Album: “Letters in the Rain” by Ruff Dog Elliott

Ruff Dog (Shep) Elliott is a Singer/ Songwriter based in Bournemouth; he was born in the Midlands in 1965 before moving to Cornwall in ‘79 where he met many musicians and played in local pubs, busking to get by. His nickname was “Shep”, gifted to him through his masses of long hair (not the Blue Peter Dog) which has since long gone. His love of music started at the tender age of 12 when he got bought a 12 string guitar, a Folk singer tried to teach him a few chords and he says he has been playing those same three chords ever since. Musical influences are aplenty with Folk, Blues, Americana, Bar Room Jazz, Rock n’ Roll, Brit sounds from ‘80s and ‘90s along with a love of some of the masters: Woodie Guthrie, Johnny Cash, Steve Van Zandt and Tom Waits. Ruff Dog’s heavily acoustic-based sound is in the vein of many of the classic singer/songwriters of his generation.

His story continues in pubs and on the streets, joining a few local groups back in the 1980s for free beer & grub! His bands included some strangely titled acts; The Tribal Grass Hats, Dexys Punk Fuzzies, Ruffdog & the Rainbow Dentist, Smokey Limbo and Ruffdog & The Preacherman. More recently he has got together with Nick Capaldi of “Grinning Dog Records” to record an album “Letters in The Rain”, in which he has pledged to donate all proceeds to the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation after losing his beloved wife to the disease. The album features a few notable names including Pete Thompson, Ben Waters and Nick Capaldi himself, who produced the record with the album being mastered by Gwyn Mathias.

2022 was a busy year for Shep, it saw him play at various locations around the UK from the local gardens in Dorchester and HMV in High Wycombe, to the prestigious Troubadour in London. He is always a hit with the crowds and can get them involved and is now gathering some of his own groupies! Shep says he is so incredibly grateful to anyone who takes the time to listen to his work; although it has taken many years, he is said to describe himself as a very lucky old Ruff Dog.

The eleven-track album is an autobiographical journey through the various twists and turns of Ruffdog’s life, there are extremely emotive, relatable lyrics that are sung with passionate and a real honesty. His vocal sound varies a great deal from gravel to soulful and back again. The mostly acoustic sound is bolstered with some fine instrumentation that backs these original numbers perfectly. With songs like “Lion Pride”; the beautiful and lyrically powerful “Flowers On The Door”, through to Ruffdog’s finest moment “Midnight City Walker” where he tells the story about the plight of the homeless with some tender lyrics which really hit the message home. There is certainly plenty of life in this old Ruffdog and with the selfless donation of all of the profits going to the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation, it’s a no brainer purchase.

Track-Listing
Lion’s Pride
Easy Dreamer
Light the Fire
Country Rider
Rat Rock n’ Rolla
Flowers on the Door
Midnight City Walker
Rise Up
The Reason
Truth for All
Autumn Day

Songs written and composed by Shep Andy Elliott
Bass Guitars, Mellotron, Backing Vocals and Programming by Nick Capaldi
Produced and Mixed by Nick Capaldi
Mastered by Gwyn Mathias
Drums on “Midnight City Walker” and “Rise Up” by Pete Thompson
Congas on “Autumn Day” by Pete Thompson
Piano on “Truth For All” by Ben Waters

You can download the album here or if you prefer something tangible you can purchase the 180g black vinyl album here.

Links
https://www.facebook.com/RuffdogElliott
https://www.grinningdogrecords.com

Article by David Chinery (Chinners).