In one of my forays through the endless stream of new releases, I stumbled — by chance — upon two different songs about rodeo clowns, respectively by Emmy Woods and Havelin, both with an intriguing tragicomic feel that made me want to know more about this appealing and photogenic world. I found books, documentaries and even a Clownopedia to exist, but also lots of other tunes.*
Anyway, the first cut is the deepest, so here I share the track that sent me down this fascinating rabbit hole, one of four on the Volume 1 EP by Emmy Woods & The Red Pine Ramblers (click here for a live version). We’re talking about songwriter Emily Royer (acoustic guitar, lead vocals), with Jake Johnson (acoustic 12 string, pedal steel, electric guitar, violin, banjo, mandolin, backup vocals), Bob Delage (bass), Lydia Lecher (keyboard, backup vocals) and Brody Kucera (percussion), based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, delivering fourteen captivating minutes of alt-country immersion — let me be clear: regardless of the theme mentioned, this EP is a true gem for Americana fans.
Volume 1 is out digitally via Countricana Records. Add to wantlist: Bandcamp
*Without trying too hard, I also found recent Rodeo Clown tracks by Lightning Jar, Craig’s Brother, Dan Miraldi, Kait Warner, Nora Kelly Band, nothing,nowhere, Randy Rogers & Wade Bowen, Brad Posey, Dijon, Matt Moran and Tele Novella, but there’s much more, especially if you go further back in time (you probably think of Jack Johnson & G. Love). Interesting stuff, imho. “The way you’re shootin tequila // Like a bad cliche pop country song” sings Emmy Woods. “Making a fool of myself again // Can’t really say I’m surprised” we hear from Havelin aka Alex Zaichkowski. And so on. Although it’s often used metaphorically, I thought it would be a nice idea to sketch a substantiated picture of the psyche of rodeo clowns based on song lyrics on this subject. You guessed it, unfortunately I didn’t have the time to tackle this in a semi-scientific way (we already have too much music to write about here). Feel free to work it out yourself, or refer us to sources if this has been done before!