Over the last year-ish, I’ve had the chance to talk to Rocky Votolato three times. Each time I hang up, my first thought is, “Wow, what a nice guy.”
Call number three was no exception.
His new album, on the other hand, is quite exceptional. Check out the tune “Little Spring” here.
Here’s my latest write-up.
Rocky Votolato is feeling better. Much better.
Over his long and impressive career as a singer/songwriter, Votolato has had his share of personal peaks and valleys. But when it came time to write 2010’s “True Devotion,” he was pretty much at rock bottom.
“I always want my writing to reflect where I’m at in my life,” he says. “With ‘True Devotion,’ I was in a really dark place. I was struggling with some really personal, existential issues. On this one, I feel like I’ve sorted a lot of that out.”
“This one” is his new album, “Television of Saints.” From the first notes of the record, it’s easy to hear that Votolato is in a different headspace. “There’s a lighter feeling to this album overall. It’s not as heavy as the last album,” he says. “There’s still an element of struggle and darkness within the songs, but it’s more from a narrative perspective.”
Though the record is not as heavy, “Television” is just as weighty. The songs flow together joyously and effortless, creating the most instantly engaging collection of Votolato’s career.
He says the album title draws a phrase coined in the 1930s, referring to how the newly invented television had such a power to bring people together. Through the record isn’t about TV, it is about how we are all connected in some way. Votolato says he was heavily inspired by his connection to friends and family when he wrote the album.
So it was only fitting that he reach out to those same folks to help him make the album. His brothers Sonny and Cody both played on the record.
“This is the first time I’ve had both of my brothers on an album. That was a really cool experience. I’ve been wanting to do it for a long time,” Votolato says.
Having finished out his contract with indie label Barsuk, Votolato decided to turn to his friends and fans to help him fund the record. Through the website Kickstarter, he was able to raise $40,000 (more than double what
he had asked for) in just 30 days.
“I’m really, really grateful to all of my fans for all of that,” he says. “It allowed me more freedom and more control creatively. I got to the make the record I wanted to make. And I didn’t have to go into severe debt to do it, which is what I would have been facing if I hadn’t done Kickstarter.”
Inexchange for their donations, fans were treated to a wide range of collectors items, from t-shirts hand-screenprinted by Votolato’s wife to paintings made by his son. For the fan who donated $2,500, Votolato promised a private concert anywhere in the U.S. or Europe.
“Most everything has worked out really well and is pretty close to being finished now. It’s been a ton of work, but I think well worth it,” he says. There was one small problem, though.
“I had 128 hand-written lyric sheets to do and I kind of sprained my neck because I was writing so many of them without taking a break,” he says with a laugh.
Despite the full-band feel of the “Television of Saints,” Votolato will again tour as a solo act. “I like to play alone,” he says. “I like to keep the shows simple. On the records I’m most pleased with, I’ve followed the philosophy of ‘less is more.’ It makes things more intimate. I think that’s what I’m best at, so that’s what I’m bringing to the shows.”
