Rocky Votolato (born March 8, 1977 in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, United States), is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

singer-songwriter.

Biography

He was raised in Frost, Texas, roughly 50 miles south of

, until the age of 13. After his parents were divorced, his mother remarried and moved the family to the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

in 1991, where he attended

Inglemoor High School Inglemoor High School is a public high school located in Kenmore, Washington, United States. It is one of the largest high schools in the state of Washington and has an average of 30 students per teacher. As of 2017, the student population was ap ...

Kenmore, Washington Kenmore is a city in King County, Washington, United States, along the northernmost shore of Lake Washington. It is a suburban commuter town at the mouth of the Sammamish River, northeast of downtown Seattle and west of Bothell. The population ...

. Alienated by his southern roots, the isolation led him to focus 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, Votolato, along with friends

Rudy Gajadhar Gatsbys American Dream is an American indie rock band from Seattle, Washington. Since their founding in 2001, they have released four full-length albums and one EP. The band's self-titled fourth album, their second on Fearless Records, peaked ...

(drums) and Andrew Hartley (bass), started playing under the name

Waxwing The waxwings are three species of passerine birds classified in the genus ''Bombycilla''. They are pinkish-brown and pale grey with distinctive smooth plumage in which many body feathers are not individually visible, a black and white eyestripe, ...

. His younger brother

Cody Cody may refer to: People *Cody (given name) *Cody (surname) * Cody (wrestler), a ring name of Cody Runnels Places Canada * Cody, British Columbia United States * Cody, Florida * Cody (Duluth), Minnesota * Cody, Missouri * Cody, Nebraska *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 Second Nature Recordings is an independent record label based in Kansas City, Missouri. It specializes in indie rock and co-releases vinyl pressings for other labels. The label has released material by Coalesce, The Blood Brothers, Waxwing, These ...

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. By this time, the band's profile in the Seattle music scene had grown substantially, causing them to consistently sell out at local clubs like the Crocodile Cafe and The Paradox Theater. In 1999, 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 Damien Jurado is an American singer-songwriter from Seattle, Washington, United States. Over the years, he has released albums on Sub Pop, Secretly Canadian, Loose, and is currently on his own label Maraqopa Records. Music career Jurado's solo ...

Small Brown Bike Small Brown Bike is a band from Marshall, Michigan, United States that started in 1996. The trademark of Small Brown Bike is their "double vocals" backed by melodies. Their sound is often identified as being similar to other post-hardcore band ...

The Get Up Kids The Get Up Kids are an American rock band from Olathe, Kansas. Formed in 1995, the band was a major player in the mid-1990s Midwest emo scene, otherwise known as the " second wave" of emo music. Their second album ''Something to Write Home About' ...

The New Amsterdams The New Amsterdams is an American band featuring Matthew Pryor of The Get Up Kids. In a certain sense, they represented the acoustic counter-project to The Get up Kids. In contrast to The Get Up Kids, this project features acoustic guitars, the ...

Owen Owen may refer to: Origin: The name Owen is of Irish and Welsh origin. Its meanings range from noble, youthful, and well-born. Gender: Owen is historically the masculine form of the name. Popular feminine variations include Eowyn and Owena. ...

and

The Casket Lottery The Casket Lottery is an American indie rock band from Kansas City, Missouri signed to Second Nature Recordings and Big Scary Monsters. History 1997 The band started in 1997 after Nathan Ellis spent time on the road with Coalesce. He and Sta ...

, 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 Red Stars Theory is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington. History The band was formed in early-1995 when James Bertram was looking for someone to play guitar with and found Tonie Palmasani (guitar/vocals), Jeremiah Green (drums/per ...

Sharks Keep Moving Sharks Keep Moving were a short-lived Seattle rock band that formed in 1998. The band's original lineup consisted of Jake Snider (guitar/vocals), Nathan Turpen (guitar), Jeff DeGolier (bass), and Dan Dean (drums). Their music was a melodic, ofte ...

, The Blood Brothers,

Death Cab for Cutie Death Cab for Cutie is an American rock band formed in Bellingham, Washington, in 1997. The band is currently composed of Ben Gibbard (vocals, guitar, piano), Nick Harmer (bass), Dave Depper (guitar, keyboards, backing vocals), Zac Rae (keyboar ...

, and

Pedro the Lion Pedro the Lion is an American indie rock band from Seattle, Washington, United States. David Bazan formed the band in 1995 and represented its main creative force, backed by a varying rotation of collaborating musicians. In 2006 Pedro the Lion wa ...

, and

Sub Pop Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the grunge movement. They are often ...

solo artist Rosie Thomas). On the production side, Votolato has worked with

Matt Bayles Matt Bayles (born October 19, 1972) is an American record producer, Mixing engineer, mixer, Audio engineer, engineer, and musician, based in Seattle, Washington. Bayles (pronounced 'Bay-Less') is known for his work with bands such as The Classic ...

(

Pearl Jam Pearl Jam is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. The band's lineup consists of founding members Jeff Ament (bass guitar), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar), and Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, guita ...

, Botch,

Murder City Devils The Murder City Devils is an American garage rock band formed in 1996. History The band's original lineup, consisting of Spencer Moody, Dann Gallucci, Derek Fudesco, Coady Willis, and Nate Manny, formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1996. Gabe Ker ...

, Hayden) and

Chris Walla Christopher Ryan Walla (born November 2, 1975) is an American musician, record producer, and film music composer, best known for being a former guitarist and songwriter for the band Death Cab for Cutie. Musical career Early bands While at Bot ...

(of Death Cab for Cutie). It is a creative input which has helped see Votolato 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 ''The O.C. '' is an American teen drama television series created by Josh Schwartz that originally aired on the Fox network in the United States from August 5, 2003, to February 22, 2007, running a total of four seasons. "O.C." is an initiali ...

''. That same song is featured during the closing credits of the 2007 independent film Cthulhu (2007 film). Votolato 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

and Botch, and is about a gang war between straightedgers and punk rockers and his attempts 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. Their child Kienan died at age 22 in a car accident in December 2021.

Discography

Solo

*''

Rocky Votolato Rocky Votolato (born March 8, 1977 in Dallas, Texas, United States), is an American singer-songwriter. Biography He was raised in Frost, Texas, roughly 50 miles south of Dallas, until the age of 13. After his parents were divorced, his moth ...

'' (1999) (Status Recordings) *'' Rocky V/Seth Warren 7" '' (1999) (Redwood Records) *'' A Brief History'' (2000) (Your Best Guess) *'' Rocky V/Suffering & The Thieves 7"'' (2002) (

Velvet Blue Music Weave details visible on a purple-colored velvet fabric Velvet is a type of woven tufted fabric in which the cut threads are evenly distributed, with a short pile, giving it a distinctive soft feel. By extension, the word ''velvety'' means ...

) *'' Burning My Travels Clean'' (LP) (2002) (

) *'' The Light and the Sound '' (EP) (2003) (

) *'' Suicide Medicine'' (2003) (

) *'' Makers'' (2006) (

) (

Barsuk Barsuk Records ( ) is an independent record label based in Seattle, Washington, that was founded by the members of the band This Busy Monster, Christopher Possanza and Josh Rosenfeld, in 1998 to release their band's material. Its logo is a drawi ...

) *'' End Like This'' (EP) (2007) (

) *'' The Brag and Cuss'' (2007) (

) *''

True Devotion "True Devotion" is a song by English singer Samantha Fox from her eponymous second studio album (1987). It was released in December 1987 as the album's fourth single. The song was written by Lol Mason and Mark Shreeve, and produced by Steve Love ...

'' (2010) (

) *'' Television of Saints '' (2012) (Undertow Music Collective) *'' Hospital Handshakes '' (2015) (

No Sleep Records No Sleep Records is an American independent record label in Huntington Beach, California. They were founded by Chris Hansen in 2006 and have released records by artists including Balance and Composure, La Dispute (band), La Dispute, and The Wonde ...

) *'' Live at Black Belt '' (2017) (Rocket Heart Records) *'' Wild Roots '' (2022) (Spartan Records)

Waxwing

*''Waxwing 7"'' (1999) (Henry's Finest Recordings) *''For Madmen Only'' (1999) (

) *''One for the Ride'' (2000) (

) *''Intervention:Collection+Remix'' (2001) (

) *''Nobody Can Take What Everybody Owns'' (2002) (

)

Lying On Loot

*''Split 7" with State Route 522'' (1996) (Henry's Finest Recordings)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Votolato, Rocky American rock songwriters American rock guitarists American folk guitarists American male guitarists Musicians from Seattle Singers from Washington (state) 1977 births Living people People from Navarro County, Texas American indie rock musicians Songwriters from Texas Songwriters from Washington (state) Barsuk Records artists Guitarists from Washington (state) Guitarists from Texas 21st-century American singers 21st-century American guitarists 21st-century American male singers No Sleep Records artists American male songwriters Defiance Records artists