Rodeo Mouth is a self-described acid americana band. Frontman and principal songwriter Paul Howard also portrays the outfit as gonzo alt-country rock and rollers. And he has also tried this one on for size: “If Bob Dylan, Warren Zevon, and Roger Miller got into a back-alley fist fight, and the collective pools of blood morphed into a being of its own, it might just be… you guessed it, Rodeo Mouth.”
They currently live in Nashville, and the majority of the band are originally from Upstate New York. They have been based in Tennessee and playing music in various projects for about a decade. Emmett Rozelle (lead guitar, banjitar) and Anthony Fili (bass) appear in the AUK mini-gig with Howard, who noted, “We are currently onboarding a new drummer.” Howard is the one playing his trusty Guild D-240E acoustic guitar in the video, recorded in his Nashville living room.
The first two songs heard in the video are singles from Rodeo Mouth’s upcoming debut album. It has been upcoming for a while, and we can hardly wait to pop it in the Walkman and give it a spin.
Howard has provided a little synopsis of the three songs the band performs. You can hear the originals and find out when that debut album is arriving and more at the following links: Spotify for streamers, linktree and the band’s website. Whatever they call their brand of music, we think you’ll enjoy it.
“Fanny’s Farmhouse” – This song – our November single – is ultimately about good old-fashioned rural diner hospitality, but with some slightly darker, David Lynchian undertones. Regardless, it’s the kind of place that always stays in business and is there for weary travellers, as each passing chorus adds a decade to its lore, spanning from 25 years to 95 years: 95 years at the same address / You’re family, you’re a friend / You ain’t no strange guest. Special guests on the studio version include Taylor Shuck (Hackensaw Boys, The War and Treaty) on banjo, and Nashville fiddle maestro Marie McGlone.
“Leaving For Phoenix” – This track is our latest single, and is in fact autobiographical for me (lead singer and songwriter Paul Howard), as I spent a solo month on the road between Nashville and LA writing songs and essentially living on the road in 2019. I woke up with the chorus and melody in my head while staying at an Airbnb in Pico Rivera on July 4th, and shortly after I picked up my guitar, a small earthquake shook the bed, which finds its way into the song. With a fade-in train beat and pedal steel on the studio version, the rollicking track ultimately signifies that of a new dawn, and taps into the age-old tale of a road-worn traveller just trying to get home to keep singing his songs. Delivering an epic pedal steel guitar performance on the single is Nashville mainstay Van Coffey, who performed with the late great George Jones the last few years of his life, along with The Bellamy Brothers and Collin Raye.
“There’s a Boot in My Wallet”- This is an unreleased song, and a bit of a thinker. It’s ultimately about being out too late at the bars after a night of indulging in possibly more than just booze, and developing a cocktail of mixed emotions as the night progresses, and frankly, a mild psychosis. It’s the kind of non-sensical phrase you might hear a street drunkard utter and not know what they mean. It’s written with a specific bar in mind that I would frequent called Mickey’s in East Nashville, where I’ve spent many a tipsy night. It’s a slow burn, sleepy bluesy cowboy number, and gets heavier instrumentally when played live, and on the unreleased studio version, which will be on our debut album.
