RAIN surprise as a small prog supergroup with a very special mix

21. January 2021

Rain

RAIN überraschen als kleine Prog-Supergroup mit ganz speziellem Mix

John Jowitt is best known from IQ, with whom he vibrated the bass strings for two decades (1991-2011). During their time together he was able to build up a solid rhythm foundation with drummer Andy Edwards, which the two of them took over with Frost*. The musical threads then merged with ELO veteran Bev Bevan in the band Quill, so it wasn't a long way to Rob Groucutt - son of the late ELO bassist Kelly Groucutt - who is a singer and multi-instrumentalist in his own right. The extraordinary young talent Mirron Webb, an excellent guitarist as well as a singer, had met Groucutt and Edwards as their music student at a college in Worcestershire, England. Together, Jowitt, Edwards, Groucutt and Webb now formed the band Rain. "We wanted a short, catchy name, like Yes, and we went from 'Reign' to 'Rain'," explains Rob Groucutt.

Although they could only communicate demos and contributions electronically in Corona days, the debut "Singularity" has become a real band effort. For instance, based on a demo by Andy Edwards, who also contributed keyboards and electronics, Groucutt and Webb developed the vocal and guitar lines, resulting in the strong album opener "Devils Will Reign." Says Groucutt, "The ideas just flowed, even though we didn't get to meet in person during the recording process. But it was a really interesting approach where everything came together tremendously organically into a whole." Given the virtuosity and complexity of the music, which oscillates between classical prog à la Yes and ELO-like melodic richness on the one hand, and insane fusion improvisations and jazzy grooves on the other, this is an all the more surprising result

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