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The Rainmakers
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The Rainmakers were a Kansas City, Missouri-based original rock band whose members included:
Bob Walkenhorst,
Steve Phillips (later a member of The Elders),
Rich Ruth,
Pat Tomek,
Michael Bliss (replaced Rich Ruth in 1995).
Missouri has long boasted of being the home of two of America’s greatest artists, Mark Twain and Chuck Berry. However, it wasn’t until The Rainmakers thundered into the national music spotlight in 1986, had anyone combined the guitar power of Berry with the social wit of Twain into a unique brand of Missouri rock n’ roll.
Originally formed in 1983 as a 3-piece bar band known as Steve, Bob, & Rich, these Kansas City rockers became an instant favorite throughout the Midwest. Soon, fans were standing in line to see this trio they described as “energetic,” “intense,” but most importantly “fun.” Within months of finishing their first independent release, Steve, Bob, and Rich had signed a multi-album contract with Polygram Records, added a fourth member, and had changed their name to The Rainmakers.
Heralded as “America’s Great Next Band” by Newsweek Magazine, The Rainmakers were soon drenched in critical acclaim. Feature articles in Rolling Stone, CMJ, USA Today and others poured in singing the praises of this hard working Midwest band who provided new life to a traditional rock format.
Critics particularly enjoyed the unique writing style of Bob Walkenhorst, whose talent for choosing unusual and sometimes controversial subjects provided an eye-opening perspective of life, sprinkled with sarcastic humor.
Bob Walkenhorst,
Steve Phillips (later a member of The Elders),
Rich Ruth,
Pat Tomek,
Michael Bliss (replaced Rich Ruth in 1995).
Missouri has long boasted of being the home of two of America’s greatest artists, Mark Twain and Chuck Berry. However, it wasn’t until The Rainmakers thundered into the national music spotlight in 1986, had anyone combined the guitar power of Berry with the social wit of Twain into a unique brand of Missouri rock n’ roll.
Originally formed in 1983 as a 3-piece bar band known as Steve, Bob, & Rich, these Kansas City rockers became an instant favorite throughout the Midwest. Soon, fans were standing in line to see this trio they described as “energetic,” “intense,” but most importantly “fun.” Within months of finishing their first independent release, Steve, Bob, and Rich had signed a multi-album contract with Polygram Records, added a fourth member, and had changed their name to The Rainmakers.
Heralded as “America’s Great Next Band” by Newsweek Magazine, The Rainmakers were soon drenched in critical acclaim. Feature articles in Rolling Stone, CMJ, USA Today and others poured in singing the praises of this hard working Midwest band who provided new life to a traditional rock format.
Critics particularly enjoyed the unique writing style of Bob Walkenhorst, whose talent for choosing unusual and sometimes controversial subjects provided an eye-opening perspective of life, sprinkled with sarcastic humor.
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PerSemb wrote:
These guys introduced (along with Aerosmith) me to rock when I was 11 or something!
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leotlion wrote:
Huge fan, sharp lyrics, great technical work, and love Bob's voice !! Seen them 5 times in concert, even to the point of finding The Lion's Den in Knob Noster MO!!
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Lubricio wrote:
Small circles :)
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ekesner wrote:
Waaay underrated
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jerdacuttupman wrote:
Great band, better than I realized at the time. Bob Walkenhorst is better than ever, do yourselves a favour and check out his brilliant free shows at archive.org
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Recent Activity
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mgroven, elfenkate, musik23 and 1 other person added The Rainmakers to their libraries. yesterday afternoon
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PerSemb tagged The Rainmakers with ‘rock’. May 2009
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PerSemb, Lambs1, ThomasSommerset and 9 other people added The Rainmakers to their libraries. May 2009
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Aughadan tagged The Rainmakers with randomly awesome and new favorites. December 2008
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cecilieatdod, Valclaret, dee8787 and 3 other people added The Rainmakers to their libraries. December 2008
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LeroiBrother tagged The Rainmakers with rock and 80s. October 2008
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Torbjornsdal, MizLaura, punkinold and 2 other people added The Rainmakers to their libraries. October 2008
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