It was Saturday, Halloween night; I was 18 years old, on State St. Madison, Wisconsin. I don’t know how many people truly understand the depth of that last sentence. For those of you who don’t know, Madison, Wisconsin kind of has this reputation as a party city. And if there is ever a time that Madison, its residents, and the students of the local humongous University of Wisconsin gets a bit crazy and pulls out every party trick, it’s on Halloween. Back then, one of the best things was that there was always a national band brought in by some corporate sponsor for free amidst all that insanity. This particular year it was an up and coming group called The Rainmakers.
I know what you the reader is thinking, “But Hunter, this is #UnsignedTuesday, this is supposed to be about unsigned and unknown groups!” And you are absolutely right. But guess what, I’m throwing you a curveball and introducing you to a group that, though having a modicum of success in the late 80’s, is presently unsigned. I thought that once a quarter or so add a little history lesson and highlight groups that were; underappreciated, quality bands, released recent music, and still put on a killer show!
Initially formed as a bar band in 1983, the band eventually morphed into The Rainmakers combining the guitar power of famous Missourian Chuck Berry with the wit of fellow Missourian Mark Twain. As stated on their website they were;
“Heralded as “America’s Great Next Band” by Newsday, The Rainmakers were soon drenched in critical acclaim. Feature articles in Newsweek, Rolling Stone, CMJ, USA Today and others poured in singing the praises of this hard working Midwest band who provided new life to a traditional rock format.”
If you saw The Rainmakers live back then, the sky was the limit. They were beloved in Europe, particularly in the Scandinavian markets and they kept climbing the bill festival after festival, year after year. But for some reason, and it confounds me personally to this day, they never seemed to get any traction here in the U.S. Being critical darlings, unfortunately, does not make you a success often times. Shortly after 1997 and their album Skin, The Rainmakers just seemed to go away...
Lead Singer Bob Walkenhorst is a whirling dynamo of twangy Midwest charisma, wit, energy, and pure flair that when seeing them live, you cannot keep your eyes off of him both for his talent and for what he is going to do next. He is noted for his unique writing style; writing about life, politics, and social situations with a jaundiced eye and a rapier’s wit. And his bandmates; Jeff Porter on guitar, Rich Ruth on bass, and multiple band drummer and sound engineer extraordinaire Pat Tomek seriously if you want to hear a tight, talented, and excellent band that is consistently on top of their game, the guys in The Rainmakers are not only solid musicians, their amazing live.
He continued performing around Kansas City and on occasionally would do solo and duo tours in Europe and it was during a 2010 Norway tour that he realized that The Rainmakers music wasn’t forgotten. So with 2011 being the 25 year anniversary of The Rainmakers first release, in January most of the group reunited and recorded the album 25 On, and The Rainmakers were reborn. Since they have released another original album called Monster Movie.
The Rainmakers continue to perform, particularly in the Kansas City & St Louis, MO area, throughout the Midwest, doing tours in Norway, and perform at festivals in Scandinavia.
Show them some love on their official site and Facebook!
About Hunter: Hunter is a freelance music writer that concentrates on finding outstanding, unsigned, unknown and under appreciated bands from around the world and unabashedly wields them onto the unsuspecting and the great unwashed. His work has appeared on music sites kilScene (NYC/Brooklyn), Mother Church Pew (NYC), and East of Eighth (Nashville). One of his writings has even been shared and press quoted by a Grammy Nominated artist (Do the Grammy's even matter anymore?!) After a particularly difficult and surreal week of work about five years ago Hunter decided to search the dark, dusty corners and obscure underbelly of the Internet. It was after hearing one of the same 30 songs that a so called "New Rock" radio station played yet again on his way home. That is what started him n his quixotic quest. Since then through many seasons of bleeding ears, anguish, and many neurotic episodes, he has learned well how to hone the power of the Internet in his search. Along with that, he has a vast array of concerts and music rouges throughout the US and around the world, and his goal is to find some of the most unique, fresh, and kick you in the ear hole artists and bands. You can follow him on Twitter or Facebook (if you can find him!) About Hunter: Hunter is a freelance music writer that concentrates on finding outstanding, unsigned, unknown and under appreciated bands from around the world and unabashedly wields them onto the unsuspecting and the great unwashed. His work has appeared on music sites kilScene (NYC/Brooklyn), Mother Church Pew (NYC), and East of Eighth (Nashville). One of his writings has even been shared and press quoted by a Grammy Nominated artist (Do the Grammy's even matter anymore?!) After a particularly difficult and surreal week of work about five years ago Hunter decided to search the dark, dusty corners and obscure underbelly of the Internet. It was after hearing one of the same 30 songs that a so called "New Rock" radio station played yet again on his way home. That is what started him n his quixotic quest. Since then through many seasons of bleeding ears, anguish, and many neurotic episodes, he has learned well how to hone the power of the Internet in his search. Along with that, he has a vast array of concerts and music rouges throughout the US and around the world, and his goal is to find some of the most unique, fresh, and kick you in the ear hole artists and bands. You can follow him on Twitter or Facebook (if you can find him!)
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