BRATTLEBORO-The Unlucky Shots will make their debut in Brattleboro with a free show at Marigold Friday, April 17, on a bill that also includes Wishbone Zoë and Babe, Wait.
The alternative rock band, based in Northampton, Massachusetts, is led by singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Noam Schatz. He is joined in the band by Anand Nayak on lead guitar, Jim Bliss on bass and Mike Benoit on drums. The group formed in 2018, yet this is their first time playing outside of western Massachusetts.
Now with a new four-song EP, Line Up, they are ready for this next chapter in their musical journey. They also have a new name, though that decision was beyond their control.
They were previously known as the Lucky Shots, a name chosen in part as a play on Schatz’s name. Last November, however, Schatz was surprised to discover the band’s music had vanished from Spotify.
The mystery was solved when he received a cease-and-desist letter from a band in California, also named the Lucky Shots, who claimed ownership of the name.
“The thing is, I knew there was a band out there called the Lucky Shots who had some music online, but they were in Sacramento, and we were in Northampton,” Schatz said. “We were playing locally, and I didn’t think it was a big deal.”
But to the Lucky Shots in California, it was a big deal.
Schatz had hoped they could reach an agreement allowing both bands to use the name, but the other band was not open to it. Not wanting to invest the time or money into contesting the issue, Schatz conceded and stopped using the name.
One of his bandmates casually said they were now the “Unlucky Shots,” and that name stuck.
Schatz researched the new name to make sure it wasn’t in use. Last November, he started the process to trademark it and relaunched the band.
Then they encountered another bump in the road.
“We accidentally leaked our new name online,” Schatz explained. “The day after, suddenly all these social media sites popped up all on the same day from a band called the Unlucky Shots. There was even a fan page with one fan and this all happened on Nov. 19.”
He was then contacted by someone from North Carolina who claimed to be in that band and accused Schatz of stealing their name. But something didn’t feel right, especially with the timing and look of these social media accounts.
Schatz then started researching the band, and the more he dug, the less information he could find to confirm the actual existence of this other Unlucky Shots band.
Was this a hoax? He feels it was. It was a strange experience, and one that the band is ready to move on from.
“Overall, the name change thing has really only helped, because now we have a story to tell,” Schatz continued. “I’m a really big believer that it’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it. If you play things a certain way, you can turn any obstacle into an opportunity.”
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Prior to forming the now Unlucky Shots, Schatz played drums in various western Massachusetts bands over the years. He never saw himself as a front man, and while he had dabbled a bit in songwriting he never wrote for any of the bands he played with.
In 2016, he was asked by some musician friends to join a songwriting game where participants were required to write a song every two weeks based on a specific prompt. Schatz was initially terrified, but dived into this game, which proved life-changing. He is still playing the songwriting game to this day.
“It’s just proven to be this unbelievable hack that unleashes so much creativity,” he said of the game, adding that it provides accountability and motivation that can be very helpful.
Becoming more confident in his songwriting, Schatz moved from behind the drum kit to leading his own band.
The Unlucky Shots were just getting started when the pandemic brought everything to a halt. Schatz continued writing songs during Covid and in 2023 recorded an album, Count to Nothing, on which he played most of the instruments.
When it came time to do some shows in support of the album, Schatz got the band back together, and they’ve been going strong since.
In March, they released Line Up, recorded during the sessions for the 2025 album Second Tongue. Schatz noted that the songs on the EP are “heavier and darker” than his previous material and, in keeping with their unlucky streak, they released Live Shot on Friday the 13th.
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At the performance, “we’ll play songs from the EP, which people are really responding to,” Schatz said. “We are sitting on some new songs as well. That is one advantage of playing the songwriting game — you never run out of songs.”
Schatz said he is excited about the Marigold show, which he’s pleased includes fellow western Massachusetts artists such as experimental singer-songwriter Wishbone Zoë and indie pop band Wait, Babe.
He is hoping people will come out to this show to hear the band’s catchy rocking tunes, and mentioned that he is doing more promotional work these days, something he had not done before.
“The whole name-change thing forced me to have something concrete to share with people and to tighten up all aspects of being in a band,” he said.
“The idea that having a band isn’t just about the songs and the shows,” Schatz said. “There is a story to everything you are doing and what you are about. I have a great band and good songs, and I’ve got something good to offer here. I’m not going to be shy about it anymore. I’m going to put in the effort to let people know.”
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The Unlucky Shots, with Wishbone Zoë and Babe, Wait, will perform at the Marigold,157 Main St. Brattleboro on Friday, April 17 at 7:30 p.m. The bar and kitchen open at 5 p.m. Free admission. The show is for ages 21 and older.For more information about the band, visit theunluckyshots.com.
Sheryl Hunter is a freelance writer from Easthampton, Massachusetts, and has reported extensively on the regional music scene for many years. Her work has appeared in various regional and national publications.
This Arts column by Sheryl Hunter was written for The Commons.