It’s fun to reconnect with artists after a few years to discover what’s new with them and how their careers are developing. Such is the case with the trio known as Ghost of Paul Revere. When I first interviewed Griffin Sherry (guitar and vocals), his band was a quartet (they started as a five-piece before that) and had just released their CD “Believe.” Now, he’s joined with Max Davis (banjo and vocals) and Sean McCarthy (bass and vocals) with a show coming up at the Waterville Opera House on Dec. 29. They are supporting their newest CD “Monarch” so I was curious to discover a little more about them, beginning with when that new CD was released.

Sherry: It came out in October of 2017.

Q: So are you working on something new?

Sherry: We are, yeah. We go in to record in January.

Q: The group is the three of you, but when I checked out some video links to some of your live performances, like the one where you appeared on Conan, there was a drummer. When you hit Waterville, will you have backing musicians for that or will it be just the trio?

Sherry: We will, yeah. It’s pretty rare that we do a trio show nowadays. We did a couple, one in Pittsburgh and one in Washington, D.C. on this last tour but normally we have support with us. We’re going to be out with Ben Cosgrove on piano and accordion, Ed Hodgkins on drums and Kevin Oates on cello.

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Q: Wow, that’s going to make for a full, rich sound for sure. Now back to “Monarch.” What number album is that for you, three?

Sherry: That was our second full-length record but our fourth release, we had two Eps out, one before “Believe” and the second, “Field Notes Vol. 1” came out after “Believe” in 2015 and before “Monarch.”

Q: Do you take two years between albums? “Monarch” was a 2017 release and you’re next one will be a 2019 release.

Sherry: Well, “Believe” came out in 2014, I think, and “North,” our first EP, came out in 2011. We will probably try to make it every two years on a regular basis now.

Q: As far as the songwriting goes, are you the principle writer?

Sherry: We all kind of share the songwriting. I mean, whoever sings the lead normally wrote that song. On “Monarch” in particular, it’s about half-and-half between Max and I.

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Q: When it comes to touring, how far afield do you guys go?

Sherry: The only states we haven’t played in are North and South Dakota. As far as continental states go, we haven’t been to Alaska or Hawaii. We’re just delegated to land travel right now, but that’s going to change soon hopefully.

Q: How long have you guys been together?

Sherry: We’ve been together just over seven years, but the three of us have known each other for our entire lives so it’s an easy thing to forget how long the band’s actually been because we’ve been going together for so long.

Q: And I’d say that things are going along very well for you guys, right?

Sherry: Yeah, we are definitely a working band, we’ve not had any other jobs for the last couple of years. I’ve been surviving on music and some other stuff for the last three-and-a-half years so I’m very fortunate. But we also have had a very intense schedule. We did about 220 shows this year and luckily we are playing to good-size crowds all over the country.

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Q: And representing Maine in the finest style, too.

Sherry: That’s right (laughter).

Q: It must be cool to be able to make a living at what you love doing.

Sherry: Yeah, definitely! I mean, we always say, “A bad show is still always better than a good day job!”

Q: Damn straight. Now, what can folk expect from the show at the Opera House?

Sherry: I think they can expect us to probably play a bunch of new songs that we’ve been working on and we’re really excited about. We’ve been playing them on the road for the last month or so and we’re going to try to just bring a really high-energy performance to the whole thing. I think it will be very similar to our last performance at the Opera House, but this time with a bigger band.

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Q: When was the last time you were there?

Sherry: Oh, I think it was March.

Q: Of this year?!

Sherry: Yeah.

Q: Oh man, Griffin, I must be slipping! Anyway, is there anything that you’d like to get across to the folks reading this article?

Sherry: Well, I think they should pick up their tickets really quickly because I was just looking at the numbers and there are not a whole lot left in Waterville, and the Strand (in Rockland where they will perform on the 28th) is almost sold out; so our New Year’s run, I imagine not long before Christmas, all of the shows will be sold out. So it’s best to get your tickets now instead of waiting. They can expect new tunes and new merch for the holiday shows which I’m really excited about.

Lucky Clark, winner of a 2018 “Keeping The Blues Alive” Award, has spent 49 years writing about good music and the people who make it. He can be reached at luckyc@myfairpoint.net if you have any questions, comments or suggestions.


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