Portland rock trio Rigometrics left Maine last week for a breakneck tour of 15 shows in 17 days that hits New York, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia and a handful of other states before coming back to Maine in early March.
A week later, another string of shows is scheduled, including high-profile appearances as part of The Fogcutters Big Band Syndrome at the State Theatre on May 10, the All Roads Music Festival in Belfast on May 17, and the Sandy River Music Festival in Farmington on May 25.
Rigometrics is singer and keys player Keenan Hendricks, guitarist Josef Berger and drummer Derek Haney, all in their mid-20s. The music they make checks many boxes: lots of grooves and rock ‘n’ roll sensibilities with plenty of confident swagger. They sound like they’ve been playing together a lot longer than three years. It’s almost like they were dropped here via time machine from around 1975, when bands like Aerosmith and Led Zeppelin were going full-throttle.
The band’s transportation is a school bus they bought at an auction from the Kennebunk school district for $500 a few years ago and converted into a touring vehicle. Complete with two sets of bunkbeds, a couch and a pair of huge coolers, it saves the musicians from having to pay for hotel rooms while also allowing them to keep the closest eye possible on their instruments and equipment.
Rigometrics formed in 2021 and has released an impressive amount of music since then. “Rig N’ Roll” is the 2022 debut, followed by the EP “No Time To Waste” in 2023 and the live album “Live in Maine” on Feb. 2. There has also been a couple of singles, including “No Smoke,” released last week.
A conversation with all three band members on the day before they hit the road revealed a shared enthusiasm for the current tour, especially for performing at new-to-them venues like The Broadberry in Virginia. The frantic pace of dates doesn’t worry any of them.
They also explained how the band got its name. Hendricks said, when they first started playing shows out in public, they used a mini camper to haul their gear around. They referred to it as “the rig.” So when it came time to name the band, they agreed that “rig” needed to be part of it. Haney said that Rig Brothers was briefly considered.
“It was just a bunch of jokes around using the word ‘rig,’ and then it kind of transformed into the science aspect of it with ‘metrics’,” he said.
The three all have side hustles, but Rigometrics is their main focus.
“We are going full on with this whole thing and doing it all on our own and we have a lot to look forward to,” said Hendricks. “It’s been pretty wild for all of us to see how we’ve gone this far on our own, but we’re still being really humble; we still have a lot we want to do.”
You can’t talk about Rigometrics without mentioning Hendricks’ howling, growling vocals. He wails on his keys while giving his vocal cords a run for their money.
Hendricks, who has a theatrical background, developed his vocal approach when Rigometrics formed. “We were going to be really high intensity and loud, and this groove, rock ‘n’ roll kind of theatrical thing,” he said. At first, even one show would cause Hendricks to lose his voice, but over time, it has gotten stronger and more resilient.
We can all hear for ourselves what Hendricks and his bandmates sound like when they open for The Mallett Brothers Band on March 9 in Hermon, March 16 in Rangeley, and March 17 in Carrabassett Valley.
I ran into rapper Spose at a bookstore about a month ago, and while chatting about music, he mentioned loving Rigometrics. Rustic Overtones frontman Dave Gutter is such a big supporter, he has opened up the Rustic studio in Portland for them to use.
Now Rigometrics can count me among their newest fans, because it’s clear they are fully invested in what they’re doing, and all it takes is one song to believe it.
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