Joe Rathbone

Joe Rathbone is proud to announce the release of his fifth record entitled Waking Up the Sun, featuring his new group The Mercy Alliance.

Waking Up the Sun includes inspired guitar work by the late Steve Bishop, who worked with the legendary Ronnie Montrose, drumming by ex Counting Crow Steve Bowman , lyrical bass from John Kessler who started his career as a member of the original Mountain Stage band and some elegant string work from producer David Henry ( David Mead Guster, Josh Rouse, Kelly Joe Phelps, Jars of Clay).

The 8 tracks range from broad open rockers like the title track : Waking Up the Sun to brooding ballads, introspective jaunts and a poignant farewell to guitarist Bishop entitled Wave.

Rathbone provides raw vocals and gritty guitar playing and some colorful keyboard on all the tracks while Deanna Murray delivers some thrilling harmony singing often weaving in and out of the lead vocal. Waking Up the Sun deals with the concept of how we face loss and alienation while recognizing and accepting the incredible good fortune the world can bring.

There are gorgeous string flourishes, ecstatic feedback, watery volume swells, delirious drum loops and ethereal harmonies that resonate throughout this record and let the listener in on the heart of the matter : Wave moonlight in a bottle, it’s a miracle what you’re holding in your hands broken bodies in the grey light we were built to fail..

Dave Ramont

David Alan Ramont was born in Illinois one muggy, August Tuesday with a song stuck in his head. The doctors couldn’t get it out. (He was also left-handed but they couldn’t fix that either.) He grew into a little kid and began listening to lots of vinyl- Simon & Garfunkel, Stones, Guess Who, Dylan, Gary Puckett. Soundtracks from “The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly” & “Jesus Christ Superstar”. Other hobbies included ruminating and kicking stuff down the street. Then he growed up more, or at least he got taller…

He picked up guitar early on (11?), perhaps to get that damn song out of his head, and whacked away in various bands through high school. Not long after that he started teaching guitar and bass at a little music school outside of Chicago, where he taught hundreds of people “Stairway To Heaven” and what an Aeolian minor scale was for. He began writing songs and playing gigs around the Chicago area –solo, full band, and everything in between. Through the years he also played in the pit for theatre productions, did recording session work, hid out in cover bands, and did plenty of ditch digging, paint scraping and weed pulling.

After releasing his first CD “Toaster Reflection” he moved to Austin, TX for a time and soaked up the thriving indy music scene –playing open mics, songwriter showcases, and driving a bakery truck. His songs began receiving some airplay. The Austin Chronicle said “The world could always use another quality singer-songwriter with meaty lyrics, gritty vocals and a tight back-up band.”

Dave returned North with a tad more twang (and a helluva hangover) and recorded the rootsy, darker “Scofflaws”. The Illinois Entertainer said “…unlike many simplistic roots-revivalists, Ramont isn’t afraid to mix things up…gorgeously unexpected accordions and cellos pop up on this wonderfully produced CD.” He continued playing gigs and teaching. And digging ditches.

In 2000 he released “Scrawny” and began receiving more widespread airplay in the US (mostly on public and college radio) and Europe. Richard Milne of WXRT in Chicago called it “a delicious collection of distinctly American music.” Mark Guarino of Chicago’s Daily Herald said it was “…the finest collection of songwriting I’ve heard in a long time.” Once again the guitar, bass & drums core was surrounded by accordion, cello, piano, Dobro, mandolin, dulcimer, crowbar, lap steel, horns, etc. He toured more extensively- Midwest, East, South, Southeast- and became, well, sleepier…

He borrowed a banjo and co-founded the swamp-billy band Dick Smith with some musical pals. They recorded 4 CDs and developed a hardcore little following, playing around the Chicago regions and the Midwest. Acoustic Guitar Magazine picked their record “Smoke Damage” (2002) as one of the top 3 indy releases of the year. Dave then stepped away from music for a few years. But a feller never stops thinking about new songs, nope –even if he wants to…

At the end of 2009 -flying in the face of recession- Ramont released a sprawling double CD called “Taw”, polished his 1967 Gibson J-50 and started playing out again. His (old) song “I Wanna Marry A Waitress” was chosen to appear on “Blooming-Tunes 2010″, a songwriter compilation released out of Bloomington, IN. He had 2 songs featured on the 2011 record “Made In Aurora”, a compilation of Chicago area songwriters/bands (1st pressing sold out).

And now in 2012 he’s writing songs for a new record, gigging, and working with Dick Smith again. And when no one’s looking, he still enjoys kicking stuff down the street now and again, yep.