Ruffdog (Shep) Elliott is a Singer Songwriter based in Bournemouth. He was born in the Midlands in 1965 before moving to Cornwall in ‘79 where he met many musicians and played in local pubs and often busked to get by.
He got the nickname Shep through his mass of long hair, which has long gone. The tag Ruffdog soon followed as a bit of a joke, he was often hungover when arriving to play gigs, but it stuck as an artist name.
Ruffdog would often join friends, who were outstanding musicians, to form groups like Free Beer & Grub, The Tribal Grass hats, Ruffdog & The Rainbow Dentist and Dexys Punk Fuzzies and later Smokey Limbo and Ruffdog & The Preacherman.
The music never stopped though and the ‘80s and ‘90s he often hung around friends flats in London in awe of the great music being made at the time.
Growing up he listened to Rock and Roll and American folk, which as you will hear in his music, heavily influenced him.
His days of living rough come through in a bar room lizard style of acoustic jazz with the grit of the streets seeping into the sound of his vocals, at times with more than a nod to Tom Waits and the beat writers of the ‘50s, other times its almost Country and you can hear the influence of Guthrie, Cash and Van Zandt.
We are proud to be releasing Ruffdog Elliotts debut album ‘Letters In The Rain’ which was produced by Nick Capaldi to raise money for the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation.
Shep says he is so incredibly grateful to anyone who takes the time to listen to his work, although it has taken many years, he is said to describe himself as a very lucky old Ruffdog.
check out Ruffdog’s upcoming gigs:
May 18th – The Lamb Inn, Mudeford
May 22nd – Chelmsford social club
June 11th – Borough Gardens, Dorchester
June 18th – Hmv, Yeovil
July 23rd – Maiden Newton FC
July 30th – Raising Spirit festival, Came house, Dorchester
August 13th – NCC Dorset bike show
