THE GHOST OF PAUL REVERE Discuss Their Third Studio Album, Drive-In Shows and More!

Last month on August 28th, The Ghost of Paul Revere released their third full-length studio album, “Good At Losing Everything.”

Check out the album here- https://soundcloud.com/ghostofpaulrevere/sets/gopr-good-at-losing-everything/s-Sxj54  

And here’s the video for the lead single “Love At Your Convenience”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YaadOISbbs

The Ghost of Paul Revere also recently headlined a string of popular drive-in shows along the East Coast, as a way to continue fostering camaraderie and connect with fans in a safe way.

Aiming to create a sense of community with their music, The Ghost of Paul Revere examine life’s ebbs and flows through a distinct and dynamic distillation of folk, bluegrass, rock, and alternative music on the new album. The collection finds the Maine-based band firing on all cylinders as they explore themes of triumph, loss, satisfaction, heartbreak and love. It’s an album that’s fueled by shimmering piano, sweeping guitar, soaring harmonies and punctuated by unrestrained rock ambition. As the band widens their creative palette and expands their sound, “Good At Losing Everything” attracts an even bigger community, while bringing the inner circle of longtime fans closer than ever.

Since forming in 2011, the band has created a following that has propelled them from a local to a national level, tallying 15 million+ independent streams to date. They’ve performed alongside The Avett Brothers, Jason Isbell, The Revivalists, Bela Fleck, and The Infamous Stringdusters, sold out countless gigs, appeared at major festivals nationwide: Newport Folk, Austin City Limits, Winter WonderGrass, BottleRock Napa, Shaky Knees, Okeechobee, and Voodoo Music + Arts Experience, and  garnered critical acclaim from the likes of Billboard, American Songwriter, Relix, Boston Globe, AXS, No Depression and The Boot. In 2019, their song, “Ballad Of The 20th Maine”, became the Official State Ballad of Maine after being passed unanimously by the Senate and House of Representatives and signed into law by Maine’s Governor, Janet Mills. Their annual festival, Ghostland, celebrates Maine with good music and great food. This year’s Ghostland Festival has been postponed to Labor Day Weekend, September 3rd and 4th, 2021, and will feature performances from The Ghost of Paul Revere, Deer Tick, The Mallett Brothers Band, and Bell Systems.

Learn more about The Ghost of Paul Revere in the following All Access interview:

Thank you for your time. So given these unusual Covid-19 times, what does a typical day look like for you all? How have you adjusted to these times?

I don’t think that we’ve fully adjusted to everything entirely, but we certainly have tried to do our best to make the most of what we can these days.  We’ve been really focused on coming up with new ways to interact with our fans, to show them we’re still thinking of them and to show them what we’re up to since we can’t go out on the road.  We also have been working on new material.  One of the upsides to this all is the copious amount of time at home where we can hone in on writing.

What has been the hardest/most challenging part about being quarantined? Is your city starting to open up more now? Have you guys been able to get together much to play?

I honestly think the hardest thing is dealing with the uncertainty.  How long will this last? When will it be safe to play a REAL show again? When will it be safe to tour? How are we going to make money in the meantime?  Questions just pile up until the point of anxiety.  Portland(Maine, the first Portland) has handled the situation pretty well.  Our state has in general, thanks to competent leadership.  Since Jackson (our harmonica/lapsteel player) lives in New York its been tough getting everyone together, but we’ve been able to a few times.

How have you been able to use social media during these unprecedented times? Are you finding that you use it even more now to stay connected to fans and other musicians?

Absolutely.  The social media platforms have really turned into a different type of stage to perform on.  It’s tough, because you’re missing out on that live interaction with an audience, and you miss that energy.  But you gotta do what you gotta do.  I don’t have an affinity for any of the stuff really, but  you just gotta do what you gotta do. 

I understand that you recently headlined a string of drive-in shows along the East Coast. What were those shows like for this band? What were the fans like? 

We’ve done a few drive-in shows throughout New England at this point.  For the most part, they’ve turned out pretty well.  For us, it’s a blast to play music all together again in front of an audience, especially if the music is put out through a PA and not just the radio transmission.  The shows with the full PA system make you almost forget that you’re at a socially distant show.  The fans at those shows seemed to enjoy themselves more as well, but everyone was respectful of their neighbor and had masks if they needed to leave their reserved area.

Since we are all desperately missing live music, can you recall a favorite show of yours from the past? What do you think ultimately makes for a great show for you? What about a favorite show of yours by someone else?

One of my favorites was last year’s Ghostland. We normally have a music fest right here in Portland, ME  called Ghostland where we bring in a couple of our favorite local and national acts and put on a big hometown show.  We had to postpone it to next year, so I’m really thinking fondly of last years.  It just had all the right things going for it.  It was a beautiful, sunny day on a peninsula sticking out into Casco Bay.  We were surrounded by friends and family, the lineup was awesome, the audience was having a great time.  What really made it was that the other fellas and I were having just as much fun on stage.  You wanna know who puts on a damn good show? The War and Treaty put on a damn good show.

Let’s talk about your third full-length album, “Good At Losing Everything” set for release later this month on August 28th. What was it like putting this collection together? Did it get done before quarantine life began?

Oh, yes.  The album was actually all set to release for spring but we decided to push back the release just because of the shitstorm of a pandemic and the social injustice of the nation coming to light once again. Seemed to make sense to focus on other things for a moment. We actually started writing for the album about 2 years ago. We wanted to get outside our comfort zone and see what could happen, so we brought a friend and prolific local musician in his own right, Spencer Albee, to help guide us in unfamiliar waters.  It was great taking the time to really flush out the songs and try to get them to their final form

How would you say that “Good At Losing Everything” shows how this group has grown through the years? How have you changed and developed your sound?

Sonically, it shows just a growth from the sound we started with.  In some songs, that familiar sound is more evident, while in others it just shows up once or twice.  I think it also shows the natural curiosity that comes with learning and practicing a craft.  We’ve done that, but can we do this? That type of thing. Lyrically, the topics aren’t too different from what we’ve put out before, but the viewpoint on the topics have matured considerably.  

While this is difficult, can you pick out a few of your favorite songs on this new album and talk about their inspiration and how they got to be on this collection? Is there one song in particular that truly stands out to all of you?

While I may not be able to speak to their inspiration directly, the songs that are my favorite are probably Loneliness, Diving Bell and Delirare.  Those three probably rotate as the top place holder…but also Travel On is a lot of fun.  I can’t choose!

How do you think future music is going to be influenced by this incredible and absolutely necessary Black Lives Matter movement that the US and even the world is going through now? Is it inspiring you and your music today at all?

I think it’s our job as musicians, writers and story tellers, artists of all kinds, to try and lift up the collective social consciousness at times like these.  We deal in expressing feelings, and there are so many feelings that we’re feeling today.  My hope is that we’ll take these feelings of rage and grief and guilt and be able to use them. We’re a band of white males, so we don’t know close to goddamn half of it, but we know the difference between right and wrong.  Black Lives Matter, and when we all lift up our voices they can’t drown out the message

If you could get into the studio with any artist today and collaborate on a new song for you, who would it be and why? 

That’s another super tough one!  I’d love to do something with Paul Cauthen or Early James, cause of their sense for a classic sound and their lack of hesitation for sinking their teeth into it.  I’m also wild at the melody structure that Fruit Bats come up with.  

Would you like to share anything else about yourself or your music with our readers? 

We’ve started a Patreon account where people can keep up with us and get a bunch of different exclusive content that runs the gamut from covers and unreleased songs to cooking lessons and leather working videos.  Also, keep the faith in humanity and fight the good fight