Artist info
Genre
Roots, Indie
Sounds like
Tina Turner & the Ikettes, Ruth Brown, Garnett Mimms and the Enchanters
band members
Clairy Browne - Leading Lady, Camilla McKewen, Ruby Jones, Loretta Miller - Backing Vocals, Peter Bee - guitar, Jules Pascoe - bass, Gabriel Strangio - piano, Darcy McNulty - Sax, Nick Martyn - drums.
Influences
Sister Rosetta Tharpe , Big Mama Thornton, Etta James
Website
Bio
Fierce leading lady Clairy Browne and her harmonizing girl group, the Bangin’ Rackettes, have been tearing down the house at venues all over the country since 2009 with highlights including touring with the Big Day Out, playing Golden Plains and Melbourne Festival. The nine piece rhythm and blues big band will take you though the hard-hitting sounds of northern soul, jump blues, doo-wop, ska and gospel with influences ranging from Etta James, Tina Turner and Prince to D’Angelo and Salt n’ Peppa. The band have recently released their debut album, Baby Caught the Bus. The record has been in the making for two years and was recorded with and produced by the gifted, Steve Schram (Little Red, Little Birdy, Cat Empire, Eagle and the Worm, Ground Components). Baby Caught the Bus is an incredibly accomplished first release, moving through heart wrenching doo-wop wailing, to drunken pianos, party hysteria and tough, hard hitting soul. This collection of songs is delivered with dynamic vocal harmonies and the force of the rhythm section, with Clairy’s big soul voice and the horns leading the procession. “There is a veritable shit-tonne of buzz circulating about Clairy Browne & the Bangin’ Rackettes at the moment, which being the cynic I am, meant I approached the band with trepidation. But I got a copy of their new single and it’s a blinder; the recording is sparse and tasetful and both tunes are killer.” Dan Condon, Inpress For vinyl, downloads and CD's go to www.clairybrowne.com
Clairy Browne & the Bangin' Rackettes are a 9-piece rhythm and blues big band fronted by the commanding soul voice and ever-charismatic persona of leading lady Clairy Browne. Take a trip to motown with 'Love Letter' from their debut album 'Baby Caught The Bus'.
Tell us about your music. How did you develop your sound?
The band came together around a shared love of 50's and 60's rhythm n' blues records, gospel and a few wine soaked kitchen "jazz parties". The Rackette girls are big fans of the Ikettes and Prince's backing vocalists so there is a bit of that influence in there too. There a few writers in the band and they all bring their own thing to it which keeps it ever changing and interesting.
How would you describe your live show?
We take a lot of inspiration from those old music shows like Shin Dig and the Beat where the stage shows are very elaborate and the audience is hysterical! Our live shows are very high energy with lots of chorrie, costume, confetti and a few quiet heart break moments too.
How did the nine of you come together?
I (Clairy) approached Pete and Jules who roped in some of his housemates and the girls are all close friends so it's been a fairly natural process, no auditioning or anything like that. We played our first show at Sweet Jelly Roll to a packed room and it took off from there.
What other Australian bands would you recommend for fans of classic soul, gospel, rhythm and blues?
Saskwatch are a band to watch, they play Northern Soul but bring their own thing to it. I would also highly recommend the incredible presence and voice of Kira Puru and the Bruise and Little John who are such amazing song writers and their live show is brilliant too.
What’s coming up for you in the rest of 2011 and looking to 2012?
We have lots coming up over the next few months, a special Christmas show at Cherry Bar on Dec 22, Fall Festival on Dec 29 and 31, playing with this great Japanese funk band Mountain Mocha Kilimanjaro on Jan 6 at the Corner. We are also shooting our first proper video for "Love Letter" in early jan which I'm really excited about…. It's an ambitious idea but we will give it our all and see how it comes out!
Australian music is…?
...well and truly alive! It is so exciting to see how much support there is in Australia for live music right now. I am continually amazed at how many people turn up to our gigs and support us by buying the record. I also love that you can be doing anything here… You could have a surf/metal/choir/techno band and you could find an audience here… People are so open and everybody is in to everything these days… It's not about belonging to a scene.
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