Photo by Aloha Burn
Manette, WA’s Alessandra Rose is blessed with a voice that will stop you in your tracks; bright as a brass bell and tinged with the warm glow of whiskey and woodsmoke. An instrument of penetrating grace, it is resonant, radiant, and absolutely hair-raising. Her expansive, psych-tinged rock & roll record RODEOMOTHH wraps that voice in waves of organ, shimmering chords, and thundering percussion. Taken as a whole, it is a work of ravishing, undeniable power and grace.
RODEOMOTHH came to the world out of undeniable artistic necessity. When the world shut down Rose found solace in her home studio, determined to write the songs that had been building in her subconscious for the past decade. Within a couple months it was time to make a record.
Thematically, the secret to RODEOMOTHH is hidden in its name. “It’s an anagram of motherhood” explains Rose. “Every song tells a part of my journey of being a mother.” Regardless of gender or parental status, these songs of unrestrained loving, free of consequence, speak to the soul. Indeed, the tales of falling in love and the work it takes to maintain that, of the pure joy of new life and the tearing sadness of life lost, are deeply, universally, human.
Taken as a whole, RODEOMOTHH is a masterwork forged in the crucible of West Coast Rock & Roll. A heavyweight of a record, both intentional and exceptional is arrangement and execution, and ready to take its place in the canon of iconic recordings.
Although this cover of “Wild Horses” is not featured on the record, it is inexorably linked with RODEOMOTHH. Rose had opened for Duff McKagan at an event in Seattle, and his encouragement that night helped convince her to record the album. A mutual friend suggested they come together once again for this cover, and with an all-star group of Seattle musicians that’s just what they did.
In addition to Rose, it features Duff McKagan (Guns N’ Roses) on bass, drummer Michael Musburger (The Posies), Jason Staczek (Mark Lanegan) on organ and piano, and Tim Dijulio (Stereo Embers) on electric guitar. It was Produced, Engineered and Mixed by Martin Feveyear (Kings of Leon, Brandi Carlile)
Follow Alessandra Rose on Instagram, Bandcamp and her official website.
