If Bob Dylan, Warren Zevon, and Roger Miller got into a back alley fist fight and the collective pools of blood morphed into a being of its own, it might just be Rodeo Mouth.
Rodeo Mouth is an eclectic folk & alt-country rock n’ roll band based out of Nashville, Tennessee, consisting of songwriter Paul Howard (vocals, rhythm guitar), Emmett Rozelle (lead guitar), Anthony Fili (bass), and Zach D’Amico (drums). What started out as Howard reclusively writing off-color folk songs and occasionally playing out as a solo performer would eventually evolve into wrangling old friends from home in Upstate New York (that have been living in Nashville) to join in on the fun.
While writing songs and playing out has always been a passion of Howard’s, he found himself in the throes of other full-time creative endeavors that pulled him away from pursuing his own music fully. The first being his nonfiction humor travel book, Vagrants in Paradise, which he spent 3+ years writing and eventually published in 2016. In 2017, he started the Nashville-based music blog, Music Mecca.
His ceaseless work in the music writing world and the supporting of others would connect him to a vast network of artists and industry heads in Nashville and beyond. Aside from publishing over 1,800 features, interviews, show reviews, and more, he’s been a press pass holder to various festivals around the country including DelFest, Philadelphia Folk Fest, Blue Ox Music Festival, AMERICANAFEST, Mempho Music Festival, and others. Through his own efforts, he’s interviewed artists like Billy Strings, Victor Wooten, Ronnie McCoury, Tony Trischka, Daniel Donato, Vince Herman (Leftover Salmon), Kelsey Waldon, Steve Gorman, Henry Hall, and hundreds more over the years, which perpetually inspires him within his own music.
Rodeo Mouth’s raucous highway banger, “Sunset Blues Revisited,” is the band’s debut single, which dropped in May of 2024. It was produced in Nashville by multi-instrumentalist Duncan Shea (Music Band, Those Darlins, Becca Mancari) who also played drums, bass, and lead guitar on the track. It was mixed and mastered at The Bomb Shelter (Alabama Shakes, Hurray For The Riff Raff) in East Nashville. With the bones of their second single, “Fanny’s Farmhouse,” recorded again with Shea, the boys went back to the studio this past October to flesh it out along with two more upcoming singles for an eventual 2025 album. “Fanny’s Farmhouse” was released in November of 2024, followed shortly after by another seasonal number, their macabre romp “Cowboy Cannibal.” The former caught the ear of DJ Ana Lee at WMOT Roots Radio here in Nashville, and saw some radio play on The Local Brew.
Howard’s songs are refreshingly offbeat in nature with lyrics often filled with tongue-in-cheek charm, wit, and irreverent subject matter. The band’s style bounces between folk rock, alt-country, and Cosmic Americana, with songs chock full of playful, nostalgic, and satirical elements. As long time friends, Rodeo Mouth exemplifies simply having fun with each other both on stage and in studio, and that’s felt within their music.
Rodeo Mouth is wrapping up 2024 with a few more shows around Nashville while preparing to go back into the studio to record more songs for a 2025 album release. The band has played all over Nashville the past few years including staple venues like: The 5 Spot, The Basement, The East Room, Acme Feed & Seed, City Winery, Brown’s Diner, King’s Whiskey Room, The Cobra, The Villager Tavern and more. Their next single, “Leaving For Phoenix,” is set for a March 13th, 2025 release.
For Fans Of: Bob Dylan, Warren Zevon, John Prine, Roger Miller, Ween
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“…troubadour and music journalist extraordinaire Paul Howard, who played an original song about AmericanaFest that he’d just written the night before. That’s pretty friggin’ Nashville, for sure. “Here we are again / Here we go my friend / Here we are / Americanafest” – I smell a licensing play, and I’m here for it 100%.”
“But as the hypnotic licks accumulate amid rippling waves of reverb, the angel-dusted seance vocals and intoxicatingly dreamy, vaguely disorienting delivery make it clear these guys aren’t talking about just any greasy spoon. If anything, Fanny’s Farmhouse is a Faustian franchise midway between a backwoods Hotel California, David Lynch’s Bang Bang Bar and The Restaurant At The End Of The Universe. And if you visit, you might be biting off more than you can chew…”
“Driven by mellow twangs and a catchy rhythm, it’s the kind of song that wraps you in warmth while hinting at something surreal beneath the surface. Rodeo Mouth’s offbeat charm and tongue-in-cheek wit shine, making this a standout track from a band clearly having a blast creating something fresh.”
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