Are we ready ready?”
Steve “Smalltown” Littleton, frontman and self-described “boss” of dormant Stockton punk band Trucker Dad is pensively checking his bandmates and the room filled with longtime friends and fans. The band looks excited, perhaps somewhat nervous, as everyone finds a place to sit or stand.
“Can we start now?” Littleton mocks.
Instantly, the band erupts into their track “Animals” from their 2016 LP Starts With Some Booze. There is no audible sign that this is the group’s first show in nearly five years.
It may also be the last.
The lineup consisted of Littleton on vocals, Ryan “Noodles” Dillard on guitar, Pat “P-Nice” Dowling on guitar, Santino Gemigniani on bass and John Grant filling-in on drums. The band was formed in a prototypical state in 2007 from the ashes of several California bands.
Dillard joined in 2011. It was at this point the “Trucker Dad” name and identity was formed.
“We had a lot of bad names that we had been tossing around,” said Dillard. “There was something about Trucker Dad that once we settled on that … it just fit. I feel like we got it from Pops.”
Responsible for the name and much of the band’s discovered identity was another member of the Trucker Dad family, longtime friend Pops.
“He had to have been our biggest fan, our biggest cheerleader,” said Dillard. “He was at nearly every practice we had, […] he was there all the time. If he wasn’t at the front row of every show, it’s probably because he was home sick.”
The show occurred in celebration of Ryan’s wife, Jaime Dillard’s birthday. At her request, the band was able to find the time to rehearse and play one more show.
“To my surprise, I texted the guys and everybody was super excited about it.,” said Jamie Dillard.
Despite the punk-like environment of a house-show, the show was a bit more intimate with the audience consisting of dozens of family members and friends of the band throughout its history.
Speaking of the experience of the reunion show, Dowling had nothing but positives to share.
“It was awesome, actually. It was a lot of fun. I didn’t expect it to go as smoothly and as easily. I think we only had two practices and we haven’t played in four, five years. To be able to pull off what we were able to pull off was kind of magical in a way,” said Dowling.
Littleton also expressed his enjoyment of the experience.
“It’d been a few years, but we’re still friends. […] These are all people that I love and enjoy being around,” he said.
Despite their time apart as a group, getting back into the rehearsals was no issue.
“It was like we started right where we left off. It felt pretty natural.” said Dowling. Littleton agreed. “I think the hardest part was just remembering the songs. Once we remembered the songs, it was just like old times,” said Littleton.
Trucker Dad officially disbanded and went their separate ways in 2019. With the high-spirits and such a seemingly great relationship between the band members, it may be difficult to see why they didn’t stay together longer.
“It was life,” said Dillard. “We had kids, the kids started getting older, more and more stuff started happening that just made it harder to get together.”
Littleton echoed Dillard.
“It’s a lot easier to continue on than to start something new when it comes to giving your Sunday away,” said Littleton.
There were of course external factors that played an important role as well.
“There definitely was drama,” Dowling said with a laugh. “Far less than you’d think for a band, but… it’s always there. It’s kind of like being married to a bunch of dudes and we all have to get along.”
There are currently no set plans for Trucker Dad to reunite in the future. The show, a somewhat intimate house party show with most of the people that played a role in the band’s history, would serve as a fitting swansong.
“I’d love to,” said Dowling of the idea of possibly reuniting. “I think the friendship part is the most important part.”
“Never say never,” said Littleton. “I imagine we’d do something,” he said with a nod.
