Singer/songwriter
Rocky Votolato was born in 1978 and spent his childhood on a 50-acre horse farm in rural Frost, TX (population 647), located 100 miles south of Dallas. Growing up amidst a backing soundtrack of
Willie Nelson,
Steve Earle, and
Johnny Cash, he had a semi-unconventional upbringing, as his father was a member of the Dallas-based motorcycle gang the Scorpions (rivals to the Hell's Angels).
Rocky's mother moved the family to Seattle in his early teens, and he was soon inspired to start playing guitar by his older brother Sonny. Expanding on his country music roots,
Rocky spent high school discovering the underground punk and indie rock scenes before starting his first band,
Runaway Laughing, with some high-school buddies. He also fronted the group
Lying on Loot, which included his friend and drummer
Rudy Gajadhar. When the latter band broke up in 1996, the two musicians (under the influence of
Fugazi) started the acclaimed -- though emo-stigmatized -- punk outfit
Waxwing with bassist
Andrew Hartley and
Rocky's younger brother
Cody on second guitar;
Cody also played in the art-damaged hardcore combo
the Blood Brothers. The group recorded three full-lengths albums before officially disbanding in late 2005.
While
Waxwing were still active,
Rocky had begun seeking another outlet for his lyrical musings outside of the band's dynamic and hard-hitting approach. An eponymous solo record thus appeared in 1999 and found him playing subtle and acoustic folk songs not so dissimilar from
Elliott Smith. A 7" record with
Seth Warren was issued that same year on the Redwood label, followed by the release of an EP,
A Brief History, in 2000. The record featured backing members of
Sharks Keep Moving and
Red Stars Theory, and garnered
Rocky Votolato favorable reviews. Produced by
Matt Bayles (
Botch,
the Blood Brothers),
Burning My Travels Clean arrived in 2001 and marked
Rocky's first for Second Nature Recordings; what would become
Waxwing's final album,
Nobody Can Take What Everybody Owns, was released soon after in 2002.
May 2003's
Light and the Sound EP served as a precursor to the eventual release of his third full-length,
Suicide Medicine, that September. The album was his most focused effort yet, touching on country, rock, and folk influences amidst his still stripped-down sound. Though
Rocky had taken only about two weeks to flesh out each of his previous works, he devoted a year and a half of writing and recording in the home studio of co-producer
Casey Foubert (
Pedro the Lion) to complete his fourth record and Barsuk debut. With
Rocky now a married father of two, the resulting album was a fuller-sounding and matured album of country-tinged folk tunes that recalled his Texas roots.
Makers was issued in January 2006 to the praise of fans and critics alike, and its lead track, "White Daisy Passing," was featured on an episode of the popular teen drama The OC. Various tour dates followed, including a fall run supporting
Lucero.
–
Corey Apar, Rovi