Roy was an American

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

and

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band. They were formed in 2002 in

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, Washington, Olympia, and northwest of Mount ...

Background

The group is composed of drummer

Dave Verellen Dave Verellen is an American singer. He grew up in Tacoma, Washington, and was the vocalist for the influential mathcore band Botch. He has since gone on to play drums for the folk-country band Roy with his brother Ben Verellen (of Harkonen). ...

and guitarist Brian Cook from the then recently disbanded

mathcore Mathcore is a subgenre of hardcore punk and metalcore influenced by post-hardcore, extreme metal and math rock that developed during the 1990s. Bands in the genre emphasize complex and fluctuant rhythms through the use of irregular time signatur ...

group Botch (the latter of which was also in

These Arms are Snakes These Arms Are Snakes was an American post-hardcore band that formed in 2002 and featured former members of Botch and Kill Sadie. Before disbanding in 2009, they released three studio albums: ''Oxeneers or the Lion Sleeps When Its Antelope Go Ho ...

). Roy also features Dave Verellen's brother

Ben Verellen Benjamin James Verellen is an American musician and audio engineer from Tacoma, Washington. Career Musician Verellen's first role was as bassist of the Tacoma post-hardcore/noise rock group Harkonen which formed in 1995. Harkonen released th ...

of Harkonen on guitar and bassist Mike Cooper. After independently releasing three EPs, Roy signed to

Fueled by Ramen Fueled by Ramen LLC is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by 300 Elektra Entertainment. The label, founded in Gainesville, Florida in 1996, is now based in New York City. History John Janick conceived of the lab ...

and released their

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

-produced debut studio album ''Big City Sin and Small Town Redemption'' in 2004. In support of the album, Roy toured the US with

The Weakerthans The Weakerthans are an award-winning and Juno-nominated Canadian indie rock band from Winnipeg. The band, led by John K. Samson, has released four studio albums and is currently inactive. History The band was formed in 1997 in Winnipeg, Manit ...

. The group went on a brief hiatus while Cook and Ben Verellen worked on These Arms are Snakes' debut album ''

Oxeneers or the Lion Sleeps When Its Antelope Go Home ''Oxeneers or the Lion Sleeps When Its Antelope Go Home'' is the debut album by Seattle-based post-hardcore band These Arms Are Snakes, released on September 21, 2004, on Jade Tree Records. Track listing * "Idaho" ends at 5:35. An untitled hid ...

''. Roy returned in 2006 with a second studio album titled ''Killed John Train'' that was released through

Lujo Records Lujo Records is an American independent record label that was founded in 2001 by Erik Aucoin in Louisiana. The group has been mostly inactive since its release, with the exception of a show in December 2010 in their hometown of Tacoma. In 2009, Dave Verellen noted that the members of Roy "loved that band, and we loved those songs, and we loved recording and playing together—and nobody bought the records. But that's OK. It's a tough market. I think if I would've made the mistake of trying to be in a popular band and trying to write music that I knew people would buy, I just wouldn't be happy with it."

Discography

Studio albums * ''Big City Sin and Small Town Redemption'' (2004) * ''Killed John Train'' (2006) EPs * ''The White EP'' (2002) * ''The Red EP'' (2002) * ''Tacomatose'' (2003)

References

{{Authority control Musical groups from Washington (state)