Punk Band Pictures Today is the last day of the Edinburgh Fringe (nicely planned, I know), and tonight I will play my last of 24 consecutive shows, followed by a post-partum rest. A few hours ago I was on a different kind of stage, being presented with an impressively titled Three Weeks Editor's Choice Award including a photo and framed plaque. The biggest festival reviewing newspaper Three Weeks chooses the ten events, shows, or performers that made the fringe special each year, and this year I was one. Being selected as one special thing out of ten may not seem like a great honour, but there are over two thousand shows competing for attention at the Fringe this year.
Rancid is a punk band with an obvious reggae influence. They were formed in 1991 in Albany, California, by Matt Freeman and Tim Armstrong. Rancid includes Armstrong on guitar and vocals, Freeman on bass and vocals, Lars Frederiksen on guitar and vocals, and Branden Steineckert on drums. The band was formed by Armstrong, Freeman, and former drummer Brett Reed, who left the band in 2006 and was replaced by Branden Steineckert. Frederiksen joined Rancid in 1993 when the band was searching for a second guitar player. They are credited, along with fellow California punk bands The Offspring and Green Day with reviving mainstream popular interest in punk rock in the United States during the mid 1990s. Rancid is perhaps best-known for the singles "Ruby Soho", "Time Bomb", "Salvation", and "Fall Back Down". As of 2007, Rancid has been working on a studio album expected to be released in June 2008 on Hellcat Records.