Let's meet the Rakes of Kilkarill

What's the story behind your band's founding?

Big groups calve off small groups, and rebels been rebels since I don't know when. And that wheel's still turning; Rhen mentored Justadream with the Rakes, and now she has her own band and he couldn't be more proud.

How did your band get its name?

Rake as in rake-hell: pursuer of divers pleasures. And Kilkarill is high on a mountainside where the source of the River Karill runs clear and cold - a world away and an age ago. 

How did your members meet one another?

We first played together on a rainy night in Asbury Park, Bree-town, refugees from the muddy undertow and the smiling villains who thought they owned the river. We came looking to find a cure for misanthropy in a bass line, and when the horn came in it all just gelled.

How would you describe your band's music?

We're rockers, we're storytellers, we tap the mythic currents, sometimes we do them all at once. But if it doesn't feel like saying your truth - what's the point?

How do you decide which songs to play?

There are basically two kinds of writers - plotters and pantsers. Plotters work from an outline; even if it only exists inside their heads, they know what's going to happen like a road map the whole way through, and the characters develop to fit it. Pantsers come into their stories with deep characters, developed personalities and predilections, create a detailed world and situation to drop them in - and let them do what they'll do, flying by the seat of the pants and by the end not usually writing the story they started out thinking they would.

Rhen's a pantser. Hardcore. 

Do you have a signature song?

Hard to say, but if we do, it's probably Tam Lin / Catharsis - a moderntrad Irish reel set. Rhen put the two melodies on the Anvil and ran 50,000 volts through them, and that's 90% of what you need to know about the Rakes. 

What's the highlight of your band's time together?

There's something that defies words about that moment you realize you've created a sound, turned a phrase, voiced an unspoken thought, that has reached out and moved somebody. You give an emotion to the listeners, and they give you theirs back, and that's magic that nobody can take away. 

The current most amazing expression of that ever is when Rhen brought Marie into the band to sing a couple of her favorite songs - and she revealed a hidden talent for original lyrics and made him so proud of her voice he could burst.

Do you have any stories about a time when things didn't go so well?

Yeah, but I only tell the funny ones. Moving right along. 

Does your band play a regular concert? If so, when and where?

Oh hail to the no. All our shows are highly irregular. But keep an eye out around south gate when it's not a raiding night.

Does your band have a website, Twitter feed, Youtube channel, or links to any performances?

Winterstock '19: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/367378763?collection=ZyGzZ0stexVHsA 

Winterfest '18: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/349671111, set starts at 1:53:15

Monsters of the Rock II: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFJxuUnMIvI

Shirefest 10th Anniversary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmEFOzo3Mw8 

What's the one thing we should know about your band above all else?

The hobbit's a mean drunk. Don't turn your back on him. 

Is there anything else you'd like to tell us about your group?

Rhen doesn't sing other people's lyrics, and we don't play other people's arrangements. Never have, never will. It's as real as the soul it's torn from piece by piece.