TBShows.com presents On The Scene

Page 38 Offers Straight-Up Hard Rock with a Dash of Grunge

As someone who keeps a very close eye on the music scene in Thunder Bay, I can tell you there’s arguably no harder working band than Page 38. Over the last decade, I’ve watched them evolve from a high school band playing all-ages shows for their friends and families to professional musicians playing at nearly every venue in town, as well as a handful of festivals. These guys put in the work and can keep a crowd entertained all night playing anything from highenergy classic rock covers to their own original rock and roll bangers.

Over the years, Page 38 has put out several recordings, including Angel & Demons (2013), Rock N Roll You (2016), Swingin’ From The Ceiling (2018),

Burning the Midnight Oil (2019), and the single,

“Waves” (2021). Currently, the guys are working on a new album that will showcase the truest representation of what this band is capable of. “We started working on this record right after our hiatus in 2019,” says drummer and co-founding member Taylor Nicholl. “The direction and sound has gone through many revisions between then and now, but at this point, we’re 100% committed to what we have now and we’re very eager to get it out. The entire concept is essentially to reinvent our sound while still staying true to what we’ve crafted over the last 10 years. It's a straight-up hard rock album with a dash of grunge.”

Writing an album is no small task, even for the most seasoned musicians. Each band has their own writing process, influences, and obstacles, which is what makes every album unique. “Everybody brings collective musical/life experience,” explains guitarist Jacob Goodman. “When you get five different guys with five different lives, you get a unique writing process that can be both the best and worst thing in the world.”

“Usually two or three guys will get together to develop a skeleton of a song then they’ll bring it to the other guys and we’ll develop it further as a band,” says lead singer and co-founding member Andy Hubbard. “We all have equal input on writing but I can say Taylor and Preston [Robinson] have been putting in the most time to get this stuff together. The biggest influence has been life since the last time we wrote music. I can confidently say my life is 110% different now then it was four years ago and what we’re gonna pump out is going to be a reflection of that.”

“The biggest obstacle has been time,” Nicholl says. “Back in April 2022 when live music revved up again, we had a ton of bookings and we had to get together for many stage shows in limited time. It felt like we were playing shows straight through the summer and then we didn’t get back to the process until the fall.”

It's a little-known fact that over the years of working with Page 38, I’ve never once been able to find out what the band name means—until now. “I’ve kept this a secret for 10 years, but I think it’s time,” laughs Hubbard. “Check the February, 2012 issue of this magazine [The Walleye] and you’ll see an amazing picture of my sister's husband. I made a joke that that’s what I’m gonna call my band and mother was not happy about and said ‘There is no fucking way you’re calling it that’ and I said, ‘Bet?’”

Catch Page 38 live on stage April 21 and 22 at The Wayland. Follow @page38, @tbshows, and @wigginsproductions for more info.