When we put out “Roll the Bones” as a single, people kept being like, “Wow! Cool remix, but I really prefer the original.” The first version of “Roll the Bones” people usually hear is the live Audiotree version, so it’s a pretty common thing to hear. My time of being so precious with it has run its course. Now, I want more people to be able to hear it if they want to.
That was a pretty stubborn point I had, but I feel like I got to hold my ground with that. It wasn’t on any digital streaming platforms. Rose-Garcia: It’s been really important to me that I put the record out for pay-what-you-want just on Bandcamp for all these years. What inspired you to release Roll the Bones in this new, wider way - and with so much additional material alongside it?
BGS caught up with Rose-Garcia to talk about the impact of this release on his development as an artist, how the songs’ meanings have evolved (or not) over the years, and his most cherished online feedback.īGS: This album has been available for years on Bandcamp. This month, millions of new listeners have the opportunity to share that secret as Roll the Bones X, a re-issue of those original recordings, hit streaming services and sees a proper vinyl release complete with the bonus companion LP Odds & Ends, a 15-track collection of previously unheard Shakey Graves material from the same era. That’s our secret we share: me as someone who made it, and you as someone who found it.’” “Anyone who’s like, ‘Man, I just love that first record so much,’ I’m always like, ‘Me too! We have that in common. “I always had the backs of the people who had the back of this record,” says Rose-Garcia. Still, until recently, Roll the Bones remained available only as a pay-what-you-want release on Bandcamp, its recognition a de facto litmus test for Shakey Graves superfans even as it’s sold more than 100,000 downloads. In the decade since Roll the Bones’ quiet release, Shakey Graves emerged from the shadows, releasing two full-length albums via Dualtone Records as he built a strong live-performance resume, first as a charismatic busker and later as top billing on festival stages around the world. The album’s no-frills, garage-folk sound attracted a loyal following, varying between down-tempo, ominous poetry about hunting seals in Alaska lighter, more carefree numbers about driving through Appalachia and even the lone cover song, an edgy take on a Springsteen classic. It didn’t say whether I was a band or a solo artist. “All it said was Shakey Graves is a gentleman from Texas. “When I first snuck this record out, it was just a photo of me with a cow head,” recalls Rose-Garcia of his self-released 2011 debut, Roll the Bones. The very first fans to discover Alejandro Rose-Garcia - the musical mind behind the moniker Shakey Graves - admittedly didn’t have much information to go on.