Billington front man bringing The Ragamuffins home for an exclusive Clitheroe gig

But Billington man David John Jaggs knew he had to bring The Ragamuffins to the Ribble Valley for the launch of their latest EP.

David, who’s been the front man of the band for more than 10 years, couldn’t think of a more perfect choice to celebrate the release of GRAVITY DODGERS on Friday, May 17th, than the Old School Rooms in Lowergate, Clitheroe.

He said: “With there being a distinctive Lancastrian flavour to this record, it felt right that we play somewhere closer to (my) home and we adored the decor in the Old School Rooms when we played at the fantastic Valley Sounds festival last October, along with Inspiral Carpets front man Tom Hingley and Jeremiah Ferrari.

“So it seemed the natural choice when it came to finding somewhere in Clitheroe to play.”

The globe-trotting band have enjoyed their fair share of overseas adventures, having taken part in a Battle Of The Bands competition at Snowbombing Festival in Austria.

Ten years on, they’re set to support Scottish indie-pop band Belle & Sebastian on a boat travelling from Barcelona to Cagliari, the capital city of Sardinia.

But the Ribble Valley has always offered a trove of exciting opportunities.

“We’re also playing at Cloudspotting Festival in Gisburn Forest in June, which is always an amazing place to play,” David added.

“We’ve been lucky enough to play some amazing shows down the years in Clitheroe with some phenomenal names.

“We’ve played with Britpop heroes Dodgy, Otis Redding’s former guitarist Steve Cropper and The Jam’s Bruce Foxton.

“We’ve also played with two pop megastars who have recently passed away: Peter Tork of The Monkees and Ranking Roger of The Beat, who we supported at The Grand in 2013.

“It’d be wrong not to add a little tribute to both of those at the EP launch to say a thank you for their help and support as we started out.”