The Ragged Flowers

The Ragged Flowers came together in the mid-90s in a series of café jam sessions in the blossoming arts scene in Almonte, Ontario. In demand at musical be-ins such as Blue Skies, Stewart Park and The Ottawa Folk Festival, the Flowers have attracted a loyal fan base and air play in Canada, England and the USA. Blending dance grooves and global spices into percussive, high-energy performances, they've earned a reputation as “the ultimate festival party band”.

Picture this: A bunch of 1970s teenagers from Montreal, Ottawa, and Toronto playing in everything from punk bands to blues and rock outfits to African drum circles, classical and choral groups. Then comes a kaleidoscope of educational pursuits and careers. Marriages, mortgages, moves and 14 children follow over the next couple of decades. Cut to a 21st century Saturday night. Under a full festival moon five sweating, exhilarated musicians take a bow to a dance-stoked crowd chanting five words: “Band take your pants off! BAND TAKE YOUR PANTS OFF!!!” You’ve just entered the unpredictable, folklectic world of the five guys who call themselves The Ragged Flowers. From their creative lair in Eastern Ontario -- a historic and artistic riverside jewel of a town called Almonte (pop. 4,400) -- Ric Denis, Ian Douglas, Steve Reside, Rob Riendeau and Nathan Sloniowski still marvel at a formation-by-chance in their community's café scene in 1997. After discovering each other, roving jam sessions for handfuls of people quickly grew into a string of monthly music-food fusion events, pairing Santana, Joni Mitchell, Beatles, Van Morrison, Paul Simon and Bruce Cockburn cover tunes with spicy global cuisine and liberally poured libations. The result was that contemplative sit-down concerts more often than not exploded into sweat-soaked dance parties -- a phenomenon that exists to this day. As their reputation and gigs increased over the late 90s, The Ragged Flowers tried out a few originals tunes -- largely from previous musical involvements. They also began building their folklectic sound featuring dense harmonies, multi-layered percussion, double bass and lots of guitar -- including far-out electric and synth effects inspired by their 70s upbringing when folk, rock and world music were blurred for the first time in the name of anything-goes experimentation. Spurred on by Almonte's many visual artists, writers, musicians, nature lovers and eclectic souls from all walks of life, The Ragged Flowers released their debut CD, Love to Burn, in 2000. It's a live-off-the-floor recording co-produced with Toronto's Lurch (aka Chris Rudyk) of Broadcast Lane Studios, who has also worked with Barenaked Ladies, Chris Brown & Kate Fenner, and Scott Merritt. Love to Burn quickly lead to several premiere festival gigs such as Blue Skies, Stewart Park Festival, and the Ottawa Folk Festival, as well as airplay on CBC in Canada and indie stations in the UK and USA. Many of the Flowers have also been pursuing new projects between band albums. Ric Denis recently released a critically acclaimed solo acoustic instrumental guitar CD entitled Tadoussac, produced by Ken Friesen at Marnie's Diner Studios. Nathan Sloniowski has written songs for a roots-canadiana CD called Who Rules The World, being recorded at Broadcast Lane Studios with Terry Tufts, Chris Brown and band members from the Rheostatics and Cowboy Junkies. Ian Douglas and Steve Reside are finishing final mixes on Word-of-Mouth, an ambitious recording of original tribal and Celtic soundscapes with their group, Raintree. The Ragged Flowers newest CD, Story be Told, was co-produced and recorded with Ken Friesen at Marnie's Diner Studios in Almonte. Ken's recent credits include recordings with The Tragically Hip, Sarah Slean, Terry Tufts, and Blackie and the Rodeo Kings. Under Friesen's guidance, Story be Told leans into a more electric, driving, neo-psychedelic sound, with a stick-drum kit pushing the further down the frequency range. Throughout the recording the band has retained passionate lyrics, six-stringed virtuosity, world-spiced hand-drums and shakers, sliding acoustic bass, bright harmonies moving from brooding folk to hip-shaking grooves and festival-making excitement.

We play live lots. Festivals. Clubs. Soft-seat theatres. Edges of cliffs. Middles of forests and fields. Our fave gigs involve dancing people, usually outdoors.

The highly percussive African, Latin, Celtic and Caribbean threads running through the band's music, combined with an energetic stage show and irreverent rapport with their audiences (one band member graciously removed a shoe when asked with his colleagues to remove their pants, thoughtfully citing workplace safety reasons versus simple-minded prudishness), has earned The Ragged Flowers a loyal fan base that they look forward to expanding.