Genre-crossing, Madrid-based Irish-English-American quartet, Track Dogs, have announced tour dates starting this Friday through to February 29th, in support of their acclaimed new album, ‘Fire On The Rails’.
Track Dogs are Garrett Wall, Dave Mooney, Howard Brown and Robbie K. Jones – their artistic name deriving from the dark subterranean world of New York’s subway system.
Well-established in Spain where they are based, Track Dogs have been touring the UK with some major festival appearances and collaborations. 2019 has been a pivotal year for the band, including an appearance in Trafalgar Square and the surprise on-stage participation of Show of Hands’ Steve Knightley and Seth Lakeman at Shrewsbury Folk Festival.
Comprised of two Irishmen, an Englishman and an American, Track Dogs formed in Madrid in 2011 to bring to fruition their unique brand of acoustic music which features a mix of instruments and influences.
‘Fire On The Rails’ is Track Dogs’ second LP to be recorded on the Studer A80 analog tape machine recovered from Abbey Road at Playground Studio in Madrid. Since previous album ‘Kansas City Out Groove’ (2018) and their compilation of ukulele-based recordings, ‘Uke Songs By Track Dogs’ (2019), using producer Germán Gutiérrez.
As with their album ‘Kansas City Out Groove’, Track Dogs again turned to Nashville talent to up the game, with Eli Bishop (Grand Ole Opry, Wynton Marsalis) providing string arrangements for ‘Love and War’, ‘On The Last Night’ and ‘Abi’s Lullaby’. Furthering the Nashville connection, Americana star, Ashley Campbell lends her pristine banjo picking to ‘Don’t Delay’.
On ‘Fire On The Rails’, Track Dogs draw more deeply from world music influences, extending the reach of their established sound on ‘Love and War’, which in addition to the strings of Eli Bishop, pulls together folk legends Phil Beer of Show of Hands, Grammy-winning Lisa Gutkin of the Klezmatics and Fergal Scahill of We Banjo 3, to elevate their call for unity and tolerance. Danny Erker (Jones Street Station) also adds mandolin to the track ‘Dragonfly’s Castle’.
Track Dogs – February 2020 UK Tour
Fri 14 – Bath, Chapel Arts Centre
Sat 15 – Newbury, ACE Space
Wed 19 – Manchester, Veterans Garage
Thu 20 – Milton Keynes, The Stables (Stage 2)
Fri 21 – Uckfield, Civic Centre
Sat 22 – Portsmouth, The Square Tower
Sun 23 – Kingskerswell, South Devon Kingskerswell Parish Church
Wed 26 – East Farleigh, nr. Maidstone, The Old School Hall
Thu 27 – Swanton Novers, Norfolk Swanton Novers Village Hall
Fri 28 – Spalding, Lincs, South Holland Centre
Sat 29 – Hepworth, West Yorkshire, Hepworth Village Hall
‘Fire On The Rails’ is out now on Mondegreen Records
