The Black Racketeers are an outfit rooted in 60s and 70s rock n roll and draw influence from bands including The Beatles, The Velvet Underground, Cream, Hendrix and early Bowie.
Melbourne musician Simon Rowley heads The Black Racketeers and performs vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, organ, piano and a bit of bass guitar. He has also written all the music and lyrics.
After collaborations with some of Australias most respected Rock n Roll and Punk musicians, and winning various accolades, Simon has put together The Black Racketeers.
Simon has been the recipient of Awards including Triple J Unearthed (Australian National Radio), Hottest Guitarist in Melbourne, and is endorsed by Australias Premier guitar manufacturers Maton Guitars (Played by, Josh Holmes Q.O.T.S., Ben Harper, The Living End, etc).
An accomplished singer songwriter and guitarist, Simon plays with the feel of early Clapton and Hendrix and writes songs with the same beauty and integrity of Bowie and the Beatles.
Simon has an energetic stage presence reminiscent of Hendrix and Townshend and also draws from his roots in punk and hardcore.
For kicks, Simon belts out Bon Scott Era ACDC on lead guitar with Rock n Roll Damnation. Rock n Roll Damnation features the cream of Australias Punk and Hardcore musicians including Beltsy (Mindsnare, Blood Duster), Grant (BodyJar), Bomber (ex Mindsnare, Within Blood, early 28 Days) Mikee (Kelly Stoltz band, Shutdown 66, Eddie Currant Suppression Ring (Solo album soon out through Modular) and Producer of the Dirt Bombs and Sonic Youth)
Recently Simon has been touring Nationally and Internationally as guitarist with The Mark Saul band. Mark is represented by UK based Active Agency (Bob Geldof) and has performed with artists as diverse as Sonic Animation and The Dirty Three. An instrumentalist, Mark has done for the Bagpipe what Warren Ellis (The Dirty Three, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds) has done for the violin. Mark is world-renowned for his playing and composition, with admirers ranging from traditionalists to Punk rock legends the Dropkick Murpheys. Simon has also been performing as a solo artist in London recently.
With the final touches being added to a full length Black Racketeers Album and the music written to a follow up, The Black Racketeers look forward to touring, promoting, and releasing their debut.Contact;
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