HGWT’s roots run deep; frontman Matt Burke and his brother, bassist Danny Burke, plus keyboardist Ed Stork were born there. Like every city in Florida these days, the town has gone through changes.
“I’ve always had a bit of a love/hate thing with my hometown. But definitely more love than hate. I’ve tried to express these sentiments in our songs over the years,” Matt told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay.
But when the pandemic hit, he reached out to the Realize Bradenton nonprofit which asked him to write an uplifting song about the neighborhood. The cut made it into a local campaign, and ended up on HGWT’s new EP, Silver Sounds. The band’s longtime collaborator, director Ryan Seybold, helped the video—where the band cruises around Bradenton in a classic Rambler convertible—come to life.
Watch the clip below and catch the vibe when the Burke Brothers play Ella’s Americana Folk Art Cafe’s annual Jan. 1 brunch in Tampa. There’s no cover, but reservations are recommended.
This article appears in Dec 22-28, 2022.