The Colorado music at SXSW train keeps a rollin’! Download a track from , who will be playing the official SXSW showcase as well as the .
When singer-songwriter Bekah Wagner was but a wee tike, her family would call her Bekah Roo, which she has resurrected for her band name. But the band bio is quick to point out that “roo” is also Old English for “quiet,” striking a contrast with “howl” that is telling of the tensions in Roo & The Howl music. As in, the music is a quiet howl.
This tension, however, is only one aspect of the contrasts at work in Roo & The Howl’s music. For one, sometimes being quiet is a lot more intense than being loud. For instance, think of moments in movies where the antagonist whispers into the protagonists ear. That triggers a different, yet no less vivid and powerful, emotional response than screaming. Bekah Wagner’s voice on the band’s debut EP is often just above a whisper, and the intimacy combined with depth of emotions is much more intense than if she belted it out.
The other obvious contrast in the music is the stark beauty of Wagner’s voice. It’s lush and vulnerable without being precious. And she uses this loveliness to convey sorrow. Not boo-hoo, poor me in a sad bastardy kind of way, but a kind of sadness where you want to dwell in it. It’s the kind of melancholy that inspired Kurt Cobain to sing “I miss the comfort in being sad.”
All this quiet intensity and beautiful sorrow is rounded out with folk-inspired Americana rock band that avoids novelty while breathing new life into a well-tread sound. Download the band’s single “To the River” below, but also check out a killer cover of Father John Misty’s “Fun Times in Babylon.”
Roo & The Howl are playing five shows in Austin for SXSW, including the Colorado Music Party at 1:25pm on March 14.
Please note that downloads offered via Steal This Track are intended to whet your appetite, and are NOT CD-quality recordings. If you want those, please support the artists by buying their music and/or seeing them live.
If you’re a band or musician ready to expose your fresh sounds to the readers of Reverb, email your tracks — along with any interesting facts about them, as well as a photo or album art — to Steal This Track for consideration.
Josh Johnson is a Denver freelance writer and Reverb contributor. He is also a co-host/co-producer of the Denver podcast . He’s also a journeyman butcher. Seriously.
