THE last few days have been a complete whirlwind for East Lancashire band The Ragamuffins.

For as well as preparing to launch their latest EP Gravity Dodgers with a show at the Old School Rooms in Clitheroe tomorrow night, the band have been asked to produce a charity single to mark Liverpool FC reaching the final of the Champions League.

“It’s all come out of nowhere,” said the band’s Clitheroe-based frontman David John Jaggs. “We thought we had everything nicely under control and then it’s all gone mental.”

The Ragamuffins have played live in front of fans before Liverpool’s most recent homes games and among the numbers they performed was a little ditty celebrating the Reds’ Brazilian forward Roberto Firmino, Si Senor.

“It’s got a samba rhythm to it,” said David. “We played it before the Wolves game on Sunday and saw that Roberto Firmino’s wife was dancing to it.

“We got approached by a studio in Liverpool and we have been recording it this week. The aim is to get it out as a digital release as soon as possible ahead of the Champions League final.

“It will be a charity record with proceeds going to the Liverpool Fans for Food Banks. We have no idea how it will go but it would be great if football fans supported it. Who knows, we might get the chance to play live before the final in Madrid on Saturday, June 1 - we can dream can’t we?”

With the finishing touches having been put to Si Senor, David and the band are now free to concentrate on their Clitheroe gig tomorrow.

“For our last couple of albums and records we’ve used venues in Manchester and Liverpool and even London to host the obligatory release parties,” said David. “But with there being a very distinctive Lancastrian flavour to this record it felt right that we play somewhere closer to home.”

The lead single from the EP, Be Clever, was inspired by a fan’s comment following a gig at the Black Dog in Oswaldtwistle.

“I was leaving after the gig and he said ‘Jaggsy, if I don’t see you; be good, and if you can’t be good; be clever’. It was too good a line not to use,” said David.

A second song Breathe Easy, Blue Skies was written about a friend’s experiences in the army in Iraq over a pint in a Clitheroe pub and the track Style Over Substance was inspired by seeing a friend’s artwork for sale in a local charity shop.

The final track, Make Love Great Again, features a new additional member of the band - David’s daughter Harriet, who is now nearly six months old.

“When my wife was at the Burnley Birth Centre before Harriet was born the nurse was listening to her heart beat. I recorded it with my phone because it has this great rhythm to it and it inspired me to write the song,” he said.

“We’re all really excited to be launching the EP in Clitheroe as we’ve been lucky enough to play some amazing shows in the town down the years,” said David. “We’ve also played with two pop mega stars that have recently passed away; both 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.”

David, who has also recently started to sing with leading East Lancashire outfit the Northern Soul train, will be returning to the Ribble Valley next month when The Ragamuffins play at the Cloudspotting Festival.

The Ragamuffins, Old School Rooms, Clitheroe, Friday, May 17. The Gravity Dodgers EP is available to stream from www.theragamuffins.co.uk and is available on Amazon and via Apple Music