originally published: 09/04/2022
Seattle-based indie-folk hero Rocky Votolato has unveiled "Becoming Human" the next single off of Wild Roots - his first album in over 7 years-- which will be released on September 9 via Spartan Records and Thirty Something Records (Europe/UK).
Of the song, Rocky explains, “What to say about Becoming Human now… It’s probably the most meaningful song I’ve ever written or will ever write in my life. I wrote it for my child Kienan who passed away in a car accident last year. I do take comfort in the fact that they were able to hear it before they died and told me how much they loved it. It’s a posthumous love letter in it’s release. It’s for the world now.”
An intimate concept album inspired by and written for his family, each song on Wild Roots is a letter dedicated to a specific family member and focused on a special memory or moment in time.
Wild Roots was produced, engineered, and mixed by Votolato himself and features a stellar lineup of musicians whose contributions perfectly compliment the delicate nature of these songs --- Abby Gundersen (William Fitzsimmons) on piano, string arrangements, and vocal harmonies, James McAllister (Sufjan Stevens, The National) on drums and percussion, Phil Wandscher (Whiskeytown, Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter) on electric guitar, and Marcel Gein (Perry O’Parson) on electric guitar.
The production on Wild Roots is hushed, handcrafted, and warm — an intimate and personal experience that brings the nature of Votolato’s storytelling to life in very authentic and genuine ways. The record is a deliberate construction of his conceptual vision and new phase of his recording career.
In many ways, Wild Roots is not only a break in silence for Votolato, but the opening of a new chapter — one that feels laser-focused on what really matters in life. Whether discovering Votolato for the first time or adding another record to your collection, Wild Roots resonates on the most simple and important human levels — a sharing of experience that encourages us to keep believing in ourselves and in the magic of this life, no matter how harsh and difficult it can be.
Upcoming shows:
9/7 Bellingham, WA
9/8 Whidbey Island, WA
9/9 Vashon, WA
9/10 Port Orchard, WA
9/11 Olympia, WA
10/13 Joshua Tree, CA
10/14 Buena Park, CA
10/15 Los Angeles, CA
10/16 San Diego, CA
10/19 Thousand Oaks, CA
10/20 Santa Barbara, CA
10/21 Oakland, CA
10/22 Berkeley, CA
10/23 Petaluma, CA
11/3 - Tacoma, WA @ ALMA
11/4 - Portland, OR @ Polaris Hall
11/5 - Seattle, WA @ Tractor Tavern
Photo by April Votolato
COLUMNS
Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...10/16/25
"I've been in show business for about 400 years, playing guitar since a teen in bands and toured a lot, pretty much all of my life. So, I've always taken photos on trips and it has gotten a little more serious on these past few tours over the years; it's like my diary in a way. It helps me remember what I've seen and there is always a story behind one of them, it's just my little snapshots of weird things I come across."
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