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ALABAMA 3 AND RUTS DC

We all know Alabama 3's beloved bass player as Frankie Zapatista, but it was as Segs that he first became famous as bass player for the legendary punk band The Ruts.


The Ruts: Malcolm Owen, Segs, Paul Fox, David Ruffy

Following the sudden death of Ruts' vocalist Malcolm Owen in 1980 the remaining members of the band - Paul Fox , Segs, and Dave Ruffy - evolved into Ruts DC whose fusion of punk and dub reggae gave them a new unique roots sound which they continued to play until their eventual split in 1983.

Sadly Ruts DC singer Paul Fox passed away in 2007 after losing his battle with cancer. Three months before his death the band had played a legendary gig  in London, with Henry Rollins as guest vocalist and it looked like that would be the last we would hear of The Ruts.


However, the fantastic news is that not only have Segs and Ruffy recorded a new album with the Mad Professor (Rhythm Collision Volume 2) but they will be going out to play live as Ruts DC in Dub supporting Alabama 3 on four dates of their imminent tour.


Segs, Mad Professor, Ruffy

“It’s not a Ruts reformation,” states Segs “how could it be, but we’ve recorded the album and we’re currently finishing mixing it with Prince Fatty. We’re going to do four dates on the Alabama 3 tour and the set’s going to be a mixture of new songs, some tracks from ‘Rhythm Collision Volume 1’, maybe ‘Fools’ from ‘Animal Now’ and we might even throw in a different version of ‘Jah War’."

“It’s a bit scary playing live again with Ruts DC ” remarks Ruffy “but we’ve put together a great band. The album has turned out quite political, not intentionally, but in a natural way. There was a great vibe in the studio when we recorded it and thirty years is long enough to have waited for Volume 2! I see the whole venture as a work in progress and there’s no reason, time permitting, why we can’t keep it going.”

Ruts DC will be supporting Alabama 3 at the following dates:

17 November Manchester Ritz

26 November Bristol Academy

1 December Bournemouth Academy

2 December London Kentish Town Forum

FULL TOUR DATES AND BOOKING INFO HERE

This article is taken from 'The re-emergence of Ruts DC – album and tour revealed in exclusive LTW interview' by Andrew Peart from louderthanwar.com.
To read this article in full click here > louderthanwar.com