Raoul & The Dukes

Raoul & the Dukes was formed in 2013! Long-time friends Dominic Fornaro and Skylar Gannon decided to get some serious jams together at the local open mics, and realized they should start a band. Another friend of whom they were spending time with, Sarah McCarthy, suggested the name Raoul & the Dukes to the two after much debate over how to create a band as an homage to Hunter S. Thompson and the associated lore.

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After the duo performed the first time, they quickly went to find more members for the line-up. Another long-time friend from various Maryland bands such as Rellik, Outram and Aries, Brandon Bailey was also looking to join a more straightforward rock band at the same time, so the two naturally started jamming with Brandon. The three of them discussed the nature of the band, brought all of their most current songs to the table, meshed with some psychedelic jam sessions and the rest is history...

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Realizing that they wanted to move Dom to bass, they wanted to recruit a new drummer as well. Again another long-time friend who actually had never played drums, Austin Hill, was brought in to fill the spot. Then they started cutting their teeth in the Easton, MD scene at local music store Sean's Music at shows and open mics. After several months of playing weekly shows with several stand in members the band began to dissolve due to Skylar, Brandon and Dominic moving away to Michigan, West Virginia, and Virginia Beach respectively.

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Over the next year Dominic and Brandon both tried to get separate incarnations of the band together with no success. In late 2015 Dominic, after moving back to Maryland, began jamming with Austin again and with the introduction of Isaac McLaughlin they officially reformed the band and began playing out on the Eastern Shore with regular performances at 447 in Cambridge Maryland. After several months of shows, including one with Brandon returning on guitar while on the way to California, the band began to dissolve again with Dominic moving to Philadelphia.

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After another year or so and with Brandon moving back to Maryland from California, and with the recent death of friend and former drummer Daniel Ward. Dominic and Brandon sought to continue the band. With the addition of Christian Alexstrom on drums and Zac Brown on guitar they began to play shows again in the eastern shore scene as well as branching out to Baltimore and Delaware as well. After several months and due to tensions between members the band went back on hiatus indefinitely.

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In late 2020 following the death of Austin Hill, the original members reconvened for the first time since 2014. After much discussion they decided to record their debut album in honor to Austin and Daniel. During the recording process they decided to bring the band back in full force.