Rich Ragany Delivers “A Pleasant Fiction” & Announces Solo Album “You Can Get Dark With Me”

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The last few years has seen the Calgary, Canada born, New York City seasoned, and now UK based songsmith, Rich Ragany, build up quite a reputation with his various bands of rock n ’roll trailblazers, from the Role Models and The Loyalties to Rich Ragany & The Digressions. Rich’s songs have won over the hearts of many, both with the critically acclaimed albums such as Beyond Nostalgia & Heartache and What We Do (To Not Let Go) and by sharing stages with the likes of Ramones, Bad Brains, SNFU, Rammstein, Oasis, The Lemonheads, Warrior Soul, The Men They Couldn’t Hang, Whitfield Crane, Ginger Wildheart, The Professionals and Steve Conte, as well packing out venues in his own right.

Rich Ragany

“After the big dramatic production of The Digressions’ albums I wanted to create something more personal, a world of its own, so I decided to deconstruct to reconstruct. Every song is a mix of home recording, from the first day of writing each song, and proper studio stuff, to keep a real personal ‘straight from the moment of inspiration’ feel but have a sonically and emotionally expanded spirit as well. Guitars recorded on the fly in my bathroom as I wrote, in real time. Mostly acoustic, later taken and manipulated to sound ‘electric’ (inspired by the Stones’ similar sonic experiments on Street Fighting Man). Backing vocals done on the spot, some of these literally recorded on a phone mic in my bathroom. I then took all this to my trusted friend and talented producer, Andy Brook and added big studio-grade bass and drums via the talented duo of Simon Maxwell and Ricky McGuire and experimented some more. Then JUNO and Canadian Country Music Award winning producer (and another old friend and brother) Russell Broom got involved in a few tracks. Travelling back to my early home of Calgary and recording with him really brought things full circle.” (Rich Ragany)

Rich Ragany

All this experience and resulting attention has brought him to signing a deal with Barrel And Squidger Records for his brand new solo album, You Can Get Dark With Me, that is due for release this coming June 14th. The album features ten songs of heartfelt soul searching and rousing anthems that are uniquely personal to Ragany and really get to the core essence of his personality and song-writing talents. The first single from the album is titled A Pleasant Fiction and features guitarist Ken Mochikoshi-Horne (The Bronx). Deep in its beating heart, You Can Get Dark With Me has ten songs that started out so simple and solitary but have travelled so far. In it’s own world, reaching out now…

“It’s a song about addiction and where it leaves the person struggling through it. Where it leaves that person’s loved ones. How emotionally both parts of the experience are very close in the emotional landscape. The attempts of chasing the horrors away, while struggling to embrace the foundations desperately needed, while maybe being chased away by others. The musical backdrop gives a strut and hope, with an uplifting and tough melody to embrace the idea that sometimes singing or sharing your life, reaching out, can give one the strength to stand again. There’s hope. It’s amazing to have Ken Mochikoshi-Horne play guitar on the track. We’ve been friends for years and always spoke about doing a fun collaboration. Upon hearing the song, he immediately got the streetwise strut and gritty feel. I have been a fan of his from The Dragons to The Bronx, so grateful for our friendship. His playing really adds something special to the song, and to the whole vibe.” (Rich Ragany)

Rags

Rich Ragany will also be playing a brace of release shows in support of You Can Get Dark With Me, on June 14th he will appearing at Huddersfield’s The Parish and on June 15th he will be appearing at London’s The Black Heart.