach to writing the material.
“You’d have to ask people how they really feel about it, but I always get that polarised reaction of the people that are grinning wolfishly and the people that look like dear in headlights,” said Brockton. “I’m going to try and bridge that gab a little bit by having Penelope sing more of the material. Then I can just be the Svengali on the guitar behind it all pulling the strings.”
So, there’s a lot to be happy about – new music from a Fredericton favourite, a new band whose members have a long history of creating fun entertaining music and a strong possibility of hearing new music from The Trick in the not-too-distant future. We all win.
