The Rainmen : The News / Events
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MARCH & APRIL 2007
The news this month is interesting to say the least. Ian has decided to immigrate to Australia, and leaves in late April. So, The Rainmen have decided to disband and go their separate ways. The other lads will not remain together, but Sammy will no doubt be back gigging soon, Matt is busy recruiting to get something together, and Aeneas will continue to play with his Big Band. So after many years, many gigs and some wonderful times we decided to call it a day and hope that we remember the good times we had (there were lots of them) The web site will remain at least until October or so, and maybe longer. So it only remains for us to say thanks for the support, thanks for the encouragement and thanks for the laughs we've had along the way. See you sometime along the way.
Goodbye from The Rainmen, it was fun while it lasted.
Ian, Sammy, Aeneas and Matt
FEBRUARY 2008
Thank God January's over at last. What a dull month. And just to emphasize the fact, The Rainmen had no gigs lined up for the entire festive season. But we're back, and ready to go. Our first gig should be in the Whitehills Farm in East Kilbride, but we have yet to decide on a date for that, so keep an eye on the gig page for that one. So, hopefully, the gigs will start to roll in again soon enough and we can all get back to enjoying our week-end again. See you out and about !
JANUARY 2008
Well, hope you all had a lovely festive season, and of course, we all send our best wishes for the coming year. Our separate holidays went well; Sam had a great time in Portugal, as did Ian on his travels down under. We had a bit of a scare when we returned back to Blighty however:- Matt had unfortunately suffered a minor heart-attack ! He was hospitalised for a bit, and had an angeogram performed on him. Thankfully, all went well and he is recuperating nicely at home with his family. It certainly came as a bit of a shock to us, so you can imagine how he felt about it ! However, the good news is: he is getting back to normal and, after some consideration, (and quite possibly with some divine intervention ?) he has decided to reverse his decision to leave the band, and wants to return to rehearsals as soon as he gets the all clear from his doctors. Good news indeed. So, with much relief, we can look forward to 2008 in a new light and a spirit of optimism once again.
DECEMBER 2007
Nothing much to update you with as far as the band goes this month: we're off on holiday for a bit. Sammy's in the Algarve for December and Ian's in Australia till mid January. Hopefully let you know more in the early part of the new year. So it only leaves us to wish you all a Happy and Merry Christmas, and a prosperous New Year.
See you in 2008 !
NOVEMBER 2007
Not so good news this month: Matt has decided to leave the band after only a year as lead guitar player ! To say we are disappointed would be an understatement. Matt feels that the direction of The Rainmen was not where he wanted to go and we respect his decision. We believed all was going well, albeit slowly, but unfortunately we were gazumped by his decision. Needless to say, we will require time to consolidate and re-assess, but we will continue as ever, and find a new member to replace Matt as we always do.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank Matt and Audrey (his wife) for the time that they both poured into the band and of course, wish them well in the future. They both remain close friends with the band and we hope they will continue to be involved outwith the playing side of things.
Gigs have been cancelled due to Matt's decision, but both Sammy and Ian had planned to spend December abroad, so no major problems there anyway.
Auditions will probably take place in late January to find a replacement for Matt.
The Rainmen move on, as ever. Update things for you next month.
OCTOBER 2007
Once again, last month proved to be a decent step forward for the band. We had a good Sunday afternoon in The Fotheringay, followed by a great night in Sammy Dows pub, both in Nitsdale Road in Pollokshields, Glasgow. Sammy's unfortunate month ended on a good note and a week in Tenerife which done him the world of good. He's now back to normal and the sad time is behind him. So we move on: We sat in with a jam session in the Victoria Bar in Rutherglen and went down really well, if the reaction from the crowd was anything to go by. And we continue with a gig in The Cartvale Lounge on the 13th of this month. We bought some new P.A. gear and rehearsals are going well. All in all, a good month. See you around.
Ian, Sammy, Aeneas & Matt.
SEPTEMBER 2007
We've had a couple of good gigs : Cartvale, Sammy Dows, and things are picking up. It was nice to see some well known faces at both of these. We've got a few new venues coming up this month, so it's looking good so far. On the down side, Sammy had a very unfortunate personal experience last month which will continue to occupy his mind for the foreseeable future and we all continue to support and sympathise with him at this difficult time. Next gig is "Fothers" (Fotheringay) in Nitsdale Road in Glasgow, (near Sammy Dows) our first afternoon gig in quite a while. Looking forward to it !
AUGUST 2007
Gigs beginning to come in again, albeit slowly. We've been off on holiday so things are a bit quite. Look out for Sammy Dows gig again on 22nd of September. Hope you are all enjoying the summer. Not much else to report. See you all soon.
JULY 2007
We're now taking bookings for the rest of the year, so things are picking up. The last few gigs have been positive enough to convince us to get back on the road again. Obviously, holidays will interrupt the schedule, but we'll try our best to get as many gigs in as fast as possible. Keep your eyes on the gigs page !. If you're off on holiday, have a great time, see you all soon I hope.
JUNE 2007
On the road again, but taking our time in picking up gigs. That seems to be the situation as we move into June. We're available, but not actively looking for gigs just yet. We've still a good few songs and various experiments short of an ideal set, but have enough material to last the night if required. So, all in all, we should be gigging regularly pretty soon I'd imagine. It's been slow and we may have missed the summer season by now, which is a shame. But I'm sure it will be worth it in the end. Looking forward to summer as usual.
MAY 2007
Our first gig back on the road went well, in fact we were quite surprised at the sound quality. So we are at it again this month (in the same place !) Tennent's Bar in Rutherglen. Hope to see some of you there on Saturday 19th. May. Sammy has been having a time of it this month ! He was admitted to the Victoria Infirmary for a foot infection which was spreading. Thankfully, he caught it in time, but is still taking medication to alleviate the problems. We'll see him back in action soon enough. I wonder where we can fit the wheelchair in the van ?
APRIL 2007
Firstly, let me apologies to all for the site being down last month. I honestly didn't realise till late in the month, and can assure you it was no fault of The Rainmen. Technical difficulties within the Hosting company caused all sorts of mayhem to a number of sites. Anyway, outwith these difficulties, it's great to announce that we're back on the road again ! Our first gig will be an impromptu occasion in a quite little pub in Glasgow (Just to test the water as it were ) on Saturday 7th of April. After that, if all goes well, we will be gigging out and about as usual. With a few new gig venues on the cards, it should prove to be a good summer ahead. Look forward to seeing as many of you as possible soon enough. More gigs will be announced on the Gig Page as they come in.
MARCH 2007
Gosh is it March already ? The months are falling fast ! We're thinking about going for two night per week rehearsals from now on to try to get us back on schedule. We're not adding as many new numbers as fast as we would like, but we'll keep working on all the new stuff and get it out there as soon as possible. That said, we do have quite a few in the bag so hopefully you won't be too disappointed when we're back out there. It's great to be playing new songs again. It's quite amazing how complacent you get with your set. The next step is setting up the gigs and venues for the coming year. So we've a lot of work ahead of us, and only a month to go !
Reminds me of Lewis Carroll's White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland:- "I'm late! I'm late! For a very important date! No time to say hello, goodbye! I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!".