Celebrity Travel: Go away with Will Rigby
Will Rigby has a set routine before he prepares for a trip. “I’ve seen enough of the great cathedrals of the world,” said the dB’s drummer, who is based out of Chapel Hill, North Carolina. “They’re impressive, but all the same. [I check for] museums and other attractions, see if any band I want to see is playing where I'm going [and] places to eat.”
Their recently re-released debut album “Stands for Decibels” will be followed by a multi-format reissue of their second record “Repercussion” this fall, followed by a tour. Rigby, who said he is “quite allergic to social media,” occasionally visits Bluesky (username: @bringbialys). This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Q: What trips do you have planned for this year?
A: In May, [I went to] Mississippi for a gig. [Then] I'm going to New Jersey, New York, Athens, Charlotte, Winston-Salem and Los Angeles – different trips for different reasons. In Los Angeles, I'm visiting my daughter, Hazel, which I haven't done in a long time. I'm excited to be going when she has a performance – she performs music as TBHQ. Check her out on Bandcamp.
Q: Do you work on any of your songs on the road?
A: I'm not a prolific songwriter. What songwriting I do is generally done at home. Perhaps some inspiration may strike as I'm out in the world, but I'd say that for the most part traveling is not something that causes me to write.
Q: Where was the first paid concert that the dB's played?
A: The dB's started in June 1978. Our first gig was at Max's Kansas City, opening for the Feelies, I think. Our first show outside New York City was in Philadelphia that same summer or early fall.
Q: What was a trip you took as a child that stands out?
A: The major trip that I took in childhood was as a 9-year-old from my home in Winston-Salem [North Carolina] to Utah and Idaho and back, in a VW bus with my parents and five siblings. We saw many attractions along the way, including Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, the Corn Palace in South Dakota, Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone and Bryce Canyon National Park and Meteor Crater in Arizona. The impetus for the trip was a Rigby family reunion in Idaho and more visiting with various extended family in Utah. This trip was one that more or less bifurcated my childhood into before and after. Not sure if it changed me, per se. I loved it, although the campgrounds got a bit old. It’s amazing now to think how we kids were just crawling all over the back of the car all the way across the country and back – no seat belts at all, not even a thought of them.
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