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press photos
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press release
RA
"DON�T TURN AWAY" AS REDEMPTIVE PROG ROCKERS DELIVER LIVE AND RAW OCT. 24 ON CEMENT SHOES RECORDS (FONTANA/UNIVERSAL) DEBUT
First single, "Don�t Turn Away," is
No. 1 Most Added at Active Rock Radio!
'The Congress of Corruption' Fall U.S. Package Tour Hits Road with Cement Shoes label mates ILL NIÑO and Godhead
"As likely to charm snakes as it is to incite a mosh" - Guitar One
"Certain to crack the frigid, fickle boundaries of popular culture." � Metal Edge
LOS ANGELES (Sept. 21, 2006) - Fusing soaring vocals, seven-string guitars and Eastern modalities into pure rock power, RA has summoned all of its RAW energy to deliver its Cement Shoes Records debut with its first live album.
And it's not just the live tracks that are making the impact. "Don�t Turn Away," RA's impassioned new single and the lone studio track on RAW, debuted this week as the No. 1 Most Added Track at Active Rock radio!
RAW, due Oct. 24 on the new FONTANA/Universal distributed label, captures an incendiary live performance recorded earlier this year at the Machine Shop in Flint, MI, where frontman/lead vocalist/founder Sahaj Ticotin says "the audiences are always so exciting and so crazy; I knew we were going to have a good show at that club because the audiences there always draw it out of me." Mixed by the legendary Andy Johns (Led Zeppelin, Van Halen, Ozzy Osbourne), RAW brings together the ambitiously infectious, commercially challenging sound that has cast RA as a groundbreaking act over two critically acclaimed studio albums, while forecasting some of what's in store when Black Sun, the band's highly anticipated next studio effort, is released by Cement Shoes in Spring 2007.
Influenced as much by Metallica and Soundgarden as Peter Gabriel and the Police, RA has been hailed by the likes of Guitar One, Guitar World, Metal Edge and Hit Parader for its masterful contrast of intricately sensitive aggression and melody. Not only does RAW include RA's early radio hit, "Fallen Angels" and popular remake of The Police's "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic," but the album also serves as an exciting introduction to fan favorites like the hypnotic "Violator," the soulful "I Lost Everything Today" and the driving yet contemplative "Sky."
Indeed, RA is a force that must be experienced live, whether on RAW or on the fall "Congress of Corruption Tour," launching today with Cement Shoes label mates ILL NIÑO and Godhead. All the latest tour information is at www.thecongressofcorruptiontour.com
As RA marks its 10th anniversary this year, the band (also lead guitarist Ben Carroll, bassist P.J. Farley and drummer Andy Ryan) enters its second decade poised to astound and ascend with its remarkable sonic � and spiritual - balance.
Cement Shoes Records, formed in 2006 by industry veterans Daniel E. Catullo III (president/founder of music DVD company Coming Home Studios), Peter Koepke (former president/partner of legendary London Records), and Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins, seeks to re-establish true artist relationships and development neglected in recent years by major labels. An independent label distributed by Fontana/Universal, Cement Shoes Records believes the artist comes first and needs to be properly developed through relentless touring and focused marketing efforts to "the street," where the true music fans are.
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bio
RA is a band of contrasts � a band that is aggressive and forceful, yet consistently melodic, musical and intricate. A band that can be loud and in-your-face, but is quite capable of sensitivity, introspection and emotional depth. A band that is often hooky, infectious, commercial and radio-friendly, yet is ambitious and challenging. All of those qualities are very much in evidence on RAW, the East Coast alternative rock/alternative metal/post-grunge outfit's first live album, first album for Cement Shoes Records and third album overall.
Recorded live at the Machine Shop in Flint, Michigan, RAW offers inspired live versions of songs from RA's two previous albums, From One and Duality. RAW also contains one studio recording: RA's passionate new single, "Don�t Turn Away." RA frontman/lead vocalist/founder Sahaj Ticotin, who writes much of their material, explains: "'Don�t Turn Away' is a powerful glimpse into our next studio project, and there is already a lot of excitement at radio over this single - and the live show is a way to acknowledge our hardcore fans and acquire some new fans who might be hearing many of these songs for the first time. At the Machine Shop, the audiences are always so exciting and so crazy; I knew we were going to have a good show at that club because the audiences there always draw it out of me."
Ticotin sees RAW as a precursor to Ra's next studio album, Black Sun, which the Los Angeles-based Cement Shoes plans to release in the spring of 2007. The ability of RA (which Ticotin named after the ancient sun god of Egyptian mythology) to combine the heavy and the ethereal so effectively on RAW may very well stem from Ticotin's very eclectic musical tastes and intriguingly wide variety of influences. Ticotin cites Metallica, Korn, Queensrÿche and Soundgarden as major influences, but he also points to Peter Gabriel, The Police/Sting, Paul McCartney, U2 and Prince as strong musical inspirations. Hip-hop is an influence on RA (whose current lineup also includes lead guitarist Ben Carroll, bassist P.J. Farley and drummer Andy Ryan), and so are the modalities of Indian, Middle Eastern and North African music.
"One of the things I learned listening to Metallica's older stuff is that no matter how heavy something is, it never loses its melodicism if you use a Hindu/Arabic scale," notes Ticotin, a native New Yorker of Puerto Rican and Russian descent who spent some time in India studying eastern spirituality. "It can be as heavy, brutal and hard as you can possibly imagine, but it will never lose its melodicism if it is in a Hindu/Arabic scale. And a Hindu/Arabic scale also adds an element of exoticness and allows you to use a lot of ethnic percussion."
2006 marks the 10th anniversary of RA, which Ticotin founded in 1996. Five years after its formation, the band signed with Republic/Universal Records, which released their debut album, From One, in 2002, and their sophomore effort, Duality (which contained their radio hit "Fallen Angels" and their popular remake of The Police's "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic") in 2005. Hardcore RA fans will recognize most of the songs on RAW but for newcomers, RAW can be an exciting introduction to favorites like the hypnotic "Violator," the soulful "I Lost Everything Today" (which Ticotin envisions as a possible single) and the driving yet contemplative "Sky."
The title Duality, Ticotin stresses, was inspired by RA's desire to combine the intense and the ethereal�a desire they also express on RAW and will continue to express on Black Sun.
"From the beginning, RA's goal was to be a hard, heavy, metallic band, but with the vocal influences of Peter Gabriel and Sting on top of that heaviness," Ticotin asserted. "The whole idea of this band is something that is incredibly explosive and powerful, but is also warm, giving and hopeful. I have a specific sonic goal to achieve: Ra will continue to grow heavier, thicker and chunkier, but we�re also going to be increasingly lush."
- Alex Henderson, September 2006
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press clippings
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tour dates
CONGRESS OF CORRUPTION TOUR DATES:
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DATE |
DAY |
VENUE |
CITY |
| Sept. 21 |
Thu. |
Recher Theatre |
Baltimore, MD |
| Sept. 22 |
Fri. |
Palladium |
Worcester, MA |
| Sept. 23 |
Sat. |
Webster Theater |
Hartford, CT |
| Sept. 24 |
Sun. |
Irving Plaza |
New York, NY |
| Sept. 26 |
Tue. |
Huntington Music Hall |
Huntington, WV |
| Sept. 27 |
Wed. |
Peabody�s |
Cleveland, OH |
| Sept. 28 |
Thu. |
Machine Shop |
Flint, MI |
| Sept. 29 |
Fri. |
Pierre's |
Fort Wayne, IN |
| Sept. 30 |
Sat. |
Orbit Room |
Grand Rapids, MI |
| Oct. 1 |
Sun. |
Durty Nellies |
Palatine, IL |
| Oct. 3 |
Tue. |
Big E's |
Edgerton, WI |
| Oct. 4 |
Wed. |
The Rock |
Maplewood, MN |
| Oct. 5 |
Thu. |
Granada |
Lawrence, KS |
| Oct. 6 |
Fri. |
3rd Street Live |
Cedar Rapids, IA |
| Oct. 7 |
Sat. |
Chez Paree |
Carter Lake, NE |
| Oct. 8 |
Sun. |
Gothic Theatre |
Englewood, CO |
| Oct. 10 |
Tue. |
Big Easy Concert Hall |
Boise, ID |
| Oct. 11 |
Wed. |
Big Easy Concert Hall |
Spokane, WA |
| Oct. 14 |
Sat. |
House of Blues |
West Hollywood, CA |
| Oct. 19 |
Thu. |
Curtain Club |
Dallas, TX |
| Oct. 20 |
Fri. |
Dos Amigos |
Odessa, TX |
| Oct. 21 |
Sat. |
House of Rock |
Corpus Christ, TX |
| Oct. 22 |
Sun. |
White Rabbit |
San Antonio, TX |
| Oct. 23 |
Mon. |
Scout Bar |
Houston, TX |
MORE DATES TO COME...
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website
Visit Ra online at:
www.raband.net
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