"You guys are really good." -- Larry Trask, KHUM
This coming Saturday, the 23rd, you can catch Angela Rose and Cas Sochacki, at Lauren's Café in Boonville (9 P.M, $5.) The wisecracking, bantering couple regularly play and sing with a larger ensemble of musicians known as The Blushin' Roulettes, whose act you may have caught anywhere from San Francisco's the Make Out Room, to local roadhouse The Caspar Inn, or even this past summer's Kate Wolf Festival. They are also a favorite amongst DJ's on KZYX, KMFB, KOZT and KHUM and are kept in regular rotation. Of late, Angie and Cas have been working on a forthcoming EP of duets called The Day Pigs Fly, whose material will be largely showcased Saturday night. Their musical style is deeply rooted in the American traditions of folk and Bluegrass, which rings true to their geographic origins: Angela being from
Ohio originally, Cas from Kentucky.
Like so many great couples in history, Cas and Angie appear to be each other's foil. Where Angie stands barely five feet tall, Cas breaks six feet, easy. Angie's clarion vibrato has earned her voice comparison to country greats Dolly Parton and Iris Dement. Cas's molasses baritone puts him closer to Johnny Cash. With her Old World beauty: large hazel eyes and wavy brown hair, Angela Rose's stage presence is both affable and day dreamy. Mr. Sochacki on the other hand, not just tall, but dark and handsome to boot, is a man of few words: he has a sardonic sense of humor, his delivery deadpan. On stage, as in life, the two play off of these differences beautifully, comically. As important as their differences is what they do share in a common: a life together living on Cas's family farm and a rare knack for writing songs that are at once poignant and clever. Songs like "The Day Pigs Fly" and "Ramblin' Gamblin'" are written with an affectionate, tongue-in-cheek
take on relationships.
Cas and Angie don't just sing about country living: they embody it. In previous years Cas's family run and owned Old Mill Farm has provided locally grown organic produce and meats to Mendocino Farmer's markets and restaurants. Old Mill farm has also hosted many Sustainable Living workshops on everything from straw bale housing to homespun yarn. Angela Rose says that living and working in such close proximity to each other, as they have for the last few years, has provided them with a wealth of material for their songs. "Oh you bet. We're miles from town, so there are plenty of days where we're the only person the other sees. After the chores are done there's really only so much talking you can do! But we've set up a studio in the living room and that's made it easy for us to just sit down and write. . .
work out new songs," says Angela Rose.
With Angela Rose on acoustic guitar, Cas Sochacki on Dobro slide guitar, and Mike "Lupe" Luparello on bass: Saturday night, January 23, 2010 should prove to be an intimate and entertaining
evening at Lauren's Café.
By Monica Krauth, April 2009
The Ukiah Daily Journal
It might sound like a bad soap opera. Women are left alone and pregnant. They murder their lovers and commit suicide. They run away. But such are actually common themes of the songs sung by Mendocino Coast's Blushin' Roulettes. They truly are hauntingly beautiful, sometimes tragic and often quite funny.
The band is comprised of Angela Rose on guitar and vocals, Kate Stone on cello and vocals, Buddy Stubbs on lead guitar, Cas Sochacki on dobro and vocals, Jubal Stedman on drums and Luke Stone on Piano.
On stage their mixture of California country and twang coupled with an eerie, yet, sexy stage presence has earned them a
steady and ever-increasing following.
On April 11, The Blushin' Roulettes, along with special guest singer Gwyneth Moreland, celebrated the unveiling of a new CD titled "Took to the Country" at the Mendocino Hotel - a perfect venue offering an Old West ambiance surrounding the rootsy, sultry group. The Roulettes are now looking to take more of California under their coast-sewn spell. While the band has been evolving for four years, they're just
branching out of their little area.
"Took to the Country", an album of self-discovery and growth is infused with sensuous lyrics about women in their rapture and grief. Unlike their debut album "March Sketch," which has more up beat songs, "Took to the Country" is more mellow. "We went in the studio and recorded (March Sketch) with the intention of touring the eastern U.S. "We were rushing to finish. . . maybe part of the poppiness was
the energy of doing it totally live."
"Took to the Country", on the other hand, took three years to complete.
The latest is a collection of songs that speak of the human condition of love and love lost. The album's lyrics reach past gender towards
what it means to be a person.
The Blushin' Roulettes band has gone through a few incarnations in the last few years. The band started out as an all girl band with Rose, Stone, and Moreland in addition to two other women: Jennie Stevens of Caspar on drums and Carey Lamprecht of San Francisco on fiddle. Now with their "dear men," the songs still come from the
core of a woman's perspective.
Take for example, "Look Away," an unforgettable song sung by Rose and Stone who talk about a cheating man who has given himself to both women. The two schedule a meeting underneath the weeping willow tree and plan to "bury deep this dagger into his sleeping chest." Talk about the bond of women here! But not all of the Roulettes' lyrics are this spooky and spiteful. The humorous song, "The Day Pigs Fly" sung by Rose and her dobro playing beau Cas Sochacki, goes back and forth with a little flirtatious name calling "You're a fully loaded, off-roadin' pedal pushin' man" and literal cat calls "(You're) as frisky as a kitten" . . . "Meow, meow, meow" And, the song ends sweetly
with the two in harmony:
"I checked your credit, darlin', and it done went through
And the day pigs fly is the day I'll die or walk away from you."
The Blushin' Roulettes are coming to Ukiah on Friday, May 15, 2009 to perform at the Saturday Afternoon Club with other local groups as part of a benefit for Casey Eldredge who is battling cancer.
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Articles Featuring The Blushin' Roulettes
