Welcome!

Welcome to the official webpage for Andy Smash and the Rust Belt Hotrods!

Times are tough all over, and as any punk rocker can tell you, the only way through is to rise above.  We’re here for you, and in that spirit we’ve got some good news to come with the New Year–a bunch of good news:

Our on-line presence just got a whole lot huger.  We’ve finally got our own webpage, and you’re reading it right now.  As you may know, we like to keep things as DIY as is reasonably possible, which can make us a tough target to track.  That’s what this page is for.  We’ll use this page to keep you in the know about everything:  upcoming gigs, radio appearances, new songs, new releases, free downloads, fresh lyrics, and whatever other relevant details happen to cross our sights.  Facebook and MySpace being the vessels that they are, links from this page to those sites may be a bit weird.

Our full length CD is due to drop any moment.  As a matter of fact, it’s at the duplicator’s right now.  It’s entitled North Country Punk.  It’s a “story thus far” kind of thing:  a combination of new material, remixes, remasters, and fresh versions of your favorite Hotrods songs.  We put a lot of effort into making sure it was “just so.”  The album artwork (done by Juni Moon) is nothing shy of spectacular.  It’s been a long journey and a lot of work.  We’re very proud of it.  Watch this space for further details.

We’re on Bandcamp now, too. In fact, our page is right here, although all you really have to do is click the Music button on the menu above.  Bandcamp features our music in a variety of high-quality audio formats, including MP3.  You can purchase entire albums or individual songs, and you can listen to all of it before you buy.  This is also where you’ll find those free downloads I was hinting at earlier.  Sorry, but you’ll have to use your browser’s back-arrow to navigate back to this page.

Rochester Sessions, the classic music show on WITR , is back on the air after a long hiatus.  The show features live music and interviews with local artists.  We’re happy to announce that we’ve been invited to play!  Mike Yates, host of WITR radio show Do The Pop has been the driving force behind this particular adventure.  We should be in the WITR studios some time towards the end of January or early February.  We’re totally stoked.

Our ‘touring’ schedule for 2011 is still on the drawing board.  Last year was something of a chaotic scramble as we tried to get the beast rolling, but thanks to you every show was an absolute blast!  This year we’re really hoping to break out of the Rochester area and play some gigs around the region.  If you hear of anything, let us know.  And we’ll be sure to keep you posted.

So there you have it: the new on-line world  of Andy Smash and the Rust Belt Hotrods. It’s been a long time coming, but we’re here to stay.