With 'For the People,' Boston's Dropkick Murphys has created an album both inspired by and about the times we live in. The group's 13th studio set follows two albums on which it wrote songs to unreleased Woody Guthrie lyrics, and the band -- playing Sunday, Aug.
Dropkick Murphys performs at Warped Tour at Shoreline Waterfront on July 27, 2025 in Long Beach, California. The band Dropkick Murphys will perform on a bill with Bad Religion and the Mainliners at 7 p.
m. Sunday, Aug. 10, at Jacobs Pavilion, 2014 Sycamore St., Cleveland. The topical and outspoke current that’s run through the Murphys over the course of 29 years and 13 albums is certainly evident on its latest, “For the People,” a 12-song assault that was clearly written of and for the times. Produced by regular collaborator Ted Hutt and coming on the heels of two acoustic albums created from unrecorded Woody Guthrie lyrics, “We the People” is loud and proud, as Casey and company -- including a guest appearance from fellow vocalist Al Barr, who’s been on leave caring for his ailing mother -- ask “Who’ll Stand With Us?” and warn about “Fiending for the Lies.” They get help in the task, too. Irish bands the Mary Wallopers and the Scratch -- the latter of which plays on the album-closing tribute to the Pogues’ late Shane MacGowan ” -- take part, along with Billy Bragg on a cover of Ewan MacColl’s “School Days Are Over” and Pennywise guitarist Fletcher Dragge on “The Big Man,” the Murphys’ salute to...well, him. The Murphys have taken the message to the stage too; at a recent livestreamed Vans Warped Tour stop in Long Beach, Calif., Casey embellished a dedication of the song “First Class Loser” to U.S. President Donald Trump with some unflattering comments about his character and physical appearance. That’s all on brand, of course, and you can rest assured the Murphys won’t pull punches when its “Summer of Discontent Tour” with kindred spirit Bad ReligionCasey: From a sonic side, coming off the two acoustic Woody Guthrie albums we knew we were gonna want to bounce back in a louder, more aggressive way. It wasn’t necessarily a plan -- we just knew we’d be ready. It’s like keeping people away from what they normally do for awhile makes you want to do it that much more. So, yeah, we were ready to be loud, and I think it comes across that we’ve been waiting to do that. And lyrically, the topical songs on the album certainly are of a piece with some of the Guthrie songs you did. Casey: Sure. Obviously we’ve always been inspired by protest music, whether in the form of punk rock, whether in the form of Americana and the Pete Seeger or Woody Guthrie mode, or even going back to traditional Irish music. We think America is in a time of crisis, and so being the band we are, we’re gonna sing about it.Casey: I think we’ve always been inspired by his lyrics, and his music. When you talk about Woody’s approach to songwriting, it’s all about if you get a couple good chords, don’t screw it up. If you’ve got a story to tell, don’t overcomplicate it. That was his mentality -- whatever gets the message across, don’t screw it up by overthinking it. That’s pretty hand in hand with how a punk band should approach things -- just try to hit ‘em with the hammer, don’t try to over-complicate it, just try blunt force sometimes.Casey: I’m a little more worried now, yeah. “Who’ll Stand With Us?” was written after the election -- and the lyrics to that song can really work at any time -- but a lot of these songs we were working on while we were on the road last year, during the campaign. I didn’t think was gonna win; I remember saying at the last show we played prior to the election, it might have been the night before the election -- we were at some university in the outskirts of Pennsylvania, so it was in red country, and I said, “I hope this is the last time I gotta utter that name out of my mouth.” I really believe it was the last time. Little did I know...Casey: You’re always trying to find that balance of not letting the band things that are happening consume you, but at the same time standing up and speaking up as well. That’s what we do; we’re excited to be able to stand with people in protest but also help people take their minds off life and tough times, whether it be politics or just the everyday worries of trying to live life in 2025 and pay your mortgage and all of that. There’s a song about the day my father died ; I never thought I’d write that song, but it just came out. Some albums are like work in terms of trying to find the creativity, and sometimes they just flow out of us. This is one of those that seemed to flow out, and not just the political and protest stuff. It’s certainly no surprise that you’d have a song on here for Shane MacGowan after his passing in 2023. Case: Shane meant a lot to us. I knew I wanted to tell that story and how important he was, so that song was written from my own personal perspective of finding the Pogues in the mid-80s as an early teen and seeing them live for the first time and getting to go on to record with Shane and tour with the Pogues. and just what an impact his presence had on my life. A lot of fans are happy to hear Al back for “The Vultures Circle High,” but he’s not back full-time with the band yet, right? Casey: No, he still has serious obligations to take care of his mother, but we’re always in touch and I always keep him abreast of how we’re making out and whatnot. He wanted to hear a couple of demos just out of caring about what we’re up to and how we’re doing. I sent him that ; we’ve always had these songs over the years that, literally, one person physically can’t sing because it’s meant to have a trade-off, almost like a relay race. really fit that mold; we had played it once live and I thought I was going to go into cardiac arrest by the end of it. So I started the discussion -- “Hey, Al, I think this would be a great one for you to join me on.” He hadn’t been singing or anything, so it was, “Oh, man, I’ll have to get practicing.” But it’s not like he has to re-learn how to sing; it’s really second nature. I think he did a great job.Casey: Not really. They were all people we knew we wanted to work with. We have a history of having guests on albums before people really had guests; it’s just something we’ve always loved doing, whether it was Shane MacGowan or whoever. It’s also a way to pay respect to influences, and in terms of the two Irish bands, the Scratch and the Mary Wallopers, maybe a way to give them a little bit of a hand in introducing them to some new people in America. They’re doing fine in other parts of the world, but we feel like some Dropkick Murphys fans haven’t heard of them yetCasey: I think that’s because when you’re dealing with punk bands...It’s not like today’s world where the label is saying you should collaborate with X, Y and Z, ‘cause they’ve got a hit. We’re doing it ‘cause they’re actual kindred spirits who we respect and share something in common with.Casey: When we suggested the song we thought of him, ‘cause he’s actually performed the song live with Ewan MacColl’s daughter Kristy MacColl, and she didn’t have a history of performing her father’s songs live. They did that song together on a picket line at a strike one time. The minute I mentioned that song to him he said, “That’s one of my favorite songs. I’ve sung it live before,” so it was perfect.Casey: That’s a tough one to get my head around, to be honest with you. Going back to the origins of the band starting on a bet to put a band together on two weeks’ notice, my goal was to win a $30 bet, which at the time was a lot of money. And here we are 30 years later, so be careful what you accept and what you wish for; you might go on a rollercoaster ride you weren’t expecting. . We’ve got a lot of big tours and celebrates of that planned, and obviously continuing to tour on , so it should be exciting going forward. Dropkick Murphys, Bad Religion and the Mainliners perform at 7 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 10 at Jacobs Pavilion, 2014 Sycamore St., Cleveland. 440-775-2190 orIf you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation.and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our
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