"One of Southern England's most exciting Celt style folk/rock outfits"
-Traditional Music Maker, November 2000"Very exciting.." Folk in Kent 2000
Gigs coming up: 
Here's the latest info on what's happening in Rat Land!!
HOT RATS IN 2010
It's 18 years since the band was formed for Doug's Comedy Show at the Brook Theatre in Chatham.There are some new photos further down:
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| IAN CUTLER; |
DOUG HUDSON; |
MIKE PETERS; |
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| HOT RATS ON THE BANDSTAND; |
BANDSTAND 2007; |
BRADSTOWE MILL; |
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| THE DOLPHIN; |
BARNABY RUDGE |
TARTAR FRIGATE |
LOOKING BACK - FAVERSHAM HOP FESTIVAL 2007
Great night for the Hot Rats at the Hoppers' Ball on Saturday night - a sell out - and at the Anchor pub on Sunday where the crowd were in fine form.
BOULOGNE
A great weekend at the Fete de la Mer in Boulogne where the Hot Rats were a big hit.
Also on hand were Denis, Chiche and the others from Dunkerque's Sur Les Docks who took this photo.
TOUR DE FRANCE
What a fantastic event!!!
The Hot Rats were playing as the peloton sped past. Over two million people in Kent turned out to see this breathtaking bike race.
'Chapeaux' as Johnny Green would say.
Shame about the drugs, thoug!
DOUGIE STANDS UP
Doug's One Man Show was at the Brook on Thursday 19th July.
Thanks to all those who turned up. Then he entertained the throngs of Folk Week at Upton School.
OSTEND AT ANCHOR
What a great weekend in Belgium!!!
Whilst rain lashed everywhere else - England, Germany, Holland - the port of Ostend celebrated good weather with a fantastic turn out of ships, bands, people and ambience.
The Hot Rats played possibly their finest ever gig in the crew tent - keeping the audience dancing for nigh on two and a half hours. They met up withold friends Chiens d'Mer, Sur Les Rocks (Kriek Balise) and kate Janssens' group, Green Jacket. Not to mention of course the Grand Turk and their motley crew.
MY SPACE
The Hot Rats now have a site on My Space where you can listen to tracks and view pictures etc
Go to the My Space site
SWEEPS 2008
Another great festival in Rochester with Eliza Carthy, Oysterband, Sid Kipper, Tim Edey Band, John Otway and ColvinQuarmby in concert.
Kriek Balise were terrific and rounded off the weekend with a stonker at the Barge in Gillingham.
The Hot Rats had around 500 people for the open air stage at Boley Hill.
Monday saw the usual finale at the Gordon Hotel as they sold the last of their 110 barrels of real ale.
le soiree qui n'existe pas - this is a secret gig in Dunkerque in October for invited guests only!
A result of some cracking gigs at the Monkey, Vieux Cahors and Estaminet Flamand.
MAN OF KENT
This great pub near Rochester Police Station has a selection of handpump real ales and German and Belgian beers and white beers.
They already have world music nights on a Thursday and have decided to have a 'folk' night on Wednesdays now that the King's Head has gone over to tribute bands.
Tell your friends - it's really rocking!
IRRITABLE BAUL SYNDROME!
Doug has returned from India where he played with a busking Baul Singer on the Darjeeling Mail.
More details eventually on myspace.
The website had 4346 visitors in 2007 who looked at 6716 pages, 3212 vistors in 2006 who looked at 5131 pages as opposed to 3043 people who perused 4963 pages in 2005.
Ian plays with the Strawbs.
Ian played with the Blue Angel Orchestra on Sunday 17th September which was a project put together by Dave Cousins of the Strawbs.
It was part of Deal Maritime Festival and featured other members of the iconic 70s band plus Fred Wedlock and a transvestite!.
Hot Rats on BBC World Service!!!
Doug has been interviewed by a Russian broadcaster for the English language edition of BBC World Service which went out across Russia on September 25th.
There was music, too, after the band were spotted at Faversham Hop Festival.
If you want a copy I have a CD of the programme.
The Hop Festival itself was a grand affair. Lots of people in the Shepherd Neame tent over Saturday and Sunday and the band's connection with Britian's oldest brewery looks set to endure, although not this year as they have decided not to have the tent.
Many thanks to all the revellers for the response!!!
The Hot Rats appeared in Calais as part of the Estivales festival along with pop star Bonnie Tyler!
More TV coverage inside the Salle du Minck and they impressed the powers that be to the extent that the organisers want them back, same time next year.
A great week at Broadstairs Folk Week with the Hot Rats and the likes of Seth Lakeman Band, Waterson-Carthy, Feast of Fiddles, Osibisa, T & LaTouche etc
As the jetty can't be used because of daft red tape licensing laws, the band played their annual open air concert at the bandstand.
It attracted the biggest crowd of the week with some 700 fans enjoying the music on Friday afternoon.
Good gigs in the pubs, too which were full to bursting.
Broadstairs is now as big as Sidmouth and is vying for one of the best national folk festivals.
The Rats wereat the Gordon Hotel marquee on Monday lunchtime.
This includes footage of the five piece band with Tony Rico and Tim Constable in the ranks.
Repertoire includes Woman or a Man and Creole Girl.
Call Dougie on 01843-868757 if you want one (plus £1 post and packing.
The Rats played Fremantle's Fly By Night club and J.B.O'Reillys and the Irish Club in Perth to enthusiastic crowds and hope to go back for festival gigs next year.They met a lot of talented musicians and saw plenty of wildlife along the way!
In one of the venues an ecstatic local Aussie gave immense praise to Ian with the immortal words "Fiddle player deserves a clap - one of the better ones".
Thanks to Ruth and Gren for organising it and to Tay Chee Wai of De Claffer Music in Singapore for his hospitality on the way back.
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| HOT RATS IN THE HAM MARQUEE; |
SIDMOUTH 2005; |
RATS IN SIDMOUTH; |
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| WOLVERTON CEILIDH; |
RATS IN SIDMOUTH |
HOT RATS DANCE |
Here's a review of the above concert in October's Folk on Tap magazine: HOT RATS - Ham Marquee, Sidmouth Thursday 4th August, 8pm Pic taken by Sam Satyandhan Although I had seen Doug Hudson's amazingly funny solo act many years ago, (I remember well crying with laughter at his version of the '12 drinks of Christmas'), I had never seen him in band formation so I was looking forward to my introduction to Hot Rats. Doug's guitar and vocals were joined on stage by Ian Cutler on electric violin and Mike Peters on electric bass and vocals. They opend with a Klezmer piece, 'Arabesque' which led seamlessly into a wonderful version of 'Havah Nagila'. They had my attention from the outset. This was followed by a Red Army recruiting song (sung in Russian!) and 'Troika Ride'. We were informed that 'Swallows Tails' threaded its way throughout the piece, but I have to admit that I didn't spot it. Next came a lovely song written by Doug, 'Mira Dreams of England'. Doug told us that as the fare was more than two year's wages for the Russian Mira, the dreams had faded away. A Celtic tune set followed and next on the agenda was a speeded up version of 'January Man' followed by a pizzicato intro into the Irish tune 'Paddy Ryan's Dream'. Doug kept us laughing between the numbers with his own special brand of humour and all too soon it was time for their final rendition, a fantastic 'Orange Blossom Special' with some very realistic train sounds from the violin. I just loved the versatility of this talented trio and so did the rest of the audience for the applause which followed was wild and long as they were called back for another number. This may have been my first outing with Hot Rats but it certainly won't be my last!
Copies are available at £10.
Christmas saw the SWAG Minstrels featuring almost all their stunts on the Channel 5 show being broadcast on ITV's 'Best Ever Hidden Camera Stunts' programme.We're told we were number 4 out of the 50 best ever stunts!!!
There's more about SWAG below.
Doug and Ian playing on the Arena Stage for Albion Morris.The band included John Watcham, Tom Leary, Guido Rincon and Tim on banjo and they lead the musical finale of a show called 'Leap'to around 2000 people.
Back at Dougie's bed and breakfast, the newly styled morris musician found himelf in a bathroom converted for the disabled. After using the toilet he was curious to see the effectiveness of the flushing mechanism when a metallic pipe swung around from under the rim and squirted a jet of water into his face.
Was this the only automatic bidet in Sidmouth?
Despite strong winds and the Tour de France A Voile, the Citadelle en Bordees was another successful one.The Hot Rats played at the Seaman's Club and later on the big stage with TV screen! (Not of them unfortunately!).
Mind you, can you imagine after a night of playing and a couple of beers, going down to breakfast and hearing a banjo being played - then an impromptu sea shanty session, followed by a kazoo workshop. All at the same time - 9am.
In 2006, The Hot Rats played on the Grand Turk twice in May! Firstly, for a corporate 'do' in Ramsgate and then again in Ostend at the end of the month.
The Hot Rats had a really fantastic time at Ostend - wonderful response from the public, the organisers and the crews to make a truly memorable trip!
A return is virtually certain next year and the Rats made many new friends including an impromptu percussion set from Galician Band, A Contrabanda.
Promises, too, of similar festivals in Liverpool and Holland.
Also seen in Ostend was Belgian singer, Kate Janssen, who lived and worked as a vet in Gravesend for some years.
She did the support for some of Dougie's One Man Shows in the early 90s.
Ludicrous behaviour and the new series began on Tuesday 29th June 2007 with Doug & Ian appearing on July 7th and 14th's editions.
As mentioned, they won 4th out of the 100 Best Hidden Camera Stunts on ITV.
Dougie Hudson is the musical director for the festival and he also makes a musical contribution with Hot Rats who feature the amazing Ian Cutler on fiddle and Mick Peters on a very tidy and exciting bass. I promise you I have now heard the definitive version of Orange Blossom Special!"
She wrote "I'm always keen to listen to new music so I jumped at the chance to see the Hot Rats play in Gillingham...what made this gig such a change was the live experience Doug Hudson and Ian Cutler bought (sic) to their performance...I couldn't fault tonight's performance and left feeling smug I hadn't talked myself out of coming."
Roger Allston of the Pier in Lower Upnor said: Hi Doug
Very many thanks for an absolutely fantastic evening. Yours was one of the best folk gigs we have ever staged. Well done to you & for his electrifying fiddle work, please pass on our warmest regards to Ian.<
Below you can see former Hot Rats members and what they are doing now, but occasionally the Rats augment to four with a special artist.
Last summer saw Kiwi sensation Brendan Power playing with the Rats for a wedding function.
Brendan was the featured soloist in Riverdance for some years and has provided music for Love Actually, Shanghai Noon, Auf Weidersehn Pet and now the Hot Rats.
Dave Mattacks famously played at the Woodville Halls barn dance a couple of years ago.
Now resident in the US he rarely comes to the UK, although Ian's Feast of Fiddles tour is one such gig!
Guido Rincon from the lamented Shave The Monkey is another occasional player.
He's a multi instrumentalist and singer who also features in Ian's Slaughterhouse line-up.
Finally, the phenomenally gifted Tim Edey is a regular occasional player with the Rats.
Equally brilliant on guitar or melodeon he is also guesting with the Sharon Shannon Band, Capercaillie , Afro-Celt Sound System and currently Frankie Gavin.
Catch him when you can cos he's increasingly globe trotting.
Doug Hudson's solo album has taken five years to complete and contains some great new songs
You can hear some samples of Ian's new album by going to the sound clip page.ALSO IF YOU WANT TO BUY ALBUMS YOU CAN ORDER BY POST TO DOUG.
The Hot Rats had a great time at Fete de la Mer in Boulogne. 
Great weather and some unusual dancing in the Belgium city of Ostend.
The Hot Rats recorded a couple of 'live' gigs at the mysterious Soiree Que N'Existe Pas in Dunkerque and the following day at the Insolites in St Georges Sur L'Aa.
The weekend was a fantastic success with brilliant weather and great music! 
Le Bottleneck is a new venue in Dunkerque where the Hot Rats made their highly successful debut on 25th April last year.
A corporate surprise barn dance for Blueprint Partners was held in a temporary venue opposite a massive wooden sculpture in the centre of Brussels.
Plenty of champagne and canapes ensured the unsuspecting punters threw caution to the wind and danced the night away.