A brightly lit live concert photograph of the band Have Gun, Will Travel performing on a small stage at Shuffle in Tampa. In the center foreground, a band member wearing a yellow t-shirt, dark jeans, and a baseball cap is playing a white bass guitar. To the right, another member with shoulder-length hair, wearing a light blue short-sleeve shirt, is singing enthusiastically into a microphone and holding up a tambourine with one hand while standing behind a green keyboard. Two other band members playing instruments are visible in the background to the left. The stage features an exposed slatted wooden ceiling and a dark blue back wall, strongly illuminated by a bright blue stage light on the left. Several guitar effect pedals and cables are scattered on the floor in the foreground. — Have Gun, Will Travel plays Shuffle in Tampa, Florida on Nov. 25, 2022. Credit: Photo by Dave Decker / Creative Loafing Tampa Bay

In 2019, Bay area king of Americana, Have Gun, Will Travel, started a pivot to rock and roll. The move wasn’t a surprise considering the Bradenton-born band’s origins as a punk band called Chase Theory, but HGWT is really leaning into loud on a new 7-inch coming out as frontman Matt Burke & co. celebrate 20 years of banddom.

The A-side “Angry Monkeys” pulls no punches on its critique of a government that agitates its people and sends untrained officers to stir the pot. “Shiver Down My Spine” is more power-pop than anything HWGT has released and addresses the dark side in all of us, often activated after being radicalized by tyrannical leadership that would pit us against ourselves.

Tampa Bay’s melancholic king of folk music, Will Quinlan, opens this milestone concert for the Have Gun boys.

Tickets to see Have Gun, Will Travel (20th anniversary show and single release) play Skipper’s Smokehouse in Tampa on Saturday, May 16 are still available for $20.

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This article appears in May 14 – 20, 2026.