A damn fine example of gravel-voiced country rock.....these songs are full of unaffected, unrefined humanity, a kind of world-weary, warts 'n' all honesty that's getting rarer in music....there is something raw and real about The Racketeers that's easy to love.

John Walshe 
Hot Press, Ireland. Feb 2004

sville
A powerful and rootsy sound that brings fiddle, mandolin, lap steel and banjo up front and center next to the electric guitar, bass and drum foundation. This is roots rock as strong as a lot of the Stateside bands claiming a similar pedigree. Listen to 'Never Did, Never Will' with Bill Whelan's banjo adding a spikey texture to the mix or the harmonica led 'Come On Little Baby' to see what I mean.

Steve Averill
Lonesome Highway Vol 2 # 3
April 2004

Americana from Dublin. And it ain't Dublin in the state of Ohio, but Dublin, Ireland. There has always been a deep affection to country & western music by the Irish, but this is alternative country. The Racketeers, centred around singer/guitarist Eamonn Dowd, took to country rock and rock'n'roll with tinges of both Neil Young and Steve Earle. Kind of psycho ceili in Claremorris, as Ron Kavana's (-> FW#6) song has it (Eamonn is from Claremorris, Co. Mayo), but it ain't a ceili. Brian O'Toole on bass guitar and drummer Chris Teusner follow Eamonn Dowd's cracked vocals and dark lyrics on their way down into hell. Considering the trio is from Europe, they do it better than well (see also -> FW#25) and can compete with their musical brethren on the other side of the Atlantic. In fact, it's much better than a lot of the trash from across the western ocean.

Folkworld, Germany. October 2004

Western People
Your community Your Newspaper

These are busy times for Claremorris native Eamonn Dowd. Lead singer and guitarist with The Racketeers, a Dublin based touring band, Eamonn is delighted to see their third album, Exit Hellsville, finally make it to the 'release' stakes.
Music has been Eamonn's life since he left the family homestead in Rockfield to pursue his dream in the city. After featuring with a number of bands, he formed The Racketeers in 1997 and together with Brian O'Toole and Chris Teusner, and a pool of musicians, they have undertaken extensive tours which have taken them to Sweden, America, Thailand, Denmark, Finland, Switzerland and Estonia in the past two years.
Exit Hellsville, distributed by Claddagh Records, features 12 songs and all of them have been written by Eamonn Dowd. This album followed in the tracks of By Hook or By Crook and 'Long Time Gone'. And The Racketeers have been kicking up quite a racket among the critics. "They come close to cruising with the harmonic country-rock majesty of The Band … a fantastic vulnerable voice," commented the Dublin Guide Voice.
Even Hot Press has been gushing in their praise of Dowd and The Racketeers: "Dowd's vocals have an indecently gritty quality - he sounds like he's lived the lifestyle he portrays so well ….. Bodes extremely well for the future …. A passable impression of a younger Van Morrison … old-fashioned American rock and country-tinged balladry, but they do it very well."
"A country coated guitar affair that tugs at both the heart-strings and the feet. Well worth checking is," is what The Examiner's reviewer had to say about the guys.
The new album has been recorded by Paul Thomas who is well known on the Dublin circuit for his work with Thin Lizzy and early U2. Dowd takes the lead on all twelve of his original compositions. A number of guest musicians including Fiachra Shanks, Swifty Swift, Foxy Murphy, and Vinnie O'Connor are featured on the album.
*The Racketeers are playing in The Garravogue, Sligo on Thursday, 12th February, starting at 11 p.m.

Western People, Ireland. February 2004

SLIGO WEEKENDER   Friday April 20 2001

The Racketeers at the Garavogue

Some bands make music, some sacrifice music and others, racketeer music. Can you guess which category the Racketeers fit into? Well you’d be wrong, in actual fact they make music, and some superb examples of it as well. If you need proof then check them out in the Garavogue on Thursday April 26.
Having been together for just six months, The Racketeers released their critically acclaimed debut album “By Hook Or By Crook” in spring 1997.
Within a few months, the band had brought their fiery brand of roots infused rock ‘n’ roll all over Ireland, including a few memorable shows at the Budweiser Rhythm ‘n’ Roots Festival in Galway, where they played alongside Counting Crows and the legendary Peter Green.
The album was also well received overseas as it notched up radio plays in Holland and Hungary.
In the summer of that year the band took to the road for a seven-week thirty-five date tour of Sweden, Finland and Holland. Indeed this set the tone for the following year as European tours (Holland, Denmark, etc.) intermingled with Irish dates including prestigious shows at the Galway Arts Festival and Festival Cois Laoi in Cobh.
April ‘99 saw the release of a new album, “Long Time Gone,” which received rave reviews. At this time ex-Big Geranium star Neil McCartney joined the band.
A festive release, the “Counterfeit Christmas” EP resulted in a couple of TV appearances. Throughout 2000 the band have been kept busy touring Finland (three times!) Estonia, Holland and Switzerland, as well as spending some time ‘bringing it all back home’ to Ireland.
Last year the band returned to the studio to work on new material. 2000 was also the year the band joined the cyber-community by launching their web-site www.theracketeers.com which is well worth checking out.
The band will play a couple of gigs at the Heineken Green Energy Festival in Galway over the June Bank Holiday weekend. More details as soon as we get them.
And it’s not just the hordes of fans in the colder regions of Europe who have embraced this group. The Press have been singing their praises loudly as well.
“Eamonn Dowd’s vocals have an indecently gritty quality - he sounds like he’s lived the lifestyle he portrays so well... a passable impression of a younger Van Morrison... old fashioned American rock and country-tinged balladry, but they do it very well.” was the verdict of Hot Press.
If you like how this sounds, and you want to hear how they sound then don’t miss them in the Garavogue on Thursday next, April 26.

EAMONN RACKETEER: 
tor 1/7 KoM musik & bar, Göteborg
Countryrock från Irland! "Dynamisk och stark Countryrock med atmosfär. Eamonn Dowd har den där hesa och varma känslan i rösten som jag vill ha! Hhm, vackra irländska vyer, god maltwiskey + en varm pub..Jag måste bara sätta på The Racketeers platta..." skriver skivaffären Off the Record
"Dowd's vocals have an indecently gritty quality - he sounds like he's lived the lifestyle he portrays so well ….. Bodes extremely well for the future …. A passable impression of a younger Van Morrison … old-fashioned American rock and country-tinged balladry, but they do it very well" skriver tidskriften Western People.
foto © Eamonn Dowd

Fridhammer, Sweden. July 2004 

Songs, wie über grobes Sandpapier gezogen
Ire Eamonn Dowd präsentiert rauen Folkrock im Greizer „Peanuts“

Greiz (OTZ/KS.). Weichgespült ist seine Stimme nun wirklich nicht. Im Gegenteil. Eamonn Dowd singt, als würden die Songtexte über grobes Sandpapier gezogen. Rau, kratzig, spröde. Vor allem aber besitzen die Titel des in Dublin lebenden Iren Charakter und heben sich wohltuend vom Gleichklang der üblichen Singer-/Songwriter-Fraktion ab. Insofern feierte Dowd am Freitag im ausverkauften Greizer „Peanuts“ nicht nur sein Debüt im Vogtland, sondern darf getrost als empfehlenswerte Neuentdeckung gefeiert werden.

 Es sind die leeren nächtlichen Straßen, die neonreklame- oder sternenbeleuchtet, aber immer regennass sind, die sich unweigerlich vor dem geistigen Auge zeigen, wenn Dowd seine Songs von Liebe, Sehnsucht und Einsamkeit abspielt. Und es ist mittlerweile selten geworden, dass es Musikern gelingt, diesen, sagen wir vorsichtig, nicht gänzlich unbekannten Themen samt ihrer musikalischen Umrahmung soviel Ehrlichkeit und Glaubwürdigkeit zu schenken, wie es der Ire tut. Die große Kunst allerdings ist, dass trotz aller Schwermut, die vielen von Dowds Songs innewohnt, ihnen weder Kraft noch Hoffnung fehlen.

Das liegt zu einem Großteil an den dynamischen Melodien und nicht zuletzt an Dowds expressiver, an der Rockgitarre orientieren Gitarrenspielweise. Dass er – zum Glück – nicht in die nicht minder vom Gleichklang eingeholte Irish-Folk-Schublade passt, zeichnet ihn abermals aus. Bei Dowd mischen sich auf gute Weise Dirtrock, Folk und Einflüsse eines frühen Neil Young. Die Nähe des Iren zu letzterem wie zu Altmeister Bob Dylan zeigen einige Coverversionen wie „Knocking On Heavens Door“ oder „Hey Hey, my my“. Dowds spielt diese Titel jedoch nicht einfach nur nach, er interpretiert sie im besten Sinn und verleiht ihnen neuen Ausdruck.

 Ist Dowd selbst, dessen unnachahmliche Stimme zuweilen tatsächlich mit einer bestens gelungenen Zusammenführung der Gesangsorgane von Leonhard Cohen, Jonny Cash und Tom Waits zu vergleichen ist, hierzulande noch unbekannt, in seiner irischen Heimat ebenso in England und Skandinavien hat er sowohl als Solist als auch als Sänger und Frontmann seiner Band „The Racketeers“ einen Namen bei Publikum und Kritik. Mit der 1997 gegründeten Band legte er vor kurzem die neue CD „Exit Hellsville“ vor, von der er auch am Freitag einige Stücke zum Besten gab. Der Ausgang aus dem Höllendorf durfte dabei, so auch die Einschätzung der Gäste, durchaus etwas länger dauern. Kurzum: Eamonn Dowd, der trotz Tourstress exklusive Pausen fast drei Stunden musizierte, steht jedenfalls nur ein Prädikat zu: absolut hörenswert.

Karsten Schaarschmidt  

WENDTOUR  "Silver & Dust" review (Deutschland)

Eine ordentliche Portion Tiefgang