For our 30th birthday on 21st October 2013 we updated our 'Compleat History of the Ram Club' booklet (PDF format, 10Mb). Click to view or download - it's a 'must read', with a list of all the guests we have ever had plus some stories and pictures!
Below is a list of the past guests from September 2006.
There was a time when anyone from the Potteries would lift up their china cup or plate wherever they were in the world to check for the reassuring words 'Made in England'. Alas the industry has all but gone now, but these three young lads have the same stamp of Potteries quality! GARY WILCOX (Vocals, Percussion), PHIL HULSE (Vocals, Guitar, Bouzouki, Harmonica) and DUNCAN WILCOX (Vocals, Double Bass, Mandolin, Fiddle) create beautifully-crafted songs that document and vividly illustrate the passing of the old ways of their homeland, the local heroes and characters, the old industries and the struggle for a new identity and way forward. Angry, sad, funny, tongue-in-cheek and occasionally one-fingered salutes, the songs are kiln-fired and defiant in the face of adversity, with great harmonies and musicianship. Snapped up by Fellside Records for their third album 'Take Your Own Roads', while they nod their heads to the likes of Jez Lowe, Steve Tilston and Show of Hands their sound is very much their own, so check out these 'Boys from the Crock Stuff'!
A Ram Regular, Mike is an excellent songwriter and guitarist who aims for the heart and hits! He has written some truly classic songs over the years - accessible, catchy and hugely enjoyable acoustic folk/pop ballads and rockers, sung with passion and underpinned perfectly by his trademark guitar style. Mike writes of love, longing & everyday issues without being trite - haunting tunes & anthemic choruses that you'll know and love (Old Fashioned Saturday Night, Certain Something, Not That Easy, Sailors All). His voice is warm, full & clear, bearing comparison with James Taylor, David Gray & Jackson Browne. MIKE has had a few brushes with fame along the way, and even had a recent hit single ('Not a Matter of Pride'), but intimate venues are still his world. He has a stunning new CD out, 'How Many Rivers', so we'll have some of that!
A much-loved National Treasure, Teeside-born VIN is that rare thing - an entertainer of the highest order who can get a message across. A one-man wild-haired minstrel with a unique guitar and singing style and amazing tin whistling, he is one of the best live performers around, spinning hilarious yarns that are so far-fetched you actually believe them! And the songs (when he finally gets to them) - of love, hope, social issues and daft things - stir, shake, tickle, enlighten, provoke, sadden and always hit the spot. Sub-titles available.
South African TONY is widely recognised as one of that country's finest guitarists, winning many awards and becoming an icon of the instrument over there. An international performer, he developed his unique finger-style technique over the years by watching and absorbing from such greats as Leo Kottke and Bert Jansch and by playing with just about every ensemble possible. His music just tumbles out at you, a mosaic that incorporates all of the evocative and infectious multi-textured rhythms, startling percussive effects, delicate melodic patterns and varying styles of his homeland, along with classical, folk and other influences. A warm and engaging performer with many a tale to tell, you don't need to be a guitar buff to appreciate his amazing kaleidoscope of sounds as he takes you on a true musical safari - and the only inoculations you'll need are from the bar!
http://www.tonycox.co.za£7 members/£8 non-members
Woah! Hank is back on the ol' trail. With his dodgy hat, wide-toothed grin and George Hamilton IV "$incere" eyebrows, Hank is the nemesis of Country music yet he still aspires to the glamour of his heroes. Life President of the Nude Mountaineering Society and the one and only inductee in his own Hall of Pain (it's not that other stars wouldn't be seen dead in it, they're just too dead to be seen in it), he's picked at the soft, dark underbelly of Country music for a long time. Misery and melody, raw emotion and open ribcages are his trademark. All said, he loves it really, and if you split your sides laughing (as you will), he's a gen-u-ine doctor and he'll fix you right (for a small fee). Now D-I-V-O-R-C-E-D from his former pardner Reg Meuross, Hank has hooked up again with his old saddlepal BRAD BREATH (aka Andy, who is also the touring guitarist in that well-known Folk group PINK FLOYD). Currently a member of the mile-high club (BA are featuring his new CD 'Whistling In The Dark' as their chosen Country album on Transatlantic flights), Hank twangs like no other!
http://www.hankwangford.co.uk£9 members/£10 non-members