American Americana musician
Shakey Graves |
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 Shakey Graves performs at the Longhorn City Limits stage in 2021 |
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| Birth name | Alejandro Rose-Garcia |
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| Born | (1987-06-04) June 4, 1987 (age 36)
Austin, Texas |
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| Genres | Americana |
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| Occupation(s) | Musician, singer |
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| Instrument(s) | Guitar |
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| Years active | 2007–present |
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| Labels | Dualtone |
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| Website | shakeygraves.com |
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Musical artist
Shakey Graves (born Alejandro Rose-Garcia; June 4, 1987) is an American musician and actor from Austin, Texas.[1]
His music combines blues, folk, country, and rock and roll. Rose-Garcia received his stage name at Old Settler's Music Festival in 2007 after a stranger, apparently high on LSD, rambled "spooky wagons". Then he and his friends jokingly gave each other Native American guide names over a campfire. After an inspired night of playing music, he decided to keep the name.[2]
Career
Before being known as Shakey Graves, Rose-Garcia had acting roles in Friday Night Lights and the Spy Kids franchise.[3]
Shakey Graves became known for his one-man band set up and most of his 2011 self-released debut album Roll the Bones features him playing solo.[4] This set up originated after he grew tired of having to borrow kick drums and high hats in order to perform. His solution consisted of a modified suitcase that functions as both a kick drum and a tambourine stand built by a close friend.
His unique style of performance led to him being asked to be the official “busker” for the Edward Sharpe and Mumford & Sons Railroad Revival Tour in 2011, where he played music for patrons entering each venue. His follow-up EP The Donor Blues was released in 2012, and features a collection of recordings from 2009.[5]
After being courted by multiple labels, Shakey Graves signed with Dualtone Records.[6] When he began working on the album, he added other musicians to his recording process and live set, including multi-instrumentalists Patrick O'Connor, Jon Shaw, and Chris Boosahda, who produced the album. Three of the songs, including "Dearly Departed", were co-written by Esmé Patterson, and Patterson additionally appeared on the album as the featured artist on the studio recordings of all songs she co-wrote for the album.[7] The album, titled And the War Came, was released on October 7, 2014.
Shakey Graves then began touring as a three-piece band. The band made their television debut on October 14, 2014 with Esmé Patterson, on Conan,[8] and then appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman, performing "Dearly Departed" with the song's co-writer Esmé Patterson.[9] The band performed their next single, "The Perfect Parts", on Late Night with Seth Meyers.[4] On May 6, 2015, the band performed on Austin City Limits.[10] In December of 2015, the band appeared on the highly regarded Tiny Desk Concert by NPR Music, performing select songs from And the War Came.
In September 2015, Shakey Graves won the Best Emerging Artist award at the 2015 Americana Music Awards.[11]
On February 9, 2012, Lee Leffingwell, the Mayor of Austin at the time, proclaimed a "Shakey Graves Day".[12] Every year on February 9 through the 11th, Shakey Graves offers all of his music, including unreleased albums such as The State of Texas vs. Alejandro Rose-Garcia, Story of My Life, As Per Request, and West of Calgary on Bandcamp for pay-what-you-want prices.[13] Exclusive merchandise and content is also created and released with each Shakey Graves Day. A portion of the proceeds made from sales through Bandcamp and the Shakey Graves Day concerts are donated to a charity of Shakey Graves choice. [14]
On June 30, 2017, the band released The Donor Blues and Nobody's Fool as a collection titled Shakey Graves and the Horse He Rode In On on vinyl and streaming services under the Dualtone label.[15]
Shakey Graves released their third studio album, Can't Wake Up, on May 4, 2018, on Dualtone Records.[16][needs update] On May 8, 2020, Shakey Graves released the Look Alive EP.
On April 2, 2021, Shakey Graves re-released his debut album Roll the Bones on Dualtone Records for its 10-year anniversary. The album was originally self-released on CD-R. Entitled Roll the Bones X, the re-release includes additional songs not included on the original.[17] The album reached number 136 on the US Billboard 200.[18]
On May 31, 2022, Shakey Graves appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! performing "This Town" with Trixie Mattel.[19]
On February 9, 2023, Shakey Graves released Deadstock - A Shakey Graves Day Anthology, an "anthology" of previously unreleased material. On September 15, 2023, Shakey Graves released Movie of the Week through Dualtone.
