The Blushin' Roulettes hail from Mendocino county, California. This folksy twang gang delivers old-timey tunes with a modern twist deeply rooted in feminine perspective.
Songwriter/guitarist
Angela Rose belts her sweet and sultry tunes of damsels in their bliss and distress in a warbling vibrato often compared to Iris Dement and Dolly Parton.
Kate Stone holds down the low end plucking and bowing her cello and adding smooth vocal harmonies.
Add to this the tasty guitar licks of the legendary
Buddy Stubbs (who has shared the stage with Neil Young and the Byrds), the chugga lugga rhythms of not-so-little-drummer boy
Jubal Stedman, and the soulful touch of
Luke Stone (brother to Kate) on them ticklish ivories and you have the sound that engineer Calvin Turnbull (Old School Studios) captured on the
Roulettes debut
March Sketch.
Originally intended as a demo for Angela and Kate to peddle on their Spring 2006 tour of the northeastern US, this collection of 10 mostly live tracks earned the
Roulettes enough love to convince them to re-release
March Sketch as their official debut.
Their next release,
Took to the Country (scheduled for summer 2009) reflects the growth of the band with
Cas Sochacki on lap steel, jawharp, and salty baritone duets and highlights the swanky harmonies of special guest star
Gwyn Moreland (of <a href='http://www.foxgloveonline.com/'>Foxglove</a>).
The
Roulettes are part of a blossoming west coast crop of bands you could call "California Country" -- from Humboldt bluegrass boys the <a href='http://www.thebuckywaltersmusic.com/'>Bucky Walters</a> to <a href='http://www.gwynethmoreland.com/'>Gwyn Moreland</a>'s dark country ballads to rugged rags of the <a href='http://www.myspace.com/thekerosenekondors'>Kerosene Kondors</a>. This small town scene of shared backdrop (and band members) makes for a cross-pollination that has heavily inspired the
Roulettes to twang and bang and shake their thangs.
