Shakey Graves is the performing name of Alejandro Rose-Garcia, a singer-songwriter from Austin, Texas, born in 1987. He works as a one-man-band, combining blues and folk with a lo-fi approach and using hollow-body guitar, a mildly distorted amplifier and a suitcase drum setup. He fingerpicks guitar while keeping time with a double-pedal kick drum, plays a snare fitted into the suitcase drum, and adds a tambourine attached to it.

Style and performance

His songs mix gritty vocals with old-time Western imagery, and his voice is described as ranging from rough growls to quieter passages. The material often deals with personal challenges, framed through folk and Americana-influenced storytelling. On stage, he presents a fuller sound than a typical solo performer through his layered percussion and guitar playing.

Recordings and releases

His first full-length album, Roll the Bones, is self-released and shows a more mellow, acoustic side of his work, with him appearing more as a lo-fi singer-songwriter than in his louder live performances. The album is part of his early development as a recording artist.

Career and associations

Rose-Garcia is the son of artistic parents: his father manages the Paramount Theatre, and his mother is an actress, director and writer. He grows up around creative communities and later connects with music scenes in New York, Los Angeles and Austin. In Austin, he works alongside musicians and indie bands including Marmalakes, the Sour Notes, Wild Child, Hello Wheels and Whiskey Shivers, with a shared emphasis on hard work rather than a single common style.

Notable appearances

Roll the Bones leads to his role as the official busker on the Railroad Revival Tour, alongside Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, Mumford & Sons and Old Crow Medicine Show. He is also among the first acts confirmed for South by Southwest 2013 and is booked for Utopia Fest in West Texas and Pickathon in Portland, Oregon.

Labels and genres

His music is associated with Dead Pawn and spans alternative country, alternative rock, Americana and indie rock, as well as folk, lo-fi, singer-songwriter and indie folk material.