THE RACKETEERS
TAGGED by the industry - Jamaican RnB / Ska / Blues n Soul
Conceived on a stag night at about 4 in the morning sometime in 2004, four friends with a common love of Sixties Blue Beat, Ska, Jamaican RnB & other musical histories decided to form a band incorporating the above influences into their own material. A few choice cover versions Including classics such as Bartender, Ali Babba & Renegade complemented the bed of contempory sounding but original cuts written by the Four.
The original line up included;
MARK BALLARD - VOCALS AND PERCUSSION
MARK PENINGTON - STAND UP BASS / B VOX
MICHAEL WICHELLO ( CHELLO ) - RHYTHM GUITAR
TURKEY - DRUMS.
They were joined by The brass Section inc;
GUY LAWSON - TENOR & BARATONE SAXAPHONE
JOINED 2006 replacing Guy, SIAN TOGHILL - ALTO SAX
BEX - TRUMPET.
The bands profile grew with a reputation for a Good Time feel and A Groove to Dance, a strong local following emerged & the first album was released, quickly selling out within the first year.
The band stretched their musical wings into the famous Gaz’s Rockin Blues in Soho London, The Ace Café, Rennes Ska Festival In France with strong support to THE TOASTERS, THE DUALERS & THE BEAT on more than a couple of occasions.
Now into 2006 with Sian Toghill on Alto Sax, The second Album SLICK BUT TIGHT was recorded only to be held back while Singer Mark Ballard underwent an operation on his Vocal chords..The Album finally released in late 2008 With Mark B back on board & the addition of Danny Harmer on Squeeze giving the band a slightly Cajun Edge to add to the melting pot of influences already running through the Band…
The Racketeers are Back & ready once again to feel a Groove To Dance through out 2009
Are you ready..???
Dave The Fence 2009.
Thanks for letting us know you love our music...just to let you know the new (XOVA) C.D "THE PRESSURES OF LIFE" is OUT NOW!!....ORDER IT ON-LINE from our website. www.xovalive.com
Tell your friends, family, and workmates.. the new "XOVA" album "THE PRESSURES OF LIFE" is now available to purchase from our website: www.xovalive.com
Just go to the SHOP & CONTACT page and we will ship it directly to you anywhere in the world.
Hey, our next Portsmouth @ Eastney Cellars show with Dirty Revolution, Robb Blake & Detached!! Gonna be a great show please help us spread the word, hope to see ya there ;)
Next year our festival will celebrate it's 20th birthday !
To mark the occasion we're currently working on a book project.
So, if any of you have got pictures, stories, spicey scandal etc. about the festival we're interested and collect anything you think might be of interest...
For more information about picture resolution etc, please contact us at:
Hope you are all well. Great to see you have so many gigs lined up.
Turkee - good to cath up the other day mate.
Just to remind you all that *THE SLACKERS* live and direct from New York City will be performing at the *Soul Cellar - Southampton Sunday 17th May 2009*
London's home of Rock N Roll returns on Friday, 3rd of April. Presenting live performances by Punk Blues one man band HONKEYFINGER, The TRASHVILLE SLAMMERS and LAS PISTOLAS... Plus Burlesque Performances and all night BLACKJACK table... all until 3am with blasting tunes by DJ Franky. See you all on Friday, 3rd of April 2009.
Online!
