Rocky Votolato

Rocky Votolato has had an interesting career arc. The Seattle-based singer-songwriter (older brother to Cody Votolato of the Blood Brothers and Jaguar Love) cut his teeth at the turn of the century in Waxwing, a beloved but criminally obscure post-hardcore outfit. That band featured Cody Votolato and drummer Rudy Gajadhar, who went on to be in Gatsbys American Dream (and who himself is the older brother of Mark Gajadhar of the Blood Brothers and Past Lives). As you can see, the Seattle emo and hardcore scene was more than a little incestuous back then, so the elder Votolato branched out into folk material concurrent with his tenure in Waxwing. Similar to how Chris Carrabba's acoustic project, Dashboard Confessional, ended up taking precedence over his main band, Further Seems Forever, Votolato's priorities shifted. Now that he's an accomplished solo artist (his sixth full-length, True Devotion, drew critical acclaim when it was released in February), Waxwing has become just a footnote in a career blessed with gorgeous acoustic folk songs. Download "Mix Tapes/Cellmates" stat.