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Singer/songwriter Rocky Votolato was born in 1978, spending 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
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, soon starting his first band,
Runaway Laughing, with some high-school buddies. He also fronted Lying
on Loot, which included his friend and drummer Rudy Gajadhar. When the
latter band broke up in 1996, the two (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 band recorded three full-lengths together 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 through Status
that found him playing subtle and acoustic folk songs not so dissimilar
from Elliott Smith. A 7" with Seth Warren was released that same year on
Redwood before the EP A Brief History was issued in 2000 through Your
Best Guess. The record featured backing members of Sharks Keep Moving
and Red Stars Theory, and garnered him favorable reviews. Produced by
Matt Bayles (Botch, the Blood Brothers), Burning My Travels Clean was
next released 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, All Music Guide.
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