Friday, February 26, 2010

I’m back after a short break at PopMatters

My first interview for them ran this week. It was with Rocky Votolato, the Seattle-area punk rocker turned singer-songwriter and his latest album True Devotion. I’m sort of pleased with the way it came out and am cautiously optimistic about doing a few more of these things for PM.

Here’s a bit:

“Lucky Clover Coin,” the song that opens Rocky Votolato’s sixth solo full-length, is a man’s conversation with his young son: an apology, an explanation, a bittersweet request for understanding from someone who
almost left for good, as a suicide. It’s lush and lovely with strings,
courtesy of Votolato’s friend Casey Foubert, yet also charged with effort and heavy with personal stakes. A story, certainly, but also a slice of Votolato’s life in the last few years, as he battled severe depression after his last solo album The Brag & Cuss and finally won through.

“I’ve been dealing with depression my whole life and not really knowing
it,” said Votolato in a recent phone interview. “I didn’t really know how sick I was.”


The rest

“Red River”

4 comments:

Derek Sunshine said...

I really liked that article. I played Red River on my show last week and will probably pick up the CD.

Kudos to you, JK.

jenniferpkelly said...

Thanks Jack. I've got one with Eluvium coming up that I think will be even better.

Ian said...

I read that one, enjoyed it thoroughly, and didn't notice your byline. Looking forward to that Eluvium one - the new album is quite good, isn't it?

jenniferpkelly said...

Hah, Ian, I toil in obscurity, eh? Glad you liked it and yes, Eluvium, very, very nice. I'm a latecomer. Have you been a fan for a while?