WITH band members living in three separate countries getting together to practice is not easy. But that’s what makes a meeting of The Raggles so exciting.

When Brendan O’Neill (Ireland/Portugal), Paul McKeown (Ireland/Mallorca), and Sebastian Tesouro (Argentina/UK) get together in West Somerset, you know you’re in for a great time. The Raggles will be performing a concert on Friday, January 15, in Stogumber.

Paul and Brendan first began playing music together in the early eighties in Dublin, at school or, more correctly, when they should have been in school instead of rehearsing with their rock band. They have been writing songs throughout their time together and are constantly working on new material and experimenting with new styles, though much influenced by their Irish roots. More recently they have been joined by fiddle-player and percussionist Sebastian Tesouro, who is now based in West Somerset.

Brendan has moved with his family to the Algarve, Portugal and continues writing music and touring from this new base. Paul continues to live in Mallorca along with some of the other members of the band and sometimes can be spotted with a suntan if you can ever get him out of the recording studio!

For this latest project the band has been renamed simply The Raggles and are experimenting with a warmer, more acoustic unplugged sound.

Friday, January 15, The White Horse, Stogumber. Doors open at 8pm and the gig starts at 8.30pm. £5 on the door, with no advance tickets.