Rain Of Animals

There are some musical duos so meant-to-be-together, you’d hear folks say they must be “joined at the hip.” It is startlingly clear that this pair sit very squarely in that category.

World-roving troubadors, Rain Of Animals, a richly euphonious collaboration between Pepita Emmerichs (of former Aussie chart-toppers Oh Pep!) and Theodore Barnard (Wire & Wool) grew from their love of all things mandolin, fiddle, guitar, harmony vocals, bluegrass, old-time, swing, and much, much more. Spanning originals to arrangements of classics and rare gems they’ve unearthed on their travels, their sound is both new and old; enchanting in its instrumental wizardry and musical integrity.

The pair first met and forged a name for themselves after an impromptu jam session in a legendary Melbourne bar in 2018, and they have continued to perform, write and tour together ever since.
Pepita and Theo are also regular fixtures in the band, Stereo Naked, and will be appearing in a double header show with them at the 2024 Celtic Connections festival in Glasgow.
That booking came about following the sensational UK tour they completed late in ’22. Reviewing the Glasgow show for AmericanaUK, back in November, leading contributor Paul Kerr was full of praise and wrote: “A truly international night of entertainment occurred in Glasgow’s Glad Cafe on a very dreich and dreary midweek evening. If, say, a hurricane had hit the Southside, those in attendance would have shrugged it off as a mere inconvenience, such was their delight with the entertainment proffered by these two bands. First up was Rain Of Animals with Australian Pepita Emmerichs on mandolin and fiddle and Scotsman Theodore Barnard on guitar. Playing classic bluegrass numbers along with some self-penned songs and a grand cover of Gillian Welch’s ‘Dear Someone’, the duo played brilliantly with some scintillating solos on show on all three instruments, especially on a rapid fire version of Bill Monroe’s ‘Tennessee Blues’ while they also delivered a rousing ‘Sitting On Top Of The World’. From their recent album, ‘Nali’s World’, ‘Blaven’ was quite astounding with the pair demonstrating the fine art of utilising dynamics via a condenser microphone, while ‘Lil Demon’ (so called explained Emmerichs as it uses b flat tuning which is a curse to play on mandolin) was another joy to hear for those who love instrumental music played with love and joy.”

“Brilliant” – AmericanaUK

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