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In an effort to be more active on this blog, I am starting a new trend called “Band of the Week.”  The title is pretty self-explanatory; every week (or more realistically, every 7-12 days), I will post briefly about a certain band and give a short profile as well as some song samples.  I will try to make many of my posts about bands that aren’t widely known, so as to make the whole thing more interesting and illuminating.  Occasionally, Ryan can post about some bands he would like to discuss.  Just don’t expect them to be nearly as interesting as my posts (just playin’ Ryan…but seriously).  This idea was inspired by my love for rock music as well as the shameful Grammys, which do anything but award the best musicians.

That being said, the first ever band of the week is an overlooked act called Ra.  A hard-rock/alternative metal band with a slightly progressive touch, the group takes its name from the ancient Egyptian sun god.  The band is from Los Angeles and has been around since the late 1990s, and, after several lineup changes, its current members are as follows:

Sahaj Ticotin:  Vocals, guitar

Ben Carroll:  Guitar

Andy Ryan:  Drums

P.J. Farley:  Bass

Ticotin, when discussing the band’s name, said, “When I was naming the band I wanted to come up with something that tied the Sun into the image of the band. I was thinking of different kinds of things but, I like the idea of Ra because it’s short, melodramatic and sort of an odd thing and really unique.”

Ra’s songs often feature Middle-Eastern sounds (understandable, given their name) as well as a bit of Latino influence (Ticotin is half Puerto Rican).  These influences help add a progressive flair to their music.

Ra has released three full-length studio albums (From One, Duality, and Black Sun), one EP (One, their debut album, which formed the basis for their first full-length release, 2002’s From One), one live album (Raw), and one album (Black Sheep) that is a collection of b-sides and previously unreleased demos.  Their most successful and well-known songs include “Do You Call My Name” (off From One; this is my personal favorite Ra song), “Fallen Angels”, a cover of The Police’s “Every Little Thing She Does is Magic” (both of the previous two songs come from 2005’s Duality), “Broken Hearted Soul” (from the 2008 album Black Sun, though the single was released in 2007), and “Supernova” (2009, from Black Sheep).

Links to these songs are below.  I suggest you check out Ra for yourself!

Do You Call My Name

Fallen Angels

Every Little Thing She Does is Magic

Broken Hearted Soul

Supernova