The Ragmen

Yes I realise now that I have certain responsibilities now that I have a consistent readership (or possibly a lot of random clickers) for this site and I am letting you down with my inconsistency. Hopefully my work pressures will have subsided by the end of this week and normal service can resume.

In the meantime let me distract you with some music. The Ragmen are a four-piece from Dublin full of bluesy-country angst. The band has been going since 2010. They started out I believe doing covers and gradually developed into a fully formed, original producing, rocking band. The band are made up of four lads; Neil Murray (singer and writer), Roger Doyle (guitar), Stuart McMahon (bass) and Niall Colreavy (drums). The lads recently released their debut e.p. which was recorded in two days in Belfast.not bad going. The music of the Ragmen is a mix of country, blues and alt-country. Rather than mashing these influences into one, the band takes the tapas approach. Different influences can be felt on different tracks.

For example, I don't think you can get anymore delta blues than "Go Up North". This song is a pure down-on-me-look blues. And it feels it too.

In contrast "Rain on Me" is a real country affair. Led by a great banjo lick, it features those classic images of America in it, the talk of body on the telegraph hill, brawlin', the bottle of whiskey. It's the sort of song that should accompany the scene of a man outnumbered facing his adversaries and not giving a damn.

Have you noticed a bit of a weather theme going on? No. that's probably because I haven’t mentioned two of the other tracks on the e.p; "The Snowstorm" and "Howlin' Winds". "The Snowstorm" is a wandering (in a good way) story of boy meets girl set to a bluesy rhythm and sharp punches of guitar licks. "Howlin' Winds" is a mellower affair, a sombre piece of americana.

You can check all the tracks out on the soundcloud page. The band are playing Electric Picnic this weekend in the Bog Cottage. Sounds lovely. I learned that from their Facebook page. For other such related information on the band, sure stop by the facebook . Be worth a gawk.