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Music Features

The good fight

GETTING SOME POWER BACK: Kilgore.

The original lineup of ’90s Prov-rock stalwarts and near-stars Kilgore will be taking the stage together for the first time in eight years for “Fight to Remember,” a breast cancer research benefit, a cause dear to Jason Berndt, whose wife Jessica recently lost her Mom to the disease. One hundred percent of the proceeds (and 10 percent of the bar) will go to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Here’s some of our e-mail chat:

How did you come about connecting with this particular charity?
Jason: Jessica wanted to do something for her mom, Terry Hogan, who died of breast cancer. She had a mastectomy two weeks before we got married, and she made it to the wedding. She fought hard and initially beat the cancer. She was in remission for a couple years, but it then metastasized into her lungs, lymph nodes, and eventually her brain. Jessica looked into some the fund-raising walks and being a glutton for extremes, she picked the longest one — three-day, 60-mile walk for the Susan G. Komen Foundation and the National Philanthropic Trust. Her mom was planning on doing the walk with us “when she got better,” so when she died, it became even more important for us to do it. It was a way to start the healing process and feel like there was something we could actually do. One thing cancer is really good at doing is making you feel completely powerless. This was a way to get some power back.

What’s everybody in Kilgore been up to since the band broke up?
Well, original guitarist Brian McKenzie became an acoustic singer-songwriter. He spent some time in Nashville honing his craft, came back to Rhode Island for some time, and may eventually go back to Tennessee. Original bassist Jason “Smitty” Smith has been working on acoustic music as well. I dropped out of music for a while, got happily married, and began playing honky-tonk. I’m now with the Brimstone Assembly. Guitarist Mike Pelletier moved out to LA with Marty O’Brian (bass) and Bill Southerland (drums) in 2000 with hopes of keeping Kilgore going. Mike now plays in a band called In For the Kill. Marty ended up getting a gig with Tommy Lee’s Methods of Mayhem and has been touring and recording with many bands over the last few years. Bill worked numerous jobs in LA before moving back to Providence, where he now works with kids.

How do you feel about the band’s legacy? Any regrets?
I’m not sure what to say about the band’s legacy. So much of it all is such a blur. We always knew we had great fans, but it was hard to see if we were making an impact outside of Providence. I’m glad that we always stayed the course and made music the way we wanted to, even when the record executives thought otherwise. I do have one regret — that even though I was able to express myself in lyrics, I wasn’t able to really talk to the guys in the band. We were so young and held so many things inside. Maybe if we talked more, maybe we’d all still be together. Alas, everything happens for a reason.