Rootdogs release download album of live recordings

Rootdogs

Mark T says: Due to the Covid outbreak my next full release in all formats Blues @ Zero has been postponed until 2021. As performing live is not currently possibly, I thought it would be a nice idea to bring together recorded live performances from 1997 – 2016, many with my occasional collaborators Rootdogs.

Who were Rootdogs?

Rootdogs grew out of Roger Watson’s community music organisation Traditional Arts Projects in 1997. All members, apart from Fran Wood, were working for Roger at the time.

Central to the band’s two line-ups were Mark T and Fran Wood with Keith Holloway on bass, later replaced by Paul Critchfield, and Mysterious Bob on percussion, replaced by Paul Midgely and Greg Cox.

They were a very well received live band playing constantly across the whole of England and Wales. They played the then popular roots rock circuit, mainly pubs and arts centres, at times playing four gigs in one weekend.

The audience reaction to their gigs resulted in many memorable nights including one night at the Purple Turtle in Reading where two women at the front of the audience stripped off all their clothes and threw them on stage!

They did many live sessions on local radio plus a one hour T.V special for the Troggs cable T.V. channel ‘Town TV’ which gave birth to Reg Presley’s much quoted comment ‘why have I not heard of you before?’. Unfortunately the tape was later lost.

They were also mentioned in Bruce Mann’s book on Jimi Hendrix as being very original interpreters of Hendrix. The band never recorded a commercial release, despite being offered a deal by 101 records, and this to some degree accounts for why they were not better known.

Artists’ website: www.marktmusic.co.uk

‘Gallows Pole’ – remastered live version:


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