Rag Mama Rag – The Honeysuckle Inn, Ramsgate– 1st August 2024

The first stop of Rag Mama Rag’s 2024 UK summer tour saw them stop in Kent for a welcome return at the Blues with Bottle Club. Debbie and Ashley Dow who form Rag Mama Rag have spent the past thirty years playing venues all over Europe and the UK, a formidably well-oiled live unit, they have also recorded eight albums of fine roots music (blues, country, ragtime…).

The excellent Get Back On Back To You, a catchy toe tapping Ashley original where Debbie’s prowess on the harmonica was already firmly on display opened the evening . A staple from the duo’s live repertoire, Across The Borderline by Ry Cooder (finally recorded for posterity on their latest album Train’s a Coming) got stopped abruptly when the barber shop operating behind the pub shut down the power at closing time plunging us in unplugged territory ! Normal service was soon resumed, the duo completing that track and moving on with the first set jumping between originals (the excellent Good Time, the opening track on Train’s a Coming), blues classics (Robert Johnson’s Love in Vain, Blind Willie Johnson’s Let Your Light Shine on Me).

After a short break we were treated to a second set with a song selection firmly set in blues territory with a couples of songs by David Lindley (including a rocking Mercury Blues). An excellent take on Robert Johnson’s Malted Milk was preceded by Big Bill Broonzy’s Key To The Highway. While Deborah switched between percussion and harmonica, Ashley jumped between Dobro, Guitar, Lap Steel and Mandolin (a recent addition to his musical arsenal) depending on the track.

Ry Cooder reared his head again with Thirteen Question Method and the traditional Jesus on the Mainline which he help popularized, this last number providing a singalong opportunity to the audience. Not wanting to let our hosts depart too quickly, they were persuaded back by hefty applause to perform a spirited Dust My Broom and I’ll See you in my Dreams popularized by Joe Brown at The George Harrison tribute concert at The Royal Albert Hall and which they dedicated to Neil Innes, with whom they toured a few years back and who passed away in 2019.

They are touring England till the end of August.

More info on Rag Mama Rag can be found at their official website: www.rag-mama-rag.com. They are also on Facebook and Twitter.

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