JUNO Award Nominees, Rum Ragged, take a bold approach to the distinct folk music of their home, the Eastern Canadian island of Newfoundland. With a reverence for their roots and a creative, contemporary edge, this young band has quickly become known as the finest performers of their great, living, musical tradition. Boasting bouzouki, fiddle, bodhran, banjo, guitar, and button accordion, these new champions of East Coast music enliven and enlighten audiences with their signature brand of Newfoundland folk.

Always honest, thought-provoking, and often humorous, it’s Rum Ragged’s live show that makes them a fast favourite with any audience. Their combination of striking vocal harmonies, staggering musicianship, and captivating storytelling gives concert-goers an experience they won’t soon forget. Since their inception in 2016, Rum Ragged has maintained a rigorous tour schedule, performing at some of the world’s premier folk, celtic and roots venues all while managing to record four acclaimed, award-winning studio albums. Rum Ragged is not your run-of-the-mill folk band, they are the genuine article.

They are now celebrating their newest recording Gone Jiggin’, an album of never before recorded traditional Newfoundland folk songs and tunes along with some fresh new sounds.   The JUNO nominated and multi-award winning group have once again outdone themselves on this, their fifth full-length studio album. From joyous upbeat sing-alongs, to stories that reach back into the history of their home province, this new album packages all facets of their sound that continues to grow ever popular the world over.

On Gone Jiggin’, Rum Ragged lean proud and hard into their Newfoundland roots.  The quartet led by Mark Manning and Aaron Collis offers a dozen songs that crisscross the island they call home, interpreted and arranged as a robust celebration of heritage.

Recorded in downtown St. John’s, produced by Billy Sutton at The Sound Solution and Pipe track Productions (TSS’s Jason Whelan mastered), Rum Ragged packs proficient and melodic bouzouki, fiddle, bodhran, banjo, guitar, and button accordion into largely upbeat, high-octane songs with the occasional slow-down into a gentle lilting ballad.

From the first harmony-laden chorus of “The Road to Lushes Bight (Island Stock),” it becomes evident that Rum Ragged’s signature brand of traditional Newfoundland folk has only become more solid and refined on their latest offering.  This stomping anthem about workers from the East Coast becoming disillusioned with urban life sits comfortably alongside the darker, driving “Paddy Hyde,” a never-before-recorded traditional song which relays an unfortunate fisherman’s ordeal.

As you continue to listen through the album, the sing-alongs sit alongside the story songs, perfectly balanced. Age-old ballads like “The Dewy Dells of Yarrow” and “The Green Shores of Fogo” are paired perfectly with close-to-the-floor reels played  with surgical precision on accordion, fiddle and banjo. A tip of the hat is extended to some late, great Newfoundland icons such as accordionist Minnie White and fiddler Emile Benoit whose compositions can be heard in the tune set “The Viking Jig/West Bay Centre.”

On this album, the small town characters get their cameos, from the comically hard done-by “Riley,” to the sharp-dressing “Thomas Trim,” a jaunty tune learned from local legend of traditional unaccompanied singing, Gerald Campbell. Among all of the story weaving and instrumental revelry of Gone Jiggin‘, Rum Ragged still finds time to highlight life’s more care-free moments with the dreamy earworm “Lazy Afternoon,” and the high-strumming closing track, “The Apple Tree.”

Here’s a live ‘one take’ performance of Lazy Afternoon to tempt you to take a trip out to  one of their live dates*

Their songs  are arranged and created with devotion and honour, celebrating one of the most unique places on earth, told through its oldest artistic tradition. With Gone Jiggin’, Rum Ragged further cements their place in the pantheon of traditional music, becoming part of a story that will carry on and on.

*Live UK Dates as follows:

23/5/2024       Orkney Folk Festival                                        Orkney Islands

24/5/2024       Orkney Folk Festival                                        Orkney Islands

25/5/2024       Orkney Folk Festival                                        Orkney Islands

26/5/2024       Orkney Folk Festival                                        Orkney Islands

29/5/2024       Burnley Mechanics Theatre: Front Room       Lancashire

30/5/2024       Bleasdale Parish Hall                                      Lancashire

31/5/2024       The Market Theatre, Ledbury                         Shropshire

1/6/2024         Little Budworth Jubilee Hall                           Cheshire

1/6/2024         Upton Village Hall                                           Cheshire

3/6/2024         Chorley Library                                               Chorley

6/6/2024         Drimpton Village Hall                                     Dorset

7/6/2024         Broadmayne Village Hall                                Dorset

8/6/2024         Eardisley Village Hall                                      Shropshire

11/6/2024       Casterton Village Hall                                     Cumbria

12/6/2024       UTASS, Middleton in Teesdale                       County Durham

13/6/2024       Wingates Village Institute                               Northumberland

14/6/12024       National Rural Touring Conference                Lancashire

15/6/2024       Poulton Community Hall                                Lancashire

All Songs Performed by Rum Ragged who are…Lead Vocal, Guitar – Mark Manning, Accordion, Mandolin, Vocal – Aaron Collis, Fiddle – Colin Grant, Bouzouki – Zack Nash plus Bodhran, Bass, Percussion, Vocal – Billy Sutton

“Always honest, thought-provoking, and often humorous, Rum Ragged’s live show makes them a fast favourite with any audience.”  – Rogue Folk Club (Vancouver, BC)

For more information and the latest news, please visit www.rumragged.com