The Hung Wellgarians

What’s your style/genre? Well, since we are strictly a cover band, we don’t really have a style/ genre. We try to select tunes based on what people will like and dance to, as well as what we want to play and/or never play again. We try to stay diverse in our sound, moving from country to rock to ska to punk throughout our sets. What’s new? We received a cease-and-desist letter concerning our former band name from a lovely gentleman from south of the border, which encouraged us to transform into The Hung Wellgarians! How long have you been around? Well, I guess this iteration with Travis Plouffe (guitar and lead vox), Noah Anderson (lead guitar), Steve Kondreska on drums, and myself, Terence Etienne, on bass, has been gigging for a little over a year now. It’s been a blast playing at all of the venues around town since this time last year. It’s awesome to see more venues bringing in live acts! Favourite song you cover? Well, we couldn’t all agree on one so here’s a quick list: Travis: “Superstition” by Stevie Wonder Noah: “Little Bones” by The Tragically Hip Steve: “Fly” by Sugar Ray Terence: “Time Bomb” by Rancid If you could collaborate with any musician/band, living or dead, who would it be and why? Again we couldn’t agree on this so we’ll drop in everyone’s take. Noah: Collab with AC/DC (ideally Bon Scott era) because it’s what gave him the dream to rock and roll and be in a rock band, which he has now accomplished. And AC/DC is pure rock and roll. No-bullshit hard rock. Steve: Gowan. Steve finds him to be an amazing performer and songwriter but personally, Steve’s a bit of a strange animal so that might be why! Travis: Taylor Swift because she’s on fire and he loves her and she’s a great songwriter. Terence: Led Zeppelin. Does there need to be a why? What would be your dream gig? Travis’s dream gig is to pack the Thunder Bay Community Auditorium with all of his admiring hometown fans for a one-night party. Terence’s would be an early Lollapalooza, because every cool band ever played there. Noah’s dream gig would have to be Monsters of Rock/ Donington back in the 80s with all the classic rock bands, or the U.S. Festival in ‘83 playing with Judas Priest. What’s the best thing about playing live shows? Playing live is what it’s all about— having a crowd enjoying your music, and the energy from the crowd giving you energy to play harder and better for the audience. Getting to see your friends and family having a great time is awesome and really, there’s nothing like being told how much people enjoyed your show. Where do you draw inspiration in your music? As a cover band, I think our inspiration mainly comes from our own personal tastes. We try not to do songs the guys in the band don’t like, as songs we all like get played better. There’s almost 35 years between our oldest and youngest members so we definitely have a few decades of musical selection between us! What do you hope people take away from your music? I think first and foremost, we want people to have as much fun hearing us as we have playing for them. So pick up an instrument! Get together with your buddies and make noise. It’s fun, it’s personally rewarding, and you can share it with others. We would definitely like to take this opportunity to thank all the venues that support and promote live music in Thunder Bay, as well as all the local talent out there working hard to bring good quality music to Thunder Bay! Contacts: The Hung Wellgarians on Facebook @thehungwellgarians