Rainmaker is a 4-piece band from the San Francisco Bay Area. They blend vintage and modern sounds and draw upon Roots Music, Indie Rock, Funk, and Soul. Since forming in 2005, Rainmaker has logged hundreds of shows together, spreading their infectious grooves, strong songwriting, and family style vocal harmonies throughout California and beyond. Their most recent effort, Long Slow Fade is a compelling combination of classic American Music with a distinctly modern lyrical perspective. Set against a backdrop of soulful, rootsy rock, much of Long Slow Fade laments the slow death of the analog era and explores the issues that characterize the digital age.
Rainmaker began when John-Paul McLean (bass/vocals) and Jonathan Chi (guitar/vocals) met on their first day at Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA. They immediately began writing and gigging together wherever they could – from local bars to the nearest T stop in Boston’s subway system. After leaving Boston and Berklee, they moved together to Northern California, and began working in recording studios while continuing to write, record, and gig as a duo. They began as interns, and since then have played just about every conceivable studio role, from assisting, to engineering, producing, playing as session musicians, and eventually recording and producing their own records. Over the past few years, they’ve had the opportunity to work with artists including: Jolie Holland, Galactic, Mickey Hart, Bill Frisell, Charlie Hunter, Zakir Hussein, Bernie Worrell of P-Funk, New Monsoon, Vinyl, and many, many others. As a result, the duo’s evolution as writers is coupled with an ever-evolving approach in the studio as producer/engineers.
After playing with dozens of musicians in hopes of forming a 4-piece band, Jon and JP were lucky enough to connect with drummer Inkx Herman. Inkx was the house drummer at the legendary Shifty Records in Johannesburg, South Africa during the anti-Apartheid uprising. After leaving South Africa, he has worked with artists such as Paul Simon, Sting, Hugh Masekela, and Vusi Mahlasela. Inkx’s funky grooves, and song-oriented approach to drumming instantly clicked with JP and Jon.
Shortly after, Rainmaker began playing with keyboardist Jordan Feinstein. Jordan’s vintage keyboard stylings and gritty harmony vocals rounded out Rainmaker perfectly. Jordan has played with artists including: G Love, Brett Dennen, George Porter of the Meters, Tea Leaf Green, ALO, and many more.
Through countless hours on the stage and in the studio together, Rainmaker has developed an undeniable chemistry. They have appeared at festivals, theaters, and clubs in California, Oregon, Nevada, and Colorado. In 2007, they were named runnerup in Relix Magazine’s Jamoff!, a national competition for unsigned bands. After catching a live Rainmaker show, Jim Greer, producer for Galactic observed, “They are one of the tightest bands I’ve seen in quite some time. Rainmaker is a band worth paying attention to.”
Thanks for the friendship! Keep up the fantastic sound! If we ever cross paths, I would love to work with you all if you are in need of some photographs! Hope you had a fabulous holiday weekend! Much Love & Blessings~ Jewels
Hi everybody, We've finally moved the repair workshop from Jamaica Street to Otago Street in Glasgow's West End. We'll be open for business again on the 21st of June. Check the website for more details.Thanks for all the support,
Hey- We'd love your help in voting for G7th for the Best Capo in the Players Choice Awards balloting.. just copy and paste the following link into your browser to fill out your own ballot: http://www.acousticguitar.com/Surveys/TakeSurvey.asp?SurveyID=35K874K04mm4G
hey guys! -- great show last night... definitely have to come up to shasta area again! i will try n round up a bigger crew to get up there n groove with you guys!! i had a blast, thanks for coming up! have fun in arcata - safe travels!
Just stopping by to say hi & to say that I can't wait for you to play here Friday night at our Blue Sky Room. Just listened to your cd today when I went there for lunch. Don was playing it, so see ya Friday. Haleema from Dunsmuir
Saw the show at The Mystic last night. You guys were #1. The other bands were good, but no contest as far as musicians vs musicians. (glad I didn't win the lime green golf bag!)
Rainmaker Rocks! Greetings from down under mates- Wishing you all the continued success and then some. Look forward to jamming with you guys again soon- Blessings... Jeremy
