Rootes

FOLK-ROCK INNOVATIONS "The music beckons, invites you to sit down, listen a while, let your thoughts float. This is the innovative sound of Rootes." - Telegraph "I love it. It's the echo effect, the chanting and repeating of the same few lines in a sort of a round. It's hypnotic." - Jam Music Magazine ROOTES captures audiences with a dynamic and engaging guitar-driven mix of folk-rock compositions and inventions. Their innovative sound fuses jazz, folk, rock and world rhythms to produce award...

FOLK-ROCK INNOVATIONS "The music beckons, invites you to sit down, listen a while, let your thoughts float. This is the innovative sound of Rootes." - Telegraph "I love it. It's the echo effect, the chanting and repeating of the same few lines in a sort of a round. It's hypnotic." - Jam Music Magazine ROOTES captures audiences with a dynamic and engaging guitar-driven mix of folk-rock compositions and inventions. Their innovative sound fuses jazz, folk, rock and world rhythms to produce award-winning songs that are very moving in their energy and emotion. Songwriter, guitarist and singer, RAHEL, sings in a 'free verse" style with strong and expressive vocals supported by her masterful guitar work. JASON'S meandering bass groove safari takes you through traditional folk backwaters, to jazz, to blues and to strong currents of today's rock riffs. Drummer/percussionist, DRAE, marks the beat with a creative rhythmic force that completes the dynamic sound. LIVE performances have been met with rave reviews. "Thank you for your music. It adds a level of truth and sophistication that's unavailable otherwise." - Jan, Concertgoer "It's the most original music I've heard." - Matt, enthusiastic listener "I like the vibe you bring to the stage." - Randy, Shenanigans Music Coordinator Rahel - Guitar, Vocals, Songwriter I suppose I was destined to become a musician when my mother decided to teach me piano at age 6. By the age of 14 I had moved on to guitar and was picking up finger and strumming techniques from the vinyl recordings of James Taylor, Paul Simon, Peter, Paul and Mary, and Crosby, Stills and Nash. Shortly after, my friends and I formed our first band and wrote our first real song, “Squash That Beetle”, a ballad of a cockroach who had the misfortune of crossing our path one night during rehearsal. I left the college scene after a year. Instead I worked as a cab driver during the winter and spent the summers traveling with a friend. In the summer of '76 we traveled through Europe with $400, a tent, a camping stove, and our thumbs. We had no plans, no schedules, and no idea where we were going. We started in Amsterdam at the “Festival of Fools,” and after two weeks of outrageous clowning, mimes, theater and fabulous music we decided to go to wherever there were festivals. That summer I felt something that I had never felt before. I remember waking up one morning and, sitting quietly outside our little two-person tent, I suddenly understood what it was to feel free. I could do anything or nothing at all; I could go anywhere, everywhere or nowhere at all. I discovered the whole world opening up to me in celebration. My life has changed so much since then; I've been raising a family and the basic work of life fills my time. But I'll never forget that summer. In fact, I've never stopped thinking about it; about being free. Today I am a musician because it’s the closest path to freedom that I’ve found yet. Jason Paul - Bass Ever since I was young I have been fascinated with tattoos. I always wanted to be like my Uncle Bob, riding a Harley and being tattooed. The tattoos on my body speak to my philosophy of life. They are arranged so as to start in the depths of the underworld, rise up through the earth to the heavens, pass beyond the planets, and reach out into the universe. One of my favorites is a scene on my arm that shows a river descending from the mountains and tells the story of a woman leading lost souls up to the heavens. I think that my philosophy of life shows in my playing. I started playing guitar when I was 14. I got my first bass guitar shortly after, but always played the bass as a side instrument. I studied jazz guitar at Five Towns College in New York, but later I decided to concentrate on the bass. In some ways, I apporach the bass like a guitar, and I think that for that reason I contribute a unique sound to our music. I imagine the sounds of the bass moving from the "underworld" of heavy metal, through the "earth" of jazz, and soaring to the heavens in our more spiritually-oriented songs. Music is like a tattoo ~ it is always with you. Drae Dumont - Drums, Percussion Somewhat of an adventurer, I'm always looking for a challenge. I seem to constantly be looking around for things to stimulate this thing I have in my skull called a brain. Though if you were to have a conversation with me you just might wonder if I had one at all. I also seem to do alot of things without thinking about them first. That either leads to having a great time or getting myself into trouble. It's kinda like a balancing act of genius and stupid. It is always "those moments" in real life in which we better ourselves. I am currently on the self inflicted path of being in a lot of bands. Better yet, I'm now a part of that collectiveness again. A new void has been filled, and a new outlet for my aggressions. Great if you want to write a book about my life story. So now with all the new friends I'm making and hoping to keep in touch with I expect to see alot of you around. There will be many great adventures ahead, lifetimes of learning, and most of all...no regrets.