Roll The Bones X, the special edition reissue celebrating the 10th anniversary of Shakey Graves’ breakout debut album Roll The Bones, is set for release on April 2 via Dualtone Records. Originally released in 2011 exclusively on Bandcamp, the forthcoming double LP release will now be available on all digital service providers for the first time. Shakey Graves is much loved by Australian audiences, and appeared at Bluesfest in 2016 and 2019.
In celebration of the upcoming reissue, the title track “Roll The Bones” is available now, which is accompanied by a video directed by front-man Alejandro Rose-Garcia. Fans can pre-save Roll The Bones X HERE and pre-order the deluxe vinyl reissue HERE.
Shakey Graves brainchild Rose-Garcia released Roll The Bones on Bandcamp in 2011 without any promotion and little to no information about Shakey Graves. That year, Bandcamp made it a featured album for a month and from there it has stayed among the website’s top selling records. Over the past decade the record has gone on to sell well over 100,000 units—despite being offered to fans on Bandcamp for “name your price”—and as a result Shakey Graves has garnered a massive cult following. “If you discover something for yourself, it will always hold more water because it’s tied to memory and coincidence,” Rose-Garcia says of embracing the direct-to-fan platform. “It gives you a sense of ownership as a listener.”
Accompanying the anniversary pressing are 15 additional tracks comprising an Odds + Ends LP, which stands as an essential document of Shakey Graves’ early era. Highlights include deep cuts, such as the first ever true recording of “Late July,” a version that’s drastically different than the live rendition that’s generated over 14 million views on YouTube.
Shakey Graves Day was established on February 9, 2012 by Austin, TX Mayor Steve Adler. Over the years, Rose-Garcia has used the day as an occasion to stage intimate pop-up shows and open up the attics of his discography, making the entire Shakey Graves catalog, plus hundreds of other unreleased songs, available for free on Bandcamp for 72 hours.
“I’ve used ‘Shakey Graves Day’ as a challenge to myself. I make so many random songs throughout the year that I either forget about or I’m too nervous to put on an album, and it becomes a clearinghouse for that. It surprises me when people tell me that something released that day is their favorite of my stuff. In a larger sense it builds off what I initially did with Roll The Bones, which is give it away for free.”
With Roll The Bones X, Rose-Garcia believes the release of his early output will provide some needed framing for his discography. It’s his genesis story, before he had the studio time to make his 2014 Dualtone Records debut full-length And the War Came or the full-band cohesion to create 2018’s Can’t Wake Up. To him, it’s a scrappy effort, but the most intentional work he’s ever produced. A decade later, he wouldn’t change a thing. “It’s a record that sounds like my years of exploration and influence, funneled through my abilities at the time—and it all became something bigger,” he muses.
Shakey Graves has sold over 400,000 records to date, while garnering over 325 million streams worldwide. In 2014, following the release of And The War Came, Shakey Graves won an Americana Music Award for “Emerging Artist of the Year” and the album’s hit single “Dearly Departed” sold over 500,000 units in North America alone. The 2018 full-band follow up Can’t Wake Up was released to critical acclaim and Shakey Graves continued to tour relentlessly, including prestigious festival appearances both stateside and abroad. Not even the pandemic could pause Rose-Garcia’s penchant to create. In 2020 he released the Look Alive EP to coincide with an ongoing documentary/music video project “Hello Gorgeous,” inspired by the name of his studio. Originally a solo music project, Shakey Graves now features a rotating cast of band members with varying setups and iterations.Additional information on Roll The Bones X can be found HERE.
ROLL THE BONES X (TEN YEAR ANNIVERSARY) TRACK LISTDISC 1 (Roll The Bones)
1 Unlucky Skin
2 Built To Roam
3 Roll The Bones
4 I’m On Fire
5 Georgia Moon
6 Business Lunch
7 City In A Bottle (Live @ 2023)
8 Proper Fence
9 The Seal Hunter
10 To Cure What Ails
DISC 2 (Odds + Ends)
1 Years Ago (Interlude)
2 Chinatown
3 Oh The Reign
4 The Night (Interlude)
5 Dusty Lion
6 Word Of Mouth (Early Version) [featuring Isaac Gillespie]
7 The Haunted Guitar (Interlude)
8 Late July (Early Version)
9 The Daily All
10 Pansy Waltz (Demo)
11 Lonely Hill (Alt-Version)
12 The Teacher (Interlude)
13 Saving Face (Early Version Of Roll The Bones)
14 Bully’s Lament (featuring Isaac Gillespie & Morgan Heringer)
15 The Shepherd (Interlude)
ROLL THE BONES X (TEN YEAR ANNIVERSARY) IS OUT APRIL 2 2021