From Boulder to the Viper Room: Huck N’ Pray’s Wild Ride

From Boulder to the Viper Room: Huck N’ Pray’s Wild Ride

We caught up with Boulder, Colorado’s Huck N’ Pray—Will Berbaum, Cory Shisnik, Axel Pearson, and Fintan Canning—just before their set at the legendary Viper Room on the Sunset Strip. The band’s blend of house-party grit and road-tested charm made for a lively chat about scenes, singles, and surreal marquee moments.

Introduce yourselves and tell us what you do in the band.

Will: I’m Will. I play bass and sing backup vocals.

Cory: Cory Shisnik. I’m on lead guitar and vocals.

Axel: I’m Axel Pearson, the drummer.

Finn: And I’m Fintan Canning. I play rhythm guitar and sing.

Where are you based, and what’s your local music scene like?

Fin: We’re based in Boulder, Colorado. The scene there is super vibrant. We actually booked this gig through Boulder connections—our friends in Dirty Turkeys played here last summer, and their drummer Ty Tullar helped us map out our tour. He knew Kelly McGarry, the manager here at The Viper Room, so it’s thanks to Boulder that we’re even playing this show. It’s cool how one scene can lift another.

Will: Boulder’s scene is way different from what we’ve hit on this tour. We’ve played bars to four or five people, but Boulder’s all about big house parties. People just want to hear live music—and there’s a lot of them.

Corey: It feels like Boulder’s entering a golden age for small, upcoming bands. When Dirty Turkeys started, there were maybe two bands in town. Now there’s so much flavor and creativity. You go from house parties where you feel like you’re on top of the world, and then you take that energy national. We’re still working out the kinks, but it’s exciting.

You’re about to play the iconic Viper Room. What are you most looking forward to?

Will: Honestly, we’ve never played a show like this. Cory and I peeked inside earlier—it’s got a wild atmosphere.

Cory: It’s surreal. I don’t even know where to begin.

Fin: Axel and I are underage, so we’re not allowed in until right before we hit the stage. But this is definitely the most famous venue on our tour. Last week we played a pho restaurant in Scottsdale. So yeah, this is a step up. Kelly, the manager, sent me a photo of the marquee with our name on it. Seeing that was unreal.

Cory: We’ve had some great shows in California—Winstons in San Diego, The Roxy in Encinitas. Awesome crowds, great energy. We’re hoping to really plant our feet here for future tours.

Pick two songs you’re playing tonight and tell us what inspired them.

Will: “Frog Legs” is an instrumental written by Axel. It’s in fluctuating 6/4 time—definitely our trickiest song tempo-wise.

Finn: We just released our first single today, called “Dixon.” I wrote the lyrics, but like all our songs, it’s a full-band effort. It’s our first track on streaming, so tonight’s kind of a mini release party. We’ve been focused on live shows for so long that we never had anything recorded. Boulder’s house show scene is all about energy—you don’t get that from streams. But now we’ve got something out there, and we’re stoked.

Corey: “Drive Me to the Line” is another one we’re playing. I wrote the lyrics and chord progression, but again, everyone adds their own quirks. It’s kind of about being driven to the edge by a job—not just any job, but that soul-sucking corporate grind. The lyrics evolved as we played it live.

Finn: “Dixon” was inspired by those guys you see in Colorado or California who are clearly from New York or Chicago but try to pass as cowboys—boots, hats, the whole look. It’s all performative. I imagined one of them would be named Dixon. Funny enough, the name doesn’t even appear in the song.

If you could open for any band—past or present—who would it be and why?

Finn: I’ve been deep into MC5 lately. Loud, psychedelic, raw. They played bar rooms, not festivals. If we were around in ’69, I’d want us opening for them.

Axel: I love Phish and the Grateful Dead, but they deserve full nights to themselves. I’d go with Little Feat—great music, and I’ve never seen them live.

Corey: King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard. They’re a huge influence. They don’t care about rules—they just do their thing and rock out. That’s always stuck with me.

Will: Definitely Beethoven. Kidding. Honestly, we all draw from different inspirations. I’ve got a folk background, but I don’t think we’d fit opening for a folk act. Led Zeppelin would be epic. Classic rock all the way.

What’s next after this tour wraps?

Corey: We’re heading back into the studio this fall. We just recorded two songs—“Dixon” dropped today, and “Belly Up” comes out in about a week. After that, we’re aiming for a full-length album. We want to get most of our originals out there and just keep playing.

Finn: We’ve got shows lined up back in Colorado—Lost Lake in Denver at the end of summer with other Boulder bands, a couple of Fox Theater gigs in the fall. And we’re playing Electric Honey in Moab at the end of September. It’s a desert festival started by Dirty Turkeys—multiple stages, wild setting. We’re just gonna keep recording, keep touring, and hopefully come back to California next summer.

Thank you to Kelly McGarry presents for setting this interview up!

(Interview by Ken Morton – Photos by Jack Lue)

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