Cambridge Club Gets A Special Show From Shane Smith And The Saints

Drew Moholland reports. 

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The small but mighty Cantab Lounge in Cambridge plays host
to a band no stranger to stadiums Red Rocks for instance,
Shane Smith and the Saints came to town. It was
intimate and it was amazing. It sure was music lover.
Tim Dibble owns the Cantab Lounge with his wife Maureen.
Maureen had to leave a Shane Smith show in Wyoming
a few months ago because of a weather delay, so

(00:22):
Tim vowd put all his effort into getting Shane Smith
in the Saints to come to the Cantab so Maureen
could see the band created this rift in our marriage
that she had missed this incredible concert. So we somehow
were lucky enough to convince him two months later come
back and play the Cantab. Now that is good work, Tim,
Right there, Shane Smith in the Saints in a little
Cambridge club. What a night must bring you back to

(00:43):
your roots, my man, the early days right now, for sure.

Speaker 2 (00:45):
You're in the thick of it, you know, with everybody
like you know from the early early days and and
those shows I feel like are the most memorable in
my opinion.

Speaker 3 (00:55):
Yeah, what's the when you think about these tours and
you guys, you almost gave it up. I remember correctly
you had the van fire, which I know for people
who don't know, tell that story as briefly as you can.

Speaker 2 (01:05):
Yeah. We I mean, we've been doing it a long time.
We've been going since like two thousand and probably eleven
or so, and is when I bet met our fiddle
player Bennett. But in twenty nineteen, we were finally doing
some pretty decent stuff and we had our first tour
bus and then we had a bus fire. The bus
caught fire while we were going down the road and

(01:26):
it just burned everything, you know, the trailer, all of
our merchandise, all of our guitars, all of our car keys,
I mean like everything. And so we had to kind
of hit a reset button and kind of make a
decision if we're going to keep doing it. And long
story short, our our fan base kind of like just
poured out a ton of love for us and got

(01:47):
us back on our feet, and it was like nothing
held it back from then on. It was like because
we kept moving through that, it was almost like it
just was not going to go backwards, you know. And
so that's what it's felt like every month that has
happened since then has been just like a positive, just
completely positive upward turn.

Speaker 3 (02:09):
When I speak to a lot of like indie songwriters
and just I know, it's a grind. Sometimes it's not
always the easiest business. What would be your best advice
to the indie songwriter that's kind of going through it
right now and kind of in a spot that maybe
you were in however many years ago.

Speaker 2 (02:23):
I mean, I think just like, if you really believe
in it, you feel like, you know, you've got something
you want to say, you've got some music you want
to put out there, and and it's something you believe in.
It's just like, don't let anybody convince you otherwise, you know,
and and just you know, be a tough critic to
yourself obviously, but it's like as long as you just

(02:46):
you know, be your own worst critic. Kind of considered
Ray Well, I hovered this old guy from Texas told
me one time it was like, whenever you're writing a song,
just you know, put yourself in your sixty year old
version shoes and listen to it through your sixty year
old version. If the sixty year old version would respect it,
then it's probably good to move on. You know, and

(03:10):
it's probably good to call it finished. But if you
feel like your older version would be like, what the
hell is this? You know, like why did you say that?
Or why did you you know, then maybe just go
back to the drawing board. And I feel like if
you just consider it that way and you're always doing that,
you have no reason, if you believe in it, to stop,
even if if it feels like it's not going anywhere.

(03:33):
You know, you just keep hammering away and eventually you
find your gap and you just keep going.

Speaker 3 (03:39):
You know, well said your band I mean, it seems
like you guys are playing with joy. And I'm sure
being a bandleader is not always the easiest gig in
the world, but it seems like you guys play with
joy everywhere you go. And I mean, this was just
another great night, Is it true? Do you have it
just as much fun as you did many years ago?

Speaker 1 (03:59):
Yeah, one hundred percent.

Speaker 2 (04:00):
I mean, like, you know, life happens, and you've got
like your your good days and your bad days and everything,
and you have, but you have to show up for
the for the fans. You know, it's like they're there
to escape from their crap, you know. At the end
of the day, and you've got to you can't be
selfish with that. In my opinion, it's like you got
to show up for them. You know they're showing up

(04:21):
for you, so you show up for them no matter
what you got going on.

Speaker 3 (04:25):
So thank you for all the great music. Thanks for
all the time you spend you with your fans too.
I was watching you after The show Man, and you're
one of the more generous guys with your time. We
appreciate it, including this.

Speaker 2 (04:34):
Yeah, man, totally good. Talking to you

Speaker 3 (04:36):
From the Cantab Drew Mahall and WZ Boston's news radio