Maine’s own Rustic Overtones are tracking a new release
Photo courtesy of Hannah Cormier/Riptide Photography
Written by F.J. Gallagher
The Rustic Overtones, arguably one of the most popular bands to ever come out of Maine, haven’t put out any new material in nearly seven years.
But like the human body’s cellular makeup, that’s all about to change.
The band is working away, writing and recording new tracks, and a new release is on the way, frontman Dave Gutter told Maine Coast Life in an exclusive and wide-ranging interview. Fans will hear the first single next spring, Gutter said, with the full release to follow sometime thereafter.
According to Gutter, the material they’re putting together now represents the first new music to emerge since founding member and trombonist Dave Noyes passed away in March 2019. "Rustic Overtones," the eponymous release recorded prior to Noyes’ passing, was built largely from ideas the horn player had recorded in voice memos on his phone.
“When he passed away, we used the time to go through his voice memos and that kind of helped us through the process of grieving his loss, just doing something Dave would love,” Gutter said. “I feel like now we can approach it as its own thing and have our own voice.”
Perhaps more importantly, Gutter explained, the music reflects not just the extension of Noyes’ influence, but the band's artistic growth, as well. Two new members — trombonist Jamie Colpoys, who was Noyes’ student, and keyboardist and vocalist Augustus Perkins, who also plays in Gutter’s solo projects — are fully integrated and part of the creative process.
A handful of songs — maybe three or four — are completely done, Gutter said, with another seven or eight in various stages of development. It helps that there’s no major label breathing down the band’s collective neck to hurry up and finish the damn thing, already.
That freedom, according to Gutter, makes all the difference.
“Instead of trying to get someone who’s got a hit, or someone who’s well known to feature on a track, we’re going with people who have incredible talents, to make something that's purely from a place of creative imagination,” Gutter said. “The studio has become this, like, weird, creative collective. … We’ve even got a tap dancer on one song instead of a drum track.”
Other local musicians and producers have also found their way into the mix, including producer Matt Perry and members of local band Rigometrics.
And even though the new material is consuming most of their bandwidth these days, the Overtones will emerge in November to mark the 25th anniversary of their widely hailed fourth record, "Viva Nueva!" (which featured guest vocals by David Bowie), with a show at Live at Madrid’s; the date of that show has yet to be announced.
But, make no mistake, the new stuff is where it’s at for the band
“It’s great that we’ll get to celebrate this record that we did with (producer) Tony Visconti, and David Bowie,” Gutter said, “but the cool thing is, we’re back writing. We’re really excited about it.”
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Dave Gutter is playing an all-ages solo show at Bayside Bowl on Saturday, Sept. 3, at 6 pm. Tickets are $15 in advance or $20 at the door.