The Ramshackle Army

With five years and countless shows, across two continents under their collective belts, THE RAMSHACKLE ARMY, have steadily built a cross genre following which has seen their name appear all over the world. The 6 piece Celtic punk band started in the Melbourne pub scene in June 2010, made the jump from the inner suburban pubs they call home, to the wider Australian punk audience and have now made multiple trips to the States with some of the scene’s biggest names.
As a band which draws on a vast array of influences including the punk they grew up on, the Celtic traditions of their family history and Australian colonial heritage, they have brought to the table a sound marketable in any domain.
The raw sound that is The Ramshackle Army, combined with an energetic live show, draws the crowd in through onstage interaction and the simple premise that by having fun themselves the crowd will come along for the ride.
In May 2010 The Ramshackle Army added to their arsenal with their debut Independent EP LIFE LESSONS AND DRUNKEN SESSIONS. Recorded at Three Phase in Brunswick, VIC by Sam Johnson (The Smith Street Band, The Bennies, Mindsnare, Toe to Toe, A Death in The Family, House Vs Hurricane) and mastered at Blasting Room, Fort Collins, Colorado by Jason Livermore (Rise Against, A Wilhelm Scream), Life Lessons and Drunken Sessions was the first attempt at transferring the live energy of an RSA show to recorded format and was sure to have the audience in the mood for a drunken singalong.
The CD received very positive reviews both locally and internationally, had extensive play on Celt Punk podcasts and internet radio, and received recognition in the form of:
• an Honourable Mention on the PaddyRock.com “Best of 2011”.
• No 5 on the Rock Kultur Magazine (Germany) “Top 10 Releases of 2011”.
In October 2011, the RSA, were fortunate enough to support Dropkick Murphys on their Australian tour. Unlike any band that had gone before, the Ramshackle Army were offered, by Dropkick Murphys, to join them for their St Patricks Tour of the East Coast of the USA. As a result, in March 2012, the RSA embarked on their first tour of the US, local warm up shows with American Celtic Punk peers, before joining Dropkick Murphys and English singer/songwriter Frank Turner for a run of shows which included House of Blues Atlantic City and Boston, Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut, Paramount Theatre Long Island and the massive 6,000 Tsongas Arena with DKM on St Patrick’s Day. The tour closed with the RSA headlining the Guinness stage at the annual Shamrock Fest in Washington DC before 15,000 eager Celt punk fans.
In April 2012 the band formalised a relationship with Melbourne Ice, the representative team to the Australian Ice Hockey League. The band we’re then commissioned to write the team’s Fight Song “We Are Melbourne” for use in promotional material, and to promote the strong ties between sport and music.
February 2014 saw the band join the East Grand Record Company label out of Michigan for the release of the Life Lessons & Drunken Session follow up and first full length release Letters From The Road Less Travelled. With themes firmly entrenched in stories of the past and the bands own road experiences the record once again received significant praise rating highly on the 2014 “Best Of” lists.

2015 brought with it a slow start as the band reestablished itself after some lineup changes but planning and development was always bubbling away in the background. The results took the form of second US Trip on September and October of 2015, this time to play California’s Get Shamrocked Festival as their first international act alongside a strong lineup including Flatfoot 56. The band then continued on and joined scene legends and RSA influences The Tossers for a run of shows as part of their “Halway To St Patricks Day” Tour.

Since returning the band have gone straight back to work within the Melbourne scene ploting their next moves, recording and tours, as each year the band tries to outdo the last. For a band who have played places they never envisioned, with bands they take inspiration from and generally achieved much more than they could have hoped, making 2016 bigger than 2015 will be no easy feat but it will be a hell of a lot of fun trying.

RSA return back into the studio, recording their latest EP with Sam Johnston at Holes and Corners, with singles to be released in late 2016. Sam has recorded many notable Australian acts including The Bennies, The Smith Street Band, A Death in the Family, plus many more.




“I love bands like The Ramshackle Army, the bands that take risks. It would have been easier for them to use other instruments or to copy the style of one of the other well-known Australian bands. However, they have followed a different approach and I'm sure that this will pay.” – Celtic Folk Punk Blog (Spain)

“Life Lessons and Drunken Sessions -… owns enough authenticity, diversity and variety in order to act as the first serious exclamation point of the band.” – Celtic Rock Music Fanzine (Germany)

“Australian Celt-Mosh newcomers The Ramshackle Army are stepping up to the barman and demanding to be served.” – Chucking A Mosh (Australia)

“..these Aussies have come from out of nowhere with some of the best Paddy Punk I’ve heard in a while…The Ramshackle Army’s sound is like a well oiled machine that has been putting out records for years, and is a band that is turning heads in the Celt-Punk community around the world.” – Paddy Rock (Chicago)