06/27/2024
River City RockFest
Artist Spotlight:
Raw Dog
Don’t let anyone tel you that Rock & Roll is dead. While you may not hear much new rock in the mainstream media, it’s alive and well in small clubs and theaters all over the country. Case in point: Jacksonville Florida’s premiere original power trio, “Raw Dog”. Led by long-time Jacksonville gut-bucket singer/guitarist Ron Perry, Raw Dog's goal is to return to the roots of rock and punk, with a modern twist that engages and appeals to today’s listening audience.
Ron Perry grew up on the gritty streets of Detroit, Michigan soaking up the rich musical heritage of what has come to be known as “Rock City”. Iggy & The Stooges, The MC5, Alice Cooper, Ted Nugent, were all heavy influences on any aspiring rock musician that came up through the trenches there, and these artists and so many others left an imprint that shaped Perry’s musical outlook going forward. After graduating high school, Perry joined the seminal Detroit punk band “The Nasties”, where he wrote the song “Detroit Rocks”, which became a regional hit garnering heavy airplay on local rock stations WLLZ and WRIF. It was in a small club there in the late 80s that Perry had a chance meeting with Molly Hatchet keyboardist and Detroit resident John Galvin, and was recruited to replace that band’s departing singer Danny Joe Brown. After a move to Jacksonville Florida, and several months of rehearsing and writing with Hatchet, Brown decided to return to the fold, displacing Perry, but one of the songs Perry had written for Hatchet, “Take Miss Lucy Home” was included on Hatchet’s 1989 Capitol records release “Lightning Strikes Twice”. Perry was then asked to join another band managed by Molly Hatchet’s management company…the band that eventually became “China Sky”. China Sky was quickly signed by CBS records after a private performance for legendary record man TJ Martell, and the resulting self-titled album was produced by Karl Richardson, who was best known for producing The Bee Gees “Saturday Night Fever”, which up to that point, was the top selling album of all time. China Sky managed two minor hits in “The Glory”, which was used in the soundtrack to the 1988 olympics on NBC, and “Some Kind Of Miracle”, co-written by legendary Broadway composer Frank Wildhorn, but alas, personality conflicts and creative differences soon broke up China Sky, and once again, Perry was on his own. Tired of the corporate games and limitations, he decided that going indie was the wave of the future. His next move was to scrape together enough money to open a recording studio in Jacksonville where he could spend as much time as needed to produce top-shelf recordings for his new band, “The Ron Perry Connection”, while also using his engineering skills to produce scores of local and not-so-local acts, including a raucous two week stint producing demos for Rock & Roll pioneer Ike Turner. The Ron Perry Connection spent the next 15 years recording and touring full-time. Now, after a few years and a well deserved break from the rigors of the road, Ron Perry is once again ready to return to form, and bring his brand of wide-appeal ‘balls to the wall” rock to the masses. Raw Dog is ready to bring back the energy and excitement that has been missing from the rock genre for many years.
Pat Crawford is a talented multi-instrumentalist whose bass chops are the perfect compliment to Perry’s blitzkrieg guitar and guttural vocals. Pat played on the Jacksonville Florida scene for years as a guitarist, until he answered a local ad for a band that needed a bass player. The band in question…The Ron Perry Connection. Pat spent the next 11 years holding down the bottom for RPC. Today he is back at his post providing the low end for Raw Dog.
Keith O’gara began his drum career at the age of 11, learning the basics from his drummer father, who had been in and out of local bands in Jacksonville for years. One of his first projects of note was the band “Split 26”, which featured future Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst. He later moved to LA with Jacksonville’s “Allele”, in their quest for a major label record deal. When Allelle didn’t get the recognition they were after, Keith went on to play with several other groups in California, but after many music-business disappointments, worn out and disheartened from his time in LA, Keith returned to Jacksonville to build a life and a family. Eventually though, as it always does, the rock and roll bug bit again. Word on the street was that a new original heavy rock band was looking for a drummer, and Keith just happened to be a perfect fit for… Raw Dog.
Raw Dog delivers high-energy rock with blistering vocals and driving beats, and harks back to the greatest acts of the 1960s & 70s by actually putting on a stage show. An art lost in rock and roll until now. Don’t let anyone tell you that Rock & Roll is on life support. Go see Raw Dog and learn the truth…”Rock and Roll ain’t pretty, but it sure as hell ain’t dead”.
