WEATHER Systems
There’s a new supergroup in town and they’re hoping to make a big splash with their debut album, Singularity. Prog catches up with Rain’s Andy Edwards and John Jowitt who, between them, have played with IQ, Frost*, Arena, Jadis and Robert Plant – and we find out the story behind their melodic new project.
Words: Nick Shilton Images: Rob Groucutt
Clear skies ahead for Rain!
“We’re really onto something with Rain,” drummer Andy Edwards enthuses via Zoom. “I hope we’ll give prog a bit of a shot in the arm.”
That’s a bold statement, but Edwards is far from a naïve newcomer to the progressive rock scene. His musical CV documents stints drumming for prog stalwarts IQ and Frost* and, less proggy but most prominently, Robert Plant. And bassist John Jowitt is a bona fide prog veteran, who cut his progressive teeth way back in May 1975, seeing Gryphon support Yes at Stoke City football club.
This millennium has seen Edwards and Jowitt intersect in IQ (for Frequency) and Frost* (for Milliontown and Experiments In Mass Appeal). However, they had subsequently ploughed disparate creative furrows.
Their reunion came in 2019 when Quill – the enduring Birmingham-based folk rockers featuring former Electric Light Orchestra drummer Bev Bevan – sought a new bass player. Having joined Quill in 2016 to play alongside Bevan, Edwards swiftly recruited his former bandmate Jowitt.