About
The Ragamuffins are a four-piece indie/pop group based in the North West renowned for their emphasis on harmonies, clear arrangements and catchy melodies. Their jangly, frenetic pop style and groove takes in elements of Northern Soul, Ska, Rock n Roll, 80's Electro Pop and the music of "The British Invasion" of the 1960's. This is wrapped up in a dark, witty but uplifting lyricism, owing much to profound pop and indie greats such as Elvis Costello, Morrissey, Lloyd Cole, Ian McCulloch, and Stuart Murdoch, and brought together to produce a unique feel and sound.
"exactly what British indie pop needs right now; charm, originality, but most of all, damn fine song writing" – Preston University Press
"so passionate - The end result is beautiful songs that will not allow you to keep your feet still. We dare you not to dance!" – Northern Empire Promotions
“I'm not often impressed to the same margin I was when I heard The Ragamuffins via BBC Introducing. They are definitely a band for me, and their "kitchen-sink-drama jangly indie-pop songs" are really appealing. Together with their addiction to cups of tea, their music is close to my heart. It's similar enough to fit into the generically popular 'indie' category that's overwhelmed nowadays, but reassuringly different" - “Asp Bites” Online Review
“Throwing us a lifebelt filled with happy hummable songs, this band are what this once great country needs; a reason to get out of bed and dance. So set sail for the future because it will certainly be bright if The Ragamuffins have anything to do with it. 4/5” - Bluesbunny Independent Music Reviews on “El Bandito”
“There are times when you wonder if melody has been forgotten in popular music but not tonight. A musician said to me recently that it was really hard to write a happy song. Well, The Ragamuffins have them by the barrow load” - Bluesbunny Independent Music Reviews Live Review
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Latest News
The Ragamuffins Newsletter Issue 7!
Hello everyone and a very Happy New Year from everyone at The Ragamuffins. We were waiting for some more extensive news, more gigs and that before spinning a new Newsletter onto the presses, so without further ado, here we go!
Kelsey!
Some of you may notice that the girl stood behind the keyboards has changed her hair colour and grown a few feet! Fear not, our wonderful Jules Gilchrist has not permanently disappeared off the face of the earth, nor has she started taking growth hormone to finally be able to peer over the top of her MicroKorg, but has gone over to the Far East for a few months for work related thingies. Dutifully, her erm, duties, on keyboards are being taken over by the very lovely Kelsey Lindstrom, a resident of Portland in Oregon (that’s in the USA for those of you with no geographical sensibilities whatsoever!) and our first gig with Kelsey will be at Styles’ Bar in Ormskirk on the 18th of February, where we are going to be debuting some new songs (oh yesss!). For more information, read on!!
Gigs!
As promised we have a selection of now confirmed gigs for you to pencil into your diaries.
February 18th – Styles Bar, Ormskirk, Merseyside
April 3rd, Real Ale “Middle Earth” Beer Festival, Hurst Green Memorial Hall, Hurst Green, Lancashire
April 4th, Bumper, Hardman Street, Liverpool, Merseyside
May 20th – 26th, International Pop Overthrow Festival, The Cavern, Liverpool, Merseyside
More will be following, including a very special one off, ticketed gig for a Radio Lancashire “Intimate Evening” which will be broadcast worldwide on the BBC (online like!). Details of how to apply for tickets will be sent out shortly when we confirm the dates, and if you want any details for ANY of these gigs don’t hesitate to send an email to info@theragamuffins.co.uk and we’ll be right back in touch!!
Radio!
Thank you very very much everyone who voted for us on XFM in December. It means a lot that you supported us and took the time to log on and vote. The band who won (who I’m not actually going to name and give them publicity because I’m a terrible loser as Paul will testify from both playing for the same football team!) cheated a bit but ultimately, once the judges got wind of this and reset the votes they won fair and square. Pfft. Twats.
Anyway, Russ Winstanley has given us some airplay on his fantastic Northern Soul show on Radio Lancashire which is a real honour for us, to be able to share the airwaves and show time with some amazing artists from days gone by. Some of our forthcoming material has a real tinge of that upbeat, danc-ey Northern Soul style, and you can really hear it in tracks we’ve done already like “Lucky Stars” and of course, “Paint By Numbers”.
Football!
Team Ragamuffins have not been playing much due to the variety of shocking weather conditions to descend from the heavens on a weekly basis, but suffice to say, the two weeks we did play we saw two shock wins for us, firstly an 8-2 drubbing for some shoddy outfit of a team (and without David who’d done his back in loading Richard’s drum kit into his car the week before) and then a 5-0 victory. What is going on with the world!!?? The less said about “real football” the better though. Pfft. Harrumph. And all that.
New Website!
Probably should be higher up than amateur football results but well, never mind! We now have a sexy new site where you can buy songs off of our two most recent records if you fancy helping us stave off poverty, and you know, doing your bit to save the British Economy. I have it on good word that Gordon Brown is listening to “Lucky Stars” and thanking them on an almost daily basis! Oo err!!
www.theragamuffinsmusic.co.uk
And don’t forget www.myspace.com/ragamuffinsmusic
And www.theragamuffins.co.uk
And a massive thanks to David Pinder for helping us out with various web related stuff.
That’ll do for now.
Expect a few mid month messages with a few other announcements. Oh yes.
Speaking of the credit crunch, here’s a new song we’ve knocked together about it, called “Fish & Chips”. See what you think…
The Ragamuffins – Fish & Chips
Well London Bridge is falling down
And Wall Street’s gone delirious
The bankers down Canary Wharf
Have never looked so serious
I’ve wrapped myself in cotton wool
To save me needing bandages
And Mother Nature’s on the dole
I don’t know how she manages
When all this money’s gone down the swanny
Yeah all my money’s gone down the swanny
But all your money’s going down the swanny too
And a lifetime’s worth of Liquorice Allsorts, Flying Saucers, Sherbert Dips
Are like nothing in comparison to what she wears upon her lips
Now I need a few of Alan Sugar’s oh-so-famous money making tips
And the Monday morning papers wrap up Friday evening tea time’s fish and chips
And the world’s been choc-a-bloc of late
With tales of woe and misery
But it’s funny how we’ll break the bank
For half an hour of ecstasy
We’ll steal a boat and set a course
From Merseyside to Mozambique
Because it’s fun to raise the stakes
For continental games of hide and seek
Lots of love
David, Paul, Richard, Jules and Kelsey
The Ragamuffins
