Ramblin Preachers’ Talk New Music, Music Gear And More

Who is in Ramblin Preachers and what do they play?

Ramblin’ Preachers are a Rock/Southern Rock/Americana band from Milton Keynes made up of:

Ross Connor – Vocals, Rhythm Guitar

James Ives – Lead Guitar

Craig Howe – Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals

Richard Baker – Drums, Backing Vocals

Your debut album ‘Sins & Virtues’ is released on 29th March 2024. How did you want to approach the making of the album?

We wanted it to represent our live sound as much as possible and we think we achieved that with this album. We wanted the songs to have an individuality to them, but we think having a recognisable sonic delivery plays a big part. You can hear a lot of influences throughout, and we hope there is something for everyone.

Where is your hometown and could you please describe it in five words?

Milton Keynes is our hometown. 5 words to describe it:

Roundabouts,

Concrete Cows,

Craufurd Arms

What is the inspiration/story behind your single ‘Jealousy’?

Jealousy was written out of personal experiences with a person of very selfish opinions. We all have full time jobs, we all have bills to pay, we all try our best to provide for our families etc. Music is our escape from reality, almost a way to hide in plain sight, a way to expel energy and something we’ve all done as individuals learning how to play instruments etc.

But the message of Jealousy goes for anyone doing anything that’s important to THEM and gives them that same sort of feeling of worth. The number of times I’ve heard people say to me, why do you bother doing music? You should give it up as it doesn’t pay the bills! Do people even listen to that type of music? Etc is outrageous.

Something I noticed was that this person lived a very selfish and mundane life. If I mentioned, I had a show or was releasing music they’d try and make it a joke. I put this down to jealousy, the fact that we get to go and experience the country, and now in the future other countries, and have a laugh with good mates, whilst playing music and rocking out with likeminded people who come to see us and buy our merch/tickets etc I think made them jealous that they’d never experienced pursuing something they love doing no matter what. The song is pretty angry all the way through as that’s how I felt at the time but like I mentioned, we as individuals have our own goals, we have the right to do what makes us happy so if anyone tries to tell you otherwise then just do it harder!

Do you have any interesting, memorable or funny stories from the album recording sessions?

We recorded the guitars and vocals at a friend of ours studio space called ‘Fools Gold Studios’ which is an old farm outhouse next to a field. We did this in the middle of December, and it was absolutely freezing, I think we had about 5 electric heaters running and we could still see our breath. We were sat in this room tracking guitars and there was this tiny mouse that must of came in that was sat inside the drum kit in the room. He was the cutest thing, and he was hiding out in there for all 3 days we were there and only came out when we were tracking.

We named him ‘Randy Preacher’ and gave him a back story that was something along the lines of he was a famous blues pianist whose wife had passed, and he’d hit rock bottom, he was a heavy alcoholic and hadn’t played in 10 years and happened to stumble upon us recording in this barn, which we all helped him get sober and playing again. We had Fish and Chips on our last day in there and Randy hopped into the bin with the packaging and was eating chips and that was the last we ever saw of him!

Do you have any favoured stage instruments?

Ross – Gretsch Jet

James – Gibson 58 Les Paul Reissue

Craig – Fender Jazz Bass

Rich – Drums! Specifically a Ride Cymbal

How do you look after your voices?

I’ve (Ross) had a lot of vocal issues over the years, I pick up chest infections very easily for some reason and have since I was small. I end up coughing so much I get laryngitis. This year I went to the Doctor as I’d had enough of it. I had a blood test that said I was Vitamin D deficient, so I now take Vitamin D tablets every day. I drink a lot of honey, lemon and ginger tea leading up to shows and have cut out milk and now drink oat milk in coffee. My secret weapon is a Chinese Cough Syrup called Pei Pa Koa which is a thick herbal treacle like syrup that coats the throat.

Do you have any plans for live shows in 2024 to support the release?

We are doing a release show at The Craufurd Arms in Milton Keynes which we are super excited about as we don’t play our hometown often. We’ve never headlined The Craufurd as we wanted it to be special when we did.

We are also planning a tour with a booking agent. We have some awesome festivals and shows leading up to it though. We have Americana Festival in Tyneside on the 20th January and Minehead Giants of Rock on the 21st January. Then we are playing an incredible festival run by Solid Entertainments in Blackpool on the 2nd February. The line-up is as good as it gets for this type of music in the UK!

What are your plans for future music releases?

We have two more singles coming in 2024. The second one is released on album release day. Then we plan on writing and finishing a load of songs we have been working on.

Who produced the album?

The album was produced and recorded by Nick Burns. Mixing, Mastering and Extra Production was done by Wayne Proctor and Oli Brown. We are super excited to have Wayne and Oli onboard as they are no strangers to this music scene, and they can hopefully bring their years of experience into how we write going forwards.

Where did you record it?

We recorded the Drums at Rich’s studio in Bedford. The Guitars, Vocals and Overdubs in Fools Gold in Olney. Rich also re-tracked drums on two tracks at Superfly Studios in Nottingham.

What kind of music/artists do you like listening to? Any recommendations?

Ross: I’m a huge Jason Isbell fanboy so he is always on at some point, Chris Stapleton’s new album is absolutely incredible. I’m really enjoying Blackberry Smoke’s new music and my Wife and Daughter love Lainey Wilson, so she is also a favourite in my household.

James: I have always been a huge fan of John Mayer and I have recently been starting to really get along with his latest album ‘Sob Rock’. It took a while for me to get into this album, but I finally understand its place in the world, and I love it more and more every time I listen to it. I truly think as a whole package, he is the best living guitarist in the world today. Blackberry Smoke are always a go-to for me but the standout at the moment is Chris Stapleton’s new album. I cannot stop listening to it!

Craig: At the moment, I am regularly listening to Silk Sonic due to the sexy grooves. And I’m enjoying listening to Blackberry Smoke. They bring some summer vibes to these recent cold winter days.

Rich: Today I was listening to Sarah Bareilles and working on VBA code. I’m so rock and roll.

What makes Ramblin’ Preachers happy and what makes you unhappy?

Just being able to travel around playing shows together and joking about on our travels. Working towards an album release was a lot more stressful and difficult than we ever imagined, but now it’s getting close to release, we’re just super excited for people to hear it so it’s starting to feel more real and that’s an awesome feeling.

Unhappy in regard to the album. THE ARTWORK was…THE WORST… There became a point where we must have had about 25 artwork ideas floating about and every single one had an issue of some description and it was so infuriating. In the end we scrapped them all and asked our friend Matt Downes Design to do it. He really knocked it out the park!

Photo Credit: Chris Griffiths of Riff Photos https://chris-griffiths.com/ 

Ramblin’ Preachers latest single ‘Jealousy’ is out now.

Their debut album ‘Sins & Virtues’ is released on 29th March 2024. In addition, on 29th March 2024 the band will headline a hometown album launch show at The Craufurd Arms, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom. Tickets are onsale now and can be purchased here: https://www.seetickets.com/event/ramblin-preachers/the-craufurd-arms/2823084 

For more information visit their official website here: https://www.ramblinpreachers.com/