On the tracks featured here
Martin Clappison: Guitar + Vox.
Phil Ives : Bass+ vox.
Dan Lydon : Drums.
Mike Richmond: Lead Guitar.
Influences
Tom Waits, Captain Beefheart,Radiohead,The Lemonheads,Willie Nelson, George Jones, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Gram Parsons, Ryan Adams, Joni Mitchell, Dinosaur Jr, Mudhoney, Smashing Pumpkins, The Breeders, Nick Cave, Leonard Cohen, Senseless Things, Teenage Fanclub, The Guthries, Pink Floyd, Nirvana, The Frank and Walters, The Flaming Lips, The Strokes, Velvet Underground, Sub-circus, country music, prog rock and all out indie.
Sounds Like
The Raindogs !!!!!! Dunno Really.
RadioHead meets Lemonheads with Captain Beefheart on vox and dave grohl on drums.
Sadly The Raindogs no longer exist as a band unit anymore.
However the bands singer / songwriter Martin Clappison is carrying on the spirit and music of The Raindogs in a solo career. With a brand new set fully written to compliment the solo format Martin is already recieving rave reviews for his captivating performances.
With a style that is both accsecible but hard to pin down the songs are as before " heartbreakingly honest and truthful accounts of loss, gain, freindship, drinking buddies and the general peaks and troughs of life ".
Utilising a strangley powerful voice and large octave range , martins blend of country / alt indie rarley fails to touch the soul or hit a nerve.
The melodies are kept simple and ear catching ensuring you go away humming them again and again.
In the coming months Martin will be recording his first solo album and will be occaisinally piecing together a backing band of " Raindogs " not disimilar in spirit to Dylan's " Rolling Thunder Revue " to provide electric shows of the band tracks. If any musician is interested in joining this merry band on the occaisional romp then drop him a message.
Until then dont miss out on catching a genuine talent in one of his intimate acoustic shows and keep an eye out for "Martin and The Raindogs".
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Quotes:
"Martin Clappison stuns the senses with his extraordinary voice: a voice that is both gruff and soulful at the same time, and utterly compelling and smouldering as a result." ------------------ "Raindogs are a genuine breath of fresh air"-------------
"damn catchy" -- Steve Rudd for thisisull.com
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"beautifully written introspective lyrics you can actually hear, a tune you can hum and tap your foot along to "-----------------------
"The Raindogs have succeeded in doing what many a band have failed to do, produce some great songs you actually want to listen to again."-------------
"reminiscent of Matchbox 20 only edgier " - Sandman Magazine.
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"By turning away from what is fashionable in music at the current time, and by throwing a variety of different styles into the melting-pot, the focus still remains on writing classic yet slightly quirky songs"------------------
"the clever use of melody with melancholic lyrics reminds of The Pernice Brothers and even on occasion, Nirvana."---------------------
"Drawing on a wide range of influences from country, indie and rock, The Raindogs are ploughing their own musical furrow. The focus is very much on classic song writing and musicianship" -- Nick Quantrill. thisiisull.com.-------------------------------------Martin Clappison was the main force behind The Raindogs and is returning for a second appearance at Acoustic Wednesday, his first performance gave us a polished and professional set of blues/country/soulful songs which impressed everyone in the audience. With a powerful voice and accomplished guitar playing Martin is a joy to watch live and not a performer to be missed-- Music Hq.
great songs and great voice. please come and play at our place! our next open mic night ACOUSTIC LADYLAND ! Is friday the 6th of march starts at 7pm. cheers martin cant wait to see you live .
right then folks, got loads going off again with Music HQ gigs Tuesday - Mugwump at Sharkeys this week featuring the great Black & White Tango - http://www. myspace. com/blackandwhitetango Muse meets indie with classical stuff & funny time changes thrown in for good measure, music for your head & heart. Support from When The Sun Sleepshttp://www. myspace. com/wtssband great new young band fronted by two excellent vocalists in Alex Larkman & Tom Gorringe Wednesday - Acoustic Wednesday at The Lair this is a massive gig with an invasion from south of the river by three great acts - Merlin's Keephttp://www. myspace. com/merlinskeep - The Wild Wolds Womenhttp://www. myspace. com/wildwoldswomen - Helian Keyshttp://www. myspace. com/heliankeys2006 and an interloper from Beverley in Laura Williams http://www. myspace. com/lauramusicaca The gig will be starting a bit earlier than normal so make sure you are at The Lair by 8.45pm so you don't miss any of these 4 great acts Wednesday - The Ninth Circle at Sharkeys the brilliant & quite unique Hayokee playing two sets of their groove laden progressive, psychedelic rock stuff. Saturday - Clarence Acoustic at The New Clarence with the well known and frankly great guys Bobby Joyce & Mike Wright, acoustic treats for the ears and very nice beer over the bar, what more can you want on a Saturday night Sunday - Rehab at Sharkeys - a bumper acoustic chill out to end you weekend or set you up for the next week with Val Marshallhttp://www. myspace. com/valeriemarshall - Martin Clappisonhttp://www. myspace. com/raindogsbandAbbie Lammashttp://www. myspace. com/abbielammas - exciting line up mixing a bit of Americana, soul and more from 3 great acts For more info go to http://www. myspace. com
