Gunfight!

In late 2006, a group of college friends formed a band with the intention of having fun and playing the booze-fueled house parties and basement punk shows of Allston, Mass. While they could barely tune their guitars back then (assuming anyone even remembered to bring a tuner to the shows), they were able to develop a unique, rowdy take on Americana by drawing on a fascination with country music and their own experiences drinking and hanging out in the fields and parking lots of their suburban home towns.

Ten years later, after moving to NYC in 2007, GunFight! has grown into a cohesive Brooklyn act with one EP and two LP’s in their repertoire, a steady following, and a sound they’ve dubbed “Post-Country" —a raucous blend of roots-country, punk, post-punk and good old rock n’ roll, that serves as a timely rebuke and New York-style re-appropriation of the “rah-rah red-state” nature of contemporary country music. Think The Clash and The Ramones playing Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings covers with a healthy dose of Bruce Springsteen mixed in. Initially a four piece, the band has grown over the years to include five members: Drew Mintz (guitar and vocals), Rich DiGregorio (drums), Bill Dvorak (guitar), Mark Karges (bass) and Griffin McMahon (keys).

Since moving to NYC, GunFight! has built a strong following in the live settings of loft parties, basements and venues like Mercury Lounge, Cake Shop, BK Bazaar, and Brooklyn Bowl. They released the Hide Your Empties EP (on BNS Sessions) in early 2009 and their first full-length, Frontier Land in 2010. GunFight! has played on bills with Those Darlins, Langhorne Slim, Beach Fossils, J. Roddy Walston and The Business, and others. The band has also been written about by SPIN, FILTER, CMJ, Tiny Mix Tapes, New York Magazine and more.

In 2017, the band released their second full-length, Stripes (recorded with Jeff Berner at GaluminumFoil Productions). The album features a mix of “classic” GunFight! country/punk, along with a ballad or two, a “proper” country song and even a few experimental moments.

GunFight! is currently toiling away on new material for a third album. Sparked initially as tribute to Ray Price's classic 1963 album Night Life, this yet to be completed collection of songs will similarly draw its inspiration from the many goings-on that occur between sunset and sunrise.