Good Trouble Brass Band (current photo)

By Harry Kane

For the 19th year, activist street bands gather to honk their horns and rally the residents in a commitment to promoting peace, social justice and civic engagement at the annual HONK! Festival.

The grassroots movement showcased 30+ groups performing unplugged at the weekend festival in Somerville and Cambridge over the weekend from October 4–6.

Good Trouble Brass Band is the music group that started it all. The Somerville activist-centered, New Orleans style Brass Band formed in 2003 at an anti-war protest against the Second Gulf War. The music group has continued to grow and remain true to its activist mission throughout the past 21 years. The “brassroots revolution,” has now become a worldwide phenomenon.

In 2006, members of the Good Trouble Brass Band, formerly known as Second Line Social Aid and Pleasure Society Brass Band, founded the first HONK! Festival in Somerville.

The festival started in Davis Square with 13 bands every October and has expanded to various parts of Somerville and Cambridge, explained Mary Curtin, media relations and original band member.

“We’re fortunate that, in this 19th year of the HONK! Festival, we’ve been able to bring together many different strong and inspiring versions of music, arts and activism locally, from across the U.S., and this year from Belo Horizonte, Brazil,” said John Bell, a founding member of the HONK! Festival committee. “As always, the support from our communities – including the cities of Somerville and Cambridge, and community groups and businesses, both local and from the larger Boston area – has been essential for the success of the festival.”

Good Trouble’s mission is to fight for social justice. The band performs at protests, rallies, marches and local community events.

Aleksandra Burger-Roy, a spokesperson and musician in Good Trouble says the most pressing global concern is the war in Gaza and the injustice against the Palestinian people.

“It really brings me great pride that my predecessors were able to really grow this fantastic movement of music and activism together,” Burger-Roy said.

The band hopes to bring a bit of music to the streets of Somerville and beyond, in the hopes of creating a more passionate, just and fair world, Burger-Roy added.

The band name is derived from a maxim of the late civil rights icon and former United States Representative John Lewis, who said: “Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.” The next year in 2019, Lewis said: “When you see something that is not right, not just, not fair, you have a moral obligation to say something. To do something…”

That is the sentiment that Good Trouble Brass Band wants to instill in people with their presence at protests, rallies and marches.

“We always want to make good trouble and live Representative Lewis’s legacy, and continue his fight for a more just world,” Burger-Roy said.

Good Trouble’s musical style is rich in the New Orleans tradition with heavy improvisation and jazz influences. There is a strong connection with the African American culture from New Orleans.

“We want to honor those musicians and recognize them by spreading their music around,” Burger-Roy said.

Burger-Roy plays the mellophone, which is similar to a French horn, and also plays trumpet, trombone and tuba.

Their sheet music is more of a guideline and there is a good amount of improvisation.

“We love taking that liberty in how we play,” Burger-Roy said. “It reflects our values of guidance without strong-arming.”

For Burger-Roy and the others that honk, their music mirrors the way protests happen. At a protest, Burger-Roy says a lot of people from different walks of life come together for the same cause, with each individual having their own take on the situation, many of whom may not see everything the same way.

“Like that, we bring together a whole bunch of different instruments playing something slightly different, having our own take on the music, but still playing towards a common goal,” Burger-Roy said.

Good Trouble Brass Band had 30 band members playing at HONK! Festival over the weekend. Some 20 members are considered core members and there are 15 members who come and go.

The movement that started in Somerville has grown across the country and to other parts of the world. There are HONK! Festivals in Brazil, Canada and Australia.

Another Somerville band that performed at HONK! Festival is Emperor Norton’s Stationary Marching Band. They are a joyful cacophony of Balkan, Klezmer and funk, with a tasteful thrash of metal thrown in for good measure, according to their website’s description.

Emperor Norton’s Stationary Marching Band has been playing in HONK! Festival since the 2nd annual event. Their band featured 16 members during this weekend’s festivities.

“We don’t always have the same amount of people in every gig,” said Chuck Lechien, Jr., founding member of the band. “But everybody always comes for HONK! because it’s their favorite time of year.”

Second Line Social Aid and Pleasure Society Brass Band (The origins of the band)