Ramjam to make music for IDE School
Inspired by the Individual Development Education School( IDE) benefit concert they saw in early November, the members of The Ramjam Band wanted to use their musical gifts to help the special needs children of the IDE School at Rajagiriya. The IDE school often has annual concerts to fund a portion of their costs. The concert will take place on Friday, November 30 at 7.30 p.m. at the Barefoot cafe.
The stars of the night will be Richard Simon, who will be singing as well as playing the guitar, Shehan Karunatilaka on bass and Miguel Cunat on the keyboard while Ranjan Aluwihare will be playing the drums and singing as well. The lead singer of the band Ranjan, has long cherished a dream of playing a public gig at Barefoot, which is one of his favourite venues. The band will be performing a 24-song set list of popular rock music from the 60s, 70s and 80s.
All proceeds from the concert will go towards the Association of IDE School which is a school for children and adolescents aged between 4 to 22 years who have various disorders such as Cerebral Palsy, Down’s Syndrome, Autism, Attention Deficit Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder, and/or mild to moderate learning difficulties. The school’s vision is to create a Sri Lanka where all children can exercise their right to education in an environment in which they can learn and develop. They strive for this by empowering and educating children with intellectual disabilities and are committed to the goal of ensuring their education.
The members of The Ramjam Band are not musicians by profession but rather they perform out of sheer passion for music. Ranjan is a talented watercolourist, architect and designer, Miguel is an ‘expat’ who works in the travel industry, Shehan needs no introduction as the award-winning author of the novel Chinaman and Richard is a well-known writer with a background in advertising.
The Ramjam Band is thoroughly excited about the concert. Says Miguel, “We’re all really serious about music and we’re working hard to make this a memorable gig for everybody.” Asked about what kind of music he would be playing Richard said, “It’s mostly stuff that Ranjan likes, since he’s our main singer. I guess you could call it popular stadium rock. Beatles, Stones, Pink Floyd, Dire Straits, U2... stuff like that. You’ll know all the songs for sure and most of the words too, so you’ll be able to sing along to your heart’s content!”
Tickets are priced at Rs. 1500 and can be purchased at the IDE school in Rajagiriya or at the Barefoot Café on or before the concertt date.