Biography All Media Guide Wikipedia
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.
from Wikipedia:
Rocky Votolato is an American singer-songwriter. He was born in Dallas, Texas on March 8, 1977. He was raised in a small town called Frost, roughly 50 miles south of Dallas, until the age of 13. After his parents were divorced, his mother remarried and moved the family to the Pacific Northwest in 1991, where he attended Inglemoor High School in Kenmore, Washington. Alienated by his southern roots, the isolation lead him to focusing all of his attention on learning to play guitar and writing songs. Inspired by seeing many punk shows including bands like Jawbreaker and Fugazi, he started several different musical projects while in high school.
When his former band Lying on Loot disbanded in 1996, Rocky Votolato, along with friends Rudy Gajadhar (drums) and Andrew Hartley (bass), started playing under the name Waxwing. Rocky's younger brother Cody (The Blood Brothers) soon joined the band on second guitar, and the band recorded their debut 7" for Henry's Finest Recordings. In 1999, Second Nature Recordings released their first full-length, entitled For Madmen Only. Blending straight-up rock with elements of post-hardcore, and Cody's metal reminiscent guitaring, Waxwing soon established a strong local following. The band then signed with Second Nature Recordings out of Kansas City, MO. The band then released three full length albums: For Madmen Only, in 1999, One for the Ride in 2000, and Nobody Can Take What Everybody Owns in 2002. In this time, the band's profile in the Seattle music scene had grown substantially consistently selling out local clubs like the Crocodile Cafe and The Paradox Theater.
In 1999, Rocky Votolato branched out from his work with Waxwing, having written a handful of songs which did not really fit in with their more aggressive, fast-tempo style. Along the way he has toured with the likes of Damien Jurado, Small Brown Bike, The Get Up Kids, The New Amsterdams, Owen and The Casket Lottery, members of the latter having provided assistance as backing musicians on occasion. His studio albums have also been littered with appearances from some of Seattle's finest musicians (including players in the bands Red Stars Theory, Sharks Keep Moving, The Blood Brothers, Death Cab for Cutie, Pedro the Lion and Sub Pop solo artist Rosie Thomas). On the production side, Votolato has worked with Matt Bayles (Pearl Jam, Botch, Murder City Devils, Hayden), along with Chris Walla (of Death Cab for Cutie). It is a creative input which has helped see Rocky progress stylistically with every release, from his low key self-titled album released in 1999 - all pretty much recorded live, right through to his recent, alt-country, folk-esque offering, Makers. A video was shot for the first track of Makers, "White Daisy Passing", a song which also appeared on an episode of the popular TV show "The OC".
Rocky also starred in the film, The Edge of Quarrel, which he worked on with Dave Larson from Excursion Records. It also includes members of the Murder City Devils and Botch, and is about a gang war between straightedgers and punk rockers where he tries to achieve peace between the two opposing groups.
He has been married to his wife April Votolato for over 10 years, and they live in Seattle with their two children.
![thumbnail from Rocky Votolato - Little Spring [LIVE]](http://i2.ytimg.com/vi/A1eQWkBflJ4/2.jpg)
