In perfect crossover harmony
Muirsical Conversation with Paul Bain & Claire McArthur Bain (Raintown)
Muirsical Conversation with Paul Bain & Claire McArthur Bain (Raintown)
Scottish crossover country band Raintown are all about the blend of not just the smooth and warm voices of husband and wife singer-songwriter team Paul Bain and Claire McArthur Bain but the blend of the individual band members who contribute to the Raintown sound, a mix of traditional and contemporary country, melodic harmony-pop and a touch of Americana.
That Raintown sound is then delivered through songs that range from romantic storytelling to country pop and roll with splashes of Celtic instrumentation and bright lead guitar tones, where only a hoedown chorus or a well-placed country picking guitar lick gives their Nashville tinged influences away.
The Glasgow based Bain duo would be the first to admit that for all the critical recognition received by the band and the first two albums (sixteen awards in Raintown's first five years) it’s still early days as regards the bigger musical picture and achieving wider-genre success and mainstream radio airplay.
But it’s also fair to say, given the quality of those first two albums, the pair’s determination and passion, the band's live performances and how the third album is already shaping up songwriting wise (a hint of which comes by way of recent single 'Run With The Night'), a larger and wider audience beckons for Raintown's brand, and blend, of crossover country.
Paul Bain & Claire McArthur Bain spoke to FabricationsHQ to chat about those very subjects as well as their songwriting, the songs and their hopes for Raintown.
But the conversation started by going back well before Raintown, and how a Patsy Cline CD kick-started a professional, then personal, relationship…
Ross Muir: Followers and fans of Raintown know you as both the primary songwriters and singers of the band as well as husband and wife; but what partnership came first, the professional or the personal?
Claire McArthur Bain: It was the professional. We had been very good friends for about two years beforehand and just got together one day to see if we could write together; we had the same passions for country music and music that meant something to us growing up.
We also trained together, in fact it was a gym session where we first talked about writing together; I remember seeing a Patsy Cline CD in Paul’s car and thinking "Oh my God, I love Patsy Cline!"
Paul Bain: I actually had been playing Patsy Cline but, because I was coming up to see Claire, I thought "well, she’s not going to have a clue who that is" so I put something else on!
But, as Claire just said, she saw the Patsy Cline CD and immediately said "I love Patsy Cline – put that one on!"
CMB: That was the very moment that sparked the chemistry and the passion, for us to write together.
We never committed to any projects at that time though or had anything in mind; it was really just for fun.
PB: That’s right, because although we had started writing together we weren’t working together at that time; we both had separate projects.
In fact, back then Claire was in a country inspired girl band and I had written a song called Hero. It sounds a bit cliched but the song had actually been written for my mum as a Birthday present, and Claire really liked it. It was obviously a very personal song, with personal lyrics, so Claire and I rewrote it, made it a little more universal, the girls’ recorded it and did an amazing job with it. It was really good.
That was probably the first time we had truly come together as a writing partnership and had something recorded.
RM: And it developed from there?
PB: Well, what we did then was think about how to earn some money. We had both been working in The Parade in Glasgow, which has since closed down, and it was Claire’s mum who suggested we go abroad and do a season somewhere to make, and save, some money.
We laughed it off at first but checked out the idea and ended up in Gran Canaria, where we worked for a season and did some more songwriting.
CMB: That’s also when and where our own relationship stared to develop too, spending time together and doing a little writing.
At the same time, one of the girls in the band I was in went back to University and the band dissolved kind of naturally. That’s when Paul and I decided to do something together, as a duo.
So we headed back to Scotland and did just that!
PB: We did but, like anything, it was a rollercoaster because there were two or three times where the song Hero, which we had by then recorded as our duo, was almost used in an advert, and was almost used as a Charity single.
But that just made us both think "You know what, we are definitely on the road to something here" so we started writing for what would be our own project, specifically around male and female harmony work.
That Raintown sound is then delivered through songs that range from romantic storytelling to country pop and roll with splashes of Celtic instrumentation and bright lead guitar tones, where only a hoedown chorus or a well-placed country picking guitar lick gives their Nashville tinged influences away.
The Glasgow based Bain duo would be the first to admit that for all the critical recognition received by the band and the first two albums (sixteen awards in Raintown's first five years) it’s still early days as regards the bigger musical picture and achieving wider-genre success and mainstream radio airplay.
But it’s also fair to say, given the quality of those first two albums, the pair’s determination and passion, the band's live performances and how the third album is already shaping up songwriting wise (a hint of which comes by way of recent single 'Run With The Night'), a larger and wider audience beckons for Raintown's brand, and blend, of crossover country.
Paul Bain & Claire McArthur Bain spoke to FabricationsHQ to chat about those very subjects as well as their songwriting, the songs and their hopes for Raintown.
But the conversation started by going back well before Raintown, and how a Patsy Cline CD kick-started a professional, then personal, relationship…
Ross Muir: Followers and fans of Raintown know you as both the primary songwriters and singers of the band as well as husband and wife; but what partnership came first, the professional or the personal?
Claire McArthur Bain: It was the professional. We had been very good friends for about two years beforehand and just got together one day to see if we could write together; we had the same passions for country music and music that meant something to us growing up.
We also trained together, in fact it was a gym session where we first talked about writing together; I remember seeing a Patsy Cline CD in Paul’s car and thinking "Oh my God, I love Patsy Cline!"
Paul Bain: I actually had been playing Patsy Cline but, because I was coming up to see Claire, I thought "well, she’s not going to have a clue who that is" so I put something else on!
But, as Claire just said, she saw the Patsy Cline CD and immediately said "I love Patsy Cline – put that one on!"
CMB: That was the very moment that sparked the chemistry and the passion, for us to write together.
We never committed to any projects at that time though or had anything in mind; it was really just for fun.
PB: That’s right, because although we had started writing together we weren’t working together at that time; we both had separate projects.
In fact, back then Claire was in a country inspired girl band and I had written a song called Hero. It sounds a bit cliched but the song had actually been written for my mum as a Birthday present, and Claire really liked it. It was obviously a very personal song, with personal lyrics, so Claire and I rewrote it, made it a little more universal, the girls’ recorded it and did an amazing job with it. It was really good.
That was probably the first time we had truly come together as a writing partnership and had something recorded.
RM: And it developed from there?
PB: Well, what we did then was think about how to earn some money. We had both been working in The Parade in Glasgow, which has since closed down, and it was Claire’s mum who suggested we go abroad and do a season somewhere to make, and save, some money.
We laughed it off at first but checked out the idea and ended up in Gran Canaria, where we worked for a season and did some more songwriting.
CMB: That’s also when and where our own relationship stared to develop too, spending time together and doing a little writing.
At the same time, one of the girls in the band I was in went back to University and the band dissolved kind of naturally. That’s when Paul and I decided to do something together, as a duo.
So we headed back to Scotland and did just that!
PB: We did but, like anything, it was a rollercoaster because there were two or three times where the song Hero, which we had by then recorded as our duo, was almost used in an advert, and was almost used as a Charity single.
But that just made us both think "You know what, we are definitely on the road to something here" so we started writing for what would be our own project, specifically around male and female harmony work.
CMB: We also started to carve out our own sound – what would become the Raintown sound – and started to work on our first album, Hope in Troubled Times.
RM: That's a strong little release of modern country pop-rock and love songs but, there’s an argument that in the current climate, or certainly when you made that album, anything outside of classic country – Nashville, Grand Ole Opry, rootsy folk-based country – is going to be a hard sell, no matter how good the product…
PB: If you look at the musical landscape as it is now, for country music in the UK, it’s so different, yes.
In fact we were, honestly, getting music industry people coming to us and saying "I would sign you, but not if you’re doing country music."
One comment that always sticks in my head was "You should be the male-female version of The Script!"
We were like "Wait, what?" [laughs]. I remember Claire replying "There’s a really cool Script out there already,
why would you want another one!"
CMB: At that particular time that sound was really in; it was cool and it was current but it wasn’t us, or where we wanted to be; we wanted to do our own thing.
So, yes, we got looked at very strangely and country music thing was laughed at – so it’s really nice to see and hear how it’s being appreciated now and starting to come around full circle; I’ve seen a lot of younger people really into it too, which is great.
PB: To put that in to a bit of perspective there was no Lady Antebellum at that juncture; Sugarland were out there but they hadn’t broken, certainly not in the UK.
It was only when we first went to the States and saw Lady Antebellum that we thought "We might be a few thousand miles away on the other side of the Atlantic, but this shows we are in the right mindset." Unfortunately most of the UK wasn’t yet in that mindset but we started to say to people "Look, we really think that country music is going to become what rock and roll became through the fifties and sixties; you’re going to start hearing bands that are doing something with country where you will think 'that will never work here in the UK' or 'that has no chance,' but before you know it will be on mainstream radio.”
And effectively that’s what has happened, over the last three, four years.
RM: There’s a place for just about everything in the twenty-first century and reimagining or reinventing genres is commonplace, but the beauty of Raintown is it’s a blend of classic melodic country, modern hard pop and harmonies. But, it’s a sound and style, certainly in the UK, that’s still in that breaking through stage…
CMB: Yes, I think it has a way to go yet before it’s fully accepted commercially, but if you could have said to us five years ago this is where it’s going to be today we’d have taken that.
PB: I think also, by our own admission, we have to accept that it’s the word country that the music scene has an issue with; the media immediately think Stetsons and sparkly waistcoats or, as you said earlier, Grand Ole Opry. Now that, quite rightly, has its place and millions of people love all that, but that’s not us.
CMB: People also tend to forget that a lot of that music is what we were brought up listening to and enjoying.
We’re not bashing that music; we loved being brought up listening to Dolly Parton and Johnny Cash and Glenn Campbell or whoever else. But we have evolved from that in a different era, with a different sound.
We want to put our own wee stamp, or twist, on it, and be able to tell our own story.
PB: In terms of those artists Claire mentioned, although they are now seen as cliched in some circles, when they first came out they were breaking the mould. Dolly Parton was the first strong female character in country; Johnny Cash was initially laughed at and told he wasn’t even country!
RM: They were also some of the first true crossover artists, blending traditional country with commercial pop chart success. Additionally, Glenn Campbell could play just about any instrument you passed to him and Johnny Cash embraced multiple genres including rockabilly, gospel and folk.
Genuine country-based pioneers.
PB: That’s exactly what they were, pioneers. Kris Kristofferson too, who once said he was too pop for country and too country for pop [laughs].
So this is not new, this sniggering behind the back and laughing behind their hands routine; but it’s what we’re passionate about, and what we are passionate about more than anything is the storytelling.
There’s some traditional instrumentation that we believe should always be there, like acoustic guitar, which Stevie Lawrence plays, but we also like to use Bouzouki and bring in some Celtic elements.
Stevie also plays Bouzouki and plays some Scottish whistle; we’re also now bringing in samplers to our live shows, which we could only previously have done in the studio.
CMB: We’re trying to expand on everything we do; bigger sound, bigger production; bigger show.
RM: A continual Raintown progression in terms of sound, songs, delivery of those songs and performance. Clearly this is all part of the Raintown game plan.
PB: Yes, because if we can continue to incrementally improve then everything else will come to us.
We’re playing the long game because we don’t have the arsenal of weaponry some other acts have, like big money for promotion or large record label backing – or at least not at the moment, but that could change next week, or next month, or it might be next year, or a few years away.
We continue to build and we continue to improve. Live, we work hard locally and further afield.
We’ve also written a few more songs recently including one that Claire came up with; it’s one of the best songs yet to showcase Claire’s vocal ability.
Ideally, I’d love to showcase Claire’s vocal heights and depths because we’re always looking to find what we call those vocal moments.
RM: Being in, or finding, that vocal moment is one of the most powerful and emotive weapons in music, but what I really appreciate about Claire’s vocality – and the pair of you when in vocal harmony – is it’s about the song and what that song, and its lyric, need, vocally.
I completely tune out when it’s five octaves of notes up and down one lyrical sentence [laughter] because that’s all about vocal ego; but, equally, I’ll immediately tune in to a singer, or singers, vocally phrasing around what is needed to get the message and lyric across, no matter what the genre of music.
Raintown are the perfect non-rock genre example of that.
PB: We super appreciate you saying that because for us it’s always about the song; we talk about that often.
We’ve discussed it with our previous producers and more recently with John McLaughlin, who we have been working with lately; John produced the new single Run With The Night...
RM: That's a strong little release of modern country pop-rock and love songs but, there’s an argument that in the current climate, or certainly when you made that album, anything outside of classic country – Nashville, Grand Ole Opry, rootsy folk-based country – is going to be a hard sell, no matter how good the product…
PB: If you look at the musical landscape as it is now, for country music in the UK, it’s so different, yes.
In fact we were, honestly, getting music industry people coming to us and saying "I would sign you, but not if you’re doing country music."
One comment that always sticks in my head was "You should be the male-female version of The Script!"
We were like "Wait, what?" [laughs]. I remember Claire replying "There’s a really cool Script out there already,
why would you want another one!"
CMB: At that particular time that sound was really in; it was cool and it was current but it wasn’t us, or where we wanted to be; we wanted to do our own thing.
So, yes, we got looked at very strangely and country music thing was laughed at – so it’s really nice to see and hear how it’s being appreciated now and starting to come around full circle; I’ve seen a lot of younger people really into it too, which is great.
PB: To put that in to a bit of perspective there was no Lady Antebellum at that juncture; Sugarland were out there but they hadn’t broken, certainly not in the UK.
It was only when we first went to the States and saw Lady Antebellum that we thought "We might be a few thousand miles away on the other side of the Atlantic, but this shows we are in the right mindset." Unfortunately most of the UK wasn’t yet in that mindset but we started to say to people "Look, we really think that country music is going to become what rock and roll became through the fifties and sixties; you’re going to start hearing bands that are doing something with country where you will think 'that will never work here in the UK' or 'that has no chance,' but before you know it will be on mainstream radio.”
And effectively that’s what has happened, over the last three, four years.
RM: There’s a place for just about everything in the twenty-first century and reimagining or reinventing genres is commonplace, but the beauty of Raintown is it’s a blend of classic melodic country, modern hard pop and harmonies. But, it’s a sound and style, certainly in the UK, that’s still in that breaking through stage…
CMB: Yes, I think it has a way to go yet before it’s fully accepted commercially, but if you could have said to us five years ago this is where it’s going to be today we’d have taken that.
PB: I think also, by our own admission, we have to accept that it’s the word country that the music scene has an issue with; the media immediately think Stetsons and sparkly waistcoats or, as you said earlier, Grand Ole Opry. Now that, quite rightly, has its place and millions of people love all that, but that’s not us.
CMB: People also tend to forget that a lot of that music is what we were brought up listening to and enjoying.
We’re not bashing that music; we loved being brought up listening to Dolly Parton and Johnny Cash and Glenn Campbell or whoever else. But we have evolved from that in a different era, with a different sound.
We want to put our own wee stamp, or twist, on it, and be able to tell our own story.
PB: In terms of those artists Claire mentioned, although they are now seen as cliched in some circles, when they first came out they were breaking the mould. Dolly Parton was the first strong female character in country; Johnny Cash was initially laughed at and told he wasn’t even country!
RM: They were also some of the first true crossover artists, blending traditional country with commercial pop chart success. Additionally, Glenn Campbell could play just about any instrument you passed to him and Johnny Cash embraced multiple genres including rockabilly, gospel and folk.
Genuine country-based pioneers.
PB: That’s exactly what they were, pioneers. Kris Kristofferson too, who once said he was too pop for country and too country for pop [laughs].
So this is not new, this sniggering behind the back and laughing behind their hands routine; but it’s what we’re passionate about, and what we are passionate about more than anything is the storytelling.
There’s some traditional instrumentation that we believe should always be there, like acoustic guitar, which Stevie Lawrence plays, but we also like to use Bouzouki and bring in some Celtic elements.
Stevie also plays Bouzouki and plays some Scottish whistle; we’re also now bringing in samplers to our live shows, which we could only previously have done in the studio.
CMB: We’re trying to expand on everything we do; bigger sound, bigger production; bigger show.
RM: A continual Raintown progression in terms of sound, songs, delivery of those songs and performance. Clearly this is all part of the Raintown game plan.
PB: Yes, because if we can continue to incrementally improve then everything else will come to us.
We’re playing the long game because we don’t have the arsenal of weaponry some other acts have, like big money for promotion or large record label backing – or at least not at the moment, but that could change next week, or next month, or it might be next year, or a few years away.
We continue to build and we continue to improve. Live, we work hard locally and further afield.
We’ve also written a few more songs recently including one that Claire came up with; it’s one of the best songs yet to showcase Claire’s vocal ability.
Ideally, I’d love to showcase Claire’s vocal heights and depths because we’re always looking to find what we call those vocal moments.
RM: Being in, or finding, that vocal moment is one of the most powerful and emotive weapons in music, but what I really appreciate about Claire’s vocality – and the pair of you when in vocal harmony – is it’s about the song and what that song, and its lyric, need, vocally.
I completely tune out when it’s five octaves of notes up and down one lyrical sentence [laughter] because that’s all about vocal ego; but, equally, I’ll immediately tune in to a singer, or singers, vocally phrasing around what is needed to get the message and lyric across, no matter what the genre of music.
Raintown are the perfect non-rock genre example of that.
PB: We super appreciate you saying that because for us it’s always about the song; we talk about that often.
We’ve discussed it with our previous producers and more recently with John McLaughlin, who we have been working with lately; John produced the new single Run With The Night...
PB: The big thing we talked about with John was it doesn’t matter to us if we write a song primarily for Claire to sing but then the producer says "Actually, that’s going to work better with a male lead vocal and a high female harmony." It’s all about the song and what the song needs.
CMB: Which is exactly what happened with the song Picture of Us, which is on our debut album.
Originally, when we wrote and first recorded it, it was the other way around, vocally – Paul started the song and I took the second verse.
But when we took it in to the studio we both thought “this just doesn’t feel right, it’s not as delicate as it should be." So, we switched the vocals around and the minute we did that it just worked.
PB: Similarly, See You Again, which is on Writing On the Wall. That song is a diary entry, effectively, about my gran passing away and going to the hospital and knowing that time was upon us.
But in the studio Claire started singing it and we just knew that was it – I immediately said "Let’s do that and I’ll just sing the harmony work in the background."
You have to have some level of ego to stand on a stage and sing of course but we are both very lucky in that when it comes to the songs and their presentation there is absolutely no ego involved; it’s all about those songs and the presentation of the art we are trying to create.
CMB: It’s also about putting faith in the people around you and the producers. Justin Johnstone produced the last album and did a great job, but we had to sit back and chill and let him do that job.
These songs are our babies but you have to sit back and see and hear it from a different perspective.
Forever isn’t Long Enough for example; we had this idea for a big production song with a big choir but he sat us down in the studio and said "Guys, this song had to be really bare, I don’t even want to hear any drums on it" – and he’s a drummer! [laugh]. And you know what? He was absolutely right.
It really worked out for the best, the way we recorded it. I’m so glad we put our trust in Justin, when we really needed that other ear.
RM: That’s the trick though; knowing when to let go, step back and let the expertise of others with a fresh ear do their magic. Sometimes you can be too close to the source.
CMB: You can, yes. We do that with the demos too. Once they’re recorded we’ll throw them out to a few people we really trust and they’ll give us some honest feedback. Because it is hard to find that feedback where it is one hundred per cent honest and they are not just trying to be nice, or nasty [laughs], to you, or telling you what you want to hear.
CMB: Which is exactly what happened with the song Picture of Us, which is on our debut album.
Originally, when we wrote and first recorded it, it was the other way around, vocally – Paul started the song and I took the second verse.
But when we took it in to the studio we both thought “this just doesn’t feel right, it’s not as delicate as it should be." So, we switched the vocals around and the minute we did that it just worked.
PB: Similarly, See You Again, which is on Writing On the Wall. That song is a diary entry, effectively, about my gran passing away and going to the hospital and knowing that time was upon us.
But in the studio Claire started singing it and we just knew that was it – I immediately said "Let’s do that and I’ll just sing the harmony work in the background."
You have to have some level of ego to stand on a stage and sing of course but we are both very lucky in that when it comes to the songs and their presentation there is absolutely no ego involved; it’s all about those songs and the presentation of the art we are trying to create.
CMB: It’s also about putting faith in the people around you and the producers. Justin Johnstone produced the last album and did a great job, but we had to sit back and chill and let him do that job.
These songs are our babies but you have to sit back and see and hear it from a different perspective.
Forever isn’t Long Enough for example; we had this idea for a big production song with a big choir but he sat us down in the studio and said "Guys, this song had to be really bare, I don’t even want to hear any drums on it" – and he’s a drummer! [laugh]. And you know what? He was absolutely right.
It really worked out for the best, the way we recorded it. I’m so glad we put our trust in Justin, when we really needed that other ear.
RM: That’s the trick though; knowing when to let go, step back and let the expertise of others with a fresh ear do their magic. Sometimes you can be too close to the source.
CMB: You can, yes. We do that with the demos too. Once they’re recorded we’ll throw them out to a few people we really trust and they’ll give us some honest feedback. Because it is hard to find that feedback where it is one hundred per cent honest and they are not just trying to be nice, or nasty [laughs], to you, or telling you what you want to hear.
PB: Yes, it’s very much about making sure you are asking the right people. For example, if we’re looking to do a commercial type song then there’s no point in us sending that to friends who are in to the real, pure country because we know they are going to hate it – "No! Don’t do it guys!" [laughs].
But they also know we need to stretch in to that wider area and as long as it remains Raintown – has that Raintown feel – then we’re willing to push boundaries.
There’s a real element of modernity about the Raintown sound and I really like the phraseology of our music.
I also like the fact that Writing On The Wall was, I feel, a huge step up from our debut.
RM: I would agree. No disparaging of the debut, which is a very good album, but Writing On The Wall is, to paraphrase from my own review, the superior product in terms of song strength and blend of various country genres including Americana, pop-rock, Nashville and relationship-love songs.
CMB: And that’s what we want to hear; we want to have that improvement and we know the third album is going to have to be better again. And we don’t want that to ever stop.
PB: And it has to be what you believe in. We’ve had conversations with particular people who wanted us to do certain things and that might well have got us on, say, BBC Radio 2, but it has to feel right and it has to be us.
It can’t be a facsimile of us; that’s not what we are about.
As long as we stay true to ourselves and continue I think we’ll be alright. We’re started to move in different circles recently, too, and that came about when, at the start of last year, we decided we wanted to try and talk to someone different, each week, who didn’t know us and might not be necessarily be in music business.
We would reach out to them, speak to them, and then so many different opportunities opened up!
CMB: And all from very different places, too, although seemingly connected.
As Paul said, sometimes the first person we would talk to had nothing to do with music – but that person led to someone else…
PB: …who led to another person who we had tried to talk to years ago, but couldn’t, and we’re now working with them!
For us, and it’s advice we would give to anybody, it’s all about looking for those opportunities and talking those risks – well, perceived risks, because what’s the worst anyone is going to say – "No" or "No thanks."
And that’s fine; if that’s the case then we move on to the next opportunity, and I think we are starting to build momentum through those opportunities – supporting Deacon Blue in 2017 and later that year selling out in East Kilbride having never played there before, are two examples.
CMB: And a couple of months before East Kilbride we were only about twenty tickets short of a sell out in Shoreham down in West Sussex, which is four hundred and fifty miles away from Glasgow!
RM: Perfect examples of the ripple effect through word of mouth and those connected opportunities.
It would be easy for you to become a country covers band, which would sell a large amount of tickets to the country fans, but the fact you are taking your own country influenced path, picking up awards left, right and centre and getting great gig opportunities such as supporting Runrig, Deacon Blue as you mentioned and your our own well-received headline shows and festival slots – that’s a testament to the crossover modernity of the music.
PB: We really appreciate you saying that and the words you have written about us because that’s what we want people to see and hear – it’s not what you think it is, people, it’s going to be a little bit different!
RM: Yes, it's the blend, as I touched on earlier when describing the band.
But to go back to something we talked about at the start of this conversation, you will always have that look of doubt or dubiety in some sectors of the industry, or the more blinkered music fans, because of the word country…
PB: Country music transcends geographical borders, regardless of criticism, and is popular worldwide but, yes, as soon as you say you are a country band or mention the word country you know some people are immediately going to say "Uh oh, county music? Not too sure about that."
We’ve even had some people write rubbish about us and our music; what they have written is just patently false, but that's Internet Trolls or people that just don’t like what we do.
But you have to accept that’s going to happen; just go put on the armour, go out there and represent who you are and give the best you can.
CMB: And we’ll be making music regardless; whether we sell one record or one million we’ll be doing this because we love what we do.
And music brings people together, whether through a love of the music or because perhaps they have had some emotional turmoil in their lives, or a difficult time. Music is such a great healer.
RM: I’d like to touch on a couple of specific songs that help present the rockier, then the more emotional, sides of the band – but both capture your storytelling lyricism.
To start with the former, and those naysayers and Internet Trolls you mentioned earlier, Paul – the song Shut the Front Door is clearly a lyrical dig in their direction…
PB: It is, yes. As I mentioned earlier we’ve had some things written about us that were just not true; it was personal, and way beyond being about not liking the music.
Now everyone is entitled to their opinion and we are not everyone’s cup of tea, but really, we don’t need your permission to do this and we don’t need your permission to be who we are – and we do this because we love doing it.
CMB: And that song, musically, is just a fun little rock and roll song, we really enjoy playing it live!
RM: The other song I want to mention is Missing You. On the surface that’s just a lovely little number about someone missing someone else and leaving a message to that effect.
But there is also a far more emotional and poignant layer to the song – listening back to the last message you’ll ever hear from that person, through the saddest or ill-fated of circumstances…
PB: That’s exactly it. That song was written after The Clutha disaster where so many people lost their lives in that tragic accident [a police helicopter crashed in to the famous Glasgow pub and live music venue in November 2013, resulting in ten deaths].
But they also know we need to stretch in to that wider area and as long as it remains Raintown – has that Raintown feel – then we’re willing to push boundaries.
There’s a real element of modernity about the Raintown sound and I really like the phraseology of our music.
I also like the fact that Writing On The Wall was, I feel, a huge step up from our debut.
RM: I would agree. No disparaging of the debut, which is a very good album, but Writing On The Wall is, to paraphrase from my own review, the superior product in terms of song strength and blend of various country genres including Americana, pop-rock, Nashville and relationship-love songs.
CMB: And that’s what we want to hear; we want to have that improvement and we know the third album is going to have to be better again. And we don’t want that to ever stop.
PB: And it has to be what you believe in. We’ve had conversations with particular people who wanted us to do certain things and that might well have got us on, say, BBC Radio 2, but it has to feel right and it has to be us.
It can’t be a facsimile of us; that’s not what we are about.
As long as we stay true to ourselves and continue I think we’ll be alright. We’re started to move in different circles recently, too, and that came about when, at the start of last year, we decided we wanted to try and talk to someone different, each week, who didn’t know us and might not be necessarily be in music business.
We would reach out to them, speak to them, and then so many different opportunities opened up!
CMB: And all from very different places, too, although seemingly connected.
As Paul said, sometimes the first person we would talk to had nothing to do with music – but that person led to someone else…
PB: …who led to another person who we had tried to talk to years ago, but couldn’t, and we’re now working with them!
For us, and it’s advice we would give to anybody, it’s all about looking for those opportunities and talking those risks – well, perceived risks, because what’s the worst anyone is going to say – "No" or "No thanks."
And that’s fine; if that’s the case then we move on to the next opportunity, and I think we are starting to build momentum through those opportunities – supporting Deacon Blue in 2017 and later that year selling out in East Kilbride having never played there before, are two examples.
CMB: And a couple of months before East Kilbride we were only about twenty tickets short of a sell out in Shoreham down in West Sussex, which is four hundred and fifty miles away from Glasgow!
RM: Perfect examples of the ripple effect through word of mouth and those connected opportunities.
It would be easy for you to become a country covers band, which would sell a large amount of tickets to the country fans, but the fact you are taking your own country influenced path, picking up awards left, right and centre and getting great gig opportunities such as supporting Runrig, Deacon Blue as you mentioned and your our own well-received headline shows and festival slots – that’s a testament to the crossover modernity of the music.
PB: We really appreciate you saying that and the words you have written about us because that’s what we want people to see and hear – it’s not what you think it is, people, it’s going to be a little bit different!
RM: Yes, it's the blend, as I touched on earlier when describing the band.
But to go back to something we talked about at the start of this conversation, you will always have that look of doubt or dubiety in some sectors of the industry, or the more blinkered music fans, because of the word country…
PB: Country music transcends geographical borders, regardless of criticism, and is popular worldwide but, yes, as soon as you say you are a country band or mention the word country you know some people are immediately going to say "Uh oh, county music? Not too sure about that."
We’ve even had some people write rubbish about us and our music; what they have written is just patently false, but that's Internet Trolls or people that just don’t like what we do.
But you have to accept that’s going to happen; just go put on the armour, go out there and represent who you are and give the best you can.
CMB: And we’ll be making music regardless; whether we sell one record or one million we’ll be doing this because we love what we do.
And music brings people together, whether through a love of the music or because perhaps they have had some emotional turmoil in their lives, or a difficult time. Music is such a great healer.
RM: I’d like to touch on a couple of specific songs that help present the rockier, then the more emotional, sides of the band – but both capture your storytelling lyricism.
To start with the former, and those naysayers and Internet Trolls you mentioned earlier, Paul – the song Shut the Front Door is clearly a lyrical dig in their direction…
PB: It is, yes. As I mentioned earlier we’ve had some things written about us that were just not true; it was personal, and way beyond being about not liking the music.
Now everyone is entitled to their opinion and we are not everyone’s cup of tea, but really, we don’t need your permission to do this and we don’t need your permission to be who we are – and we do this because we love doing it.
CMB: And that song, musically, is just a fun little rock and roll song, we really enjoy playing it live!
RM: The other song I want to mention is Missing You. On the surface that’s just a lovely little number about someone missing someone else and leaving a message to that effect.
But there is also a far more emotional and poignant layer to the song – listening back to the last message you’ll ever hear from that person, through the saddest or ill-fated of circumstances…
PB: That’s exactly it. That song was written after The Clutha disaster where so many people lost their lives in that tragic accident [a police helicopter crashed in to the famous Glasgow pub and live music venue in November 2013, resulting in ten deaths].
PB: Missing You wasn’t written specifically about the Clutha but it was inspired by an interview we saw on TV where a man had a voice mail from his dad, but then couldn’t get hold of him on the phone.
We started to think about that last message scenario and if it had been your loved one, would that be a blessing or a curse, to have that last message.
And would you want to keep that message? Because although it’s the last ever message from their loved one, playing it back makes it seem like they are just away somewhere.
But there’s a lot of people who, as you said, hear that song as just a love song about missing someone.
CMB: When we had written and recorded Missing You, before we had played it live, we did a special Pizza and Music night for the Pledge fans who had backed the Writing On The Wall album; we had some food, played the songs and told them the stories behind some of the songs.
But when we told them the story behind Missing you, a few of them said "That’s totally changed the meaning of that song for me; I won’t be able to listen to it the same way again."
PB: It’s only because it’s that particular scenario, the tragedy of Clutha, that we tell that story though.
Because, as many artists have said, they’ve stopped telling the stories behind their songs as different listeners and fans will have a whole different interpretation, or take their own meaning, from it.
CMB: Yes, it’s more important to let people take what they want from a song.
PB: Picture Of Us for example, which we mentioned earlier; that’s been played at weddings, although lyrically it’s about a relationship that’s fallen apart.
RM: But that’s an interpretative positive, not a negative; music can be such a powerful tool that a lyric can be interpreted in many ways, or shaped, by a listener's own experiences.
As Claire just said people should be able to take what they want from a song.
CMB: I think what happens is we can be very imaginative with our lyrics although we still write ninety-nine percent of our songs about things we’ve either heard, seen or have touched us – or has perhaps been experienced by someone we know.
Forever Isn’t Long Enough, which we also mentioned earlier, was the one song that was written differently because it was actually written for a film – the director came to us and pitched us the whole scene, with the background and characters.
I really enjoyed that way of writing because we had never done it before and we had to put ourselves in a particular scenario.
PB: What was really interesting about that song was we had a couple of goes at it and weren’t really hitting the mark. But then we utilised somebody we knew and made it their scenario; put them in the film, if you like. That created something we could relate to much more, which worked really well.
It’s also one of the few songs on the album that Claire and I wrote together, start to finish, because what tends to happen is a couple of other people will be involved, putting a few lines in or adding a word here or there.
But then that’s how it normally happens – if we sat down with you Ross, and looked at a song, one of us might say "That line works better if we do it this way" and it becomes a three-way thing; nor would the song be what it is without that input.
In fact at the end of last year we were writing away and Scott MacPherson, our bass player, came up with this cool wee bass line, not so much for the lyric but for the melody of the song.
And now that song wouldn’t exist if Scotty hadn’t come up with that great bass line!
We started to think about that last message scenario and if it had been your loved one, would that be a blessing or a curse, to have that last message.
And would you want to keep that message? Because although it’s the last ever message from their loved one, playing it back makes it seem like they are just away somewhere.
But there’s a lot of people who, as you said, hear that song as just a love song about missing someone.
CMB: When we had written and recorded Missing You, before we had played it live, we did a special Pizza and Music night for the Pledge fans who had backed the Writing On The Wall album; we had some food, played the songs and told them the stories behind some of the songs.
But when we told them the story behind Missing you, a few of them said "That’s totally changed the meaning of that song for me; I won’t be able to listen to it the same way again."
PB: It’s only because it’s that particular scenario, the tragedy of Clutha, that we tell that story though.
Because, as many artists have said, they’ve stopped telling the stories behind their songs as different listeners and fans will have a whole different interpretation, or take their own meaning, from it.
CMB: Yes, it’s more important to let people take what they want from a song.
PB: Picture Of Us for example, which we mentioned earlier; that’s been played at weddings, although lyrically it’s about a relationship that’s fallen apart.
RM: But that’s an interpretative positive, not a negative; music can be such a powerful tool that a lyric can be interpreted in many ways, or shaped, by a listener's own experiences.
As Claire just said people should be able to take what they want from a song.
CMB: I think what happens is we can be very imaginative with our lyrics although we still write ninety-nine percent of our songs about things we’ve either heard, seen or have touched us – or has perhaps been experienced by someone we know.
Forever Isn’t Long Enough, which we also mentioned earlier, was the one song that was written differently because it was actually written for a film – the director came to us and pitched us the whole scene, with the background and characters.
I really enjoyed that way of writing because we had never done it before and we had to put ourselves in a particular scenario.
PB: What was really interesting about that song was we had a couple of goes at it and weren’t really hitting the mark. But then we utilised somebody we knew and made it their scenario; put them in the film, if you like. That created something we could relate to much more, which worked really well.
It’s also one of the few songs on the album that Claire and I wrote together, start to finish, because what tends to happen is a couple of other people will be involved, putting a few lines in or adding a word here or there.
But then that’s how it normally happens – if we sat down with you Ross, and looked at a song, one of us might say "That line works better if we do it this way" and it becomes a three-way thing; nor would the song be what it is without that input.
In fact at the end of last year we were writing away and Scott MacPherson, our bass player, came up with this cool wee bass line, not so much for the lyric but for the melody of the song.
And now that song wouldn’t exist if Scotty hadn’t come up with that great bass line!
CMB: We’ve also been in a wee zone with songwriting for a while now. I love it when that happens, I really do. It never really goes away but when you get in that zone it feels like it’s all just coming to you.
It was a little harder the year before last because we had the baby, our wee daughter Alba Rose; that was a little crazy for a few months because suddenly it became middle of the night songwriting! [laughs]
PB: But what’s great is she now sings away too! She really gets involved when she hears music.
If you say "Can you sing?" she’ll sing you Rock a Bye Baby!
RM: So, five or six albums down the line it’s going to be Raintown and Daughter? [laughter]
CMB: More likely she’ll just kick me out and take my place [laughs]
PB: Yes, we’ll have the Raintown brand! [laughter]
RM: Joking aside, and as a great way to close, being in this writing zone clearly bodes well for the third album and how you see yourselves, and the band, progressing.
PB: We’re excited about it Ross, we really are. We’re excited about the new music that’s coming out and I think as a band we really have grown. Sometimes when we record it’s session musicians that will come in, but we have a great live band.
CMB: Yes, it’s taken a while to get there but I think we are a really tight wee unit now.
PB: And they bring some great ideas in too. With our drummer, John Alexander, it might be some sample pad ideas; with Stevie Lawrence it might be changing up a song live from its studio version.
The band gives the shows and the songs a dimension we didn’t have before; it’s just so enjoyable.
We really look forward to performing with this band and we’re really looking forward to delivering the new album for everyone!
RM: Other than to the Internet Trolls and naysayers obviously, who can just go shut the front door [laughter].
Thanks for visiting with FabricationsHQ guys, and here's to a bright and sunny future for Raintown...
PB: Thanks so much Ross, it's been our absolute pleasure!
It was a little harder the year before last because we had the baby, our wee daughter Alba Rose; that was a little crazy for a few months because suddenly it became middle of the night songwriting! [laughs]
PB: But what’s great is she now sings away too! She really gets involved when she hears music.
If you say "Can you sing?" she’ll sing you Rock a Bye Baby!
RM: So, five or six albums down the line it’s going to be Raintown and Daughter? [laughter]
CMB: More likely she’ll just kick me out and take my place [laughs]
PB: Yes, we’ll have the Raintown brand! [laughter]
RM: Joking aside, and as a great way to close, being in this writing zone clearly bodes well for the third album and how you see yourselves, and the band, progressing.
PB: We’re excited about it Ross, we really are. We’re excited about the new music that’s coming out and I think as a band we really have grown. Sometimes when we record it’s session musicians that will come in, but we have a great live band.
CMB: Yes, it’s taken a while to get there but I think we are a really tight wee unit now.
PB: And they bring some great ideas in too. With our drummer, John Alexander, it might be some sample pad ideas; with Stevie Lawrence it might be changing up a song live from its studio version.
The band gives the shows and the songs a dimension we didn’t have before; it’s just so enjoyable.
We really look forward to performing with this band and we’re really looking forward to delivering the new album for everyone!
RM: Other than to the Internet Trolls and naysayers obviously, who can just go shut the front door [laughter].
Thanks for visiting with FabricationsHQ guys, and here's to a bright and sunny future for Raintown...
PB: Thanks so much Ross, it's been our absolute pleasure!
Muirsical Conversation with Paul Bain & Claire McArthur Bain (Raintown)
Ross Muir
May 2018
Audio tracks presented to accompany the above article and to promote the work of the artists.
No infringement of copyright is intended.
Ross Muir
May 2018
Audio tracks presented to accompany the above article and to promote the work of the artists.
No infringement of copyright is intended.