By Glenn Rifkin

“The music I really respond to is by artists who have in some way captured a moment in an evocative way, a universal truth, something that feels honest and real. That’s what we try to do.”

Covid was a distressing time for most musicians, but it was particularly harsh for The Sweet Remains. This folk/rock trio of singer/songwriters with their honey-smooth harmonies had just released its fourth studio album in February 2020 and was about to launch a tour in support of the record. A month later, the pandemic put the kibosh on that plan. But that wasn’t all.

Greg Naughton, one of the group’s charter members, had made a film about a band struggling to break through in the thorny music world. Rather than hiring actors to lip-synch the soundtrack, Naughton turned to his band mates, Rich Price and Brian Chartrand, along with himself, to take on the lead roles so they could do their own performing. The film, The Independents, launched on the film festival circuit in 2019 to positive reviews, and it was scheduled for theatrical release in March 2020. Needless to say, the double whammy stung.

Flash forward five years, and The Sweet Remains have stayed undaunted. The three stalwarts, Price, Naughton, and Chartrand, released their fifth studio album Embers, late last year and have embarked on a series of mini tours around the country throughout 2025. For the band’s dedicated New England fan base, the final leg of the tour is set for four area venues in four nights. The band will appear at the Shalin Liu Performance Center in Rockport on September 4, The Spire Center in Plymouth on the 5th, the Knickerbocker Music Center in Westerly, Rhode Island, on the 6th, and wrap up at The Iron Horse in Northampton on September 7.

Having not visited any of the venues since before Covid, the tour holds special meaning for the band. “We had an exciting tour planned for the last album and then Covid hit,” said Rich Price. “So for this one, we said, ‘Let’s really tour our new album the way we couldn’t last time.’”

Price, who calls Burlington, Vermont, home, spoke to The Arts Fuse about the upcoming shows.

Arts Fuse: Since the band was formed in 2008, you’ve had an unusual dynamic in the way you’ve made your music. A lot of it has to do with geography.

The Sweet Remains — (l to r) Greg Naughton, Rich Price, and Brian Chartrand. Photo: courtesy of the artist

Rich Price: We often joke that we’re the most geographically challenged band in the country. Brian lives in Phoenix, Greg lives in Connecticut, and I’m in Burlington. But in some ways, it’s been the secret to our longevity. We’re so excited when we do get together.

AF: That must create some challenges.

Price: Yes, it does. We do a lot of meetings on Zoom. We get a lot of writing done while on tour when we’re together. During the days, each of us will say, “I’ve got this new tune, will you help me finish the song?” Or “I need a bridge for this one.” I would love for us to live near one another, but in some ways, when we do get together, it makes it more fun and exciting.

AF: Because of your living circumstances, the tours have been infrequent. How has this one played out?

Price: Touring has definitely been less regular since Covid. This year, we’ll do a total of 30 shows over four- or five-day runs. We’ve gone out five to seven times, and this is actually our last set of dates this year. We were in the Midwest in July. We did Connecticut and a mid-Atlantic run, and the West Coast earlier in the year.

AF: What should people expect from this show?

Price:There will be five of us in the group, with Todd Chuba on drums and Jeff Hill on bass. It’s always a challenge when you do a tour for a new album. Bands tend to be really excited about the new material, and it takes some restraint not to pack the set list with a bunch of new songs. We’ll play four songs from the new album, but there will be a healthy mix of our older material with the new.

AF: It obviously helps that each of you is a singer/songwriter in your own right.

Price: One of the joys of being in this band is that we are three singer/songwriters, so we have lots of material to choose from. Each of us has been a front man at some point in our careers, so it’s really nice to share the load with lead vocals. Over the course of a tour, our voices stay in good shape.

AF: Your harmonies are remarkable. Is it difficult to get together so infrequently and yet keep those harmonies intact?

Price: It’s been that way right from the beginning, when our voices fell into a very natural, intuitive harmony with one another. I’ve made music with a lot of people, but I’ve never experienced anything like this, where our voices naturally sit. The two other guys are really great at finding harmonies. It’s effortless in a lot of ways.

AF: Given that you’ve been together for 17 years now, it’s obviously working on some significant level.

Price: One of the things about being in a band with two other songwriters is seeing how different the creative process can be, even within the same band. Greg is really deliberate, like a sculptor working on something and revising it over and over. I’m at the other end of the spectrum. I’m more trusting of my own instincts. I have to write. I write many more songs than Greg does, probably some that should never see the light of day. Brian is somewhere in the middle. The music I really respond to is by artists who have in some way captured a moment in an evocative way, a universal truth, something that feels honest and real. That’s what we try to do.

Glenn Rifkin is a veteran journalist and author who has covered business for many publications including The New York Times for nearly 35 years. He has written about music, film, theater, food, and books for The Arts Fuse. His book Future Forward: Leadership Lessons from Patrick McGovern, the Visionary Who Circled the Globe and Built a Technology Media Empire was published by McGraw-Hill.