The emergence of fiddler Carrie Rodriguez as a stunning singer and instrumentalist caps an already long musical journey for a young woman in her 20s.
Rodriguez, a native of Austin, Texas, began playing violin at the age of five. By age ten, she had already performed at Carnegie Hall in New York City with the Texas Suzuki Tour Group. Her first steps away from classical music were in her early teens when she began accompanying her father, noted Texas singer-songwriter David Rodriguez, in local clubs.
In 1996, Rodriguez left Texas to study classical violin at Oberlin Conservatory. She lasted about six months before realizing Oberlins concentration on the classicsand a career playing in a symphony orchestrawould be too narrow for her adventurous musical vision. Choosing fiddle over violin, she soon transferred to the Berklee College of Music in Boston. There, she studied bluegrass, old-time, swing, jazz, and everything in between.
In March 2001, Chip Taylor (singer-songwriter who penned hits such as Angel of the Morning and Wild Thing) heard Rodriguez play with a group at South By Southwest in Austin. Knocked out by her fiddling, he invited her to work with him. On tour in Europe, Taylor persuaded Rodriguez to sing, although she had never considered herself a singer. The enthusiastic crowd response convinced Taylor to collaborate with Rodriguez and record a duet album entitled Let’s Leave This Town (Trainwreck Records,2002). Working with Taylor, a native New Yorker, took Rodriguez to New York City, which she and her husband, jazz saxophonist Javier Vercher, now call home. Since making Lets Leave This Town, Chip Taylor and Carrie Rodriguez have released two more critically acclaimed duet albums. The second album, The Trouble With Humans, brought them to the ..1 position for 3 weeks on the Americana Music Chart in 2003. No Depression magazine stated about their most recent album, 2005s Red Dog Tracks, "[Taylor and Rodriguez] are the new standard of duets that all others should be judged by." _- Joe Nick Patoski, No Depression, June 2005.
The next step in Carrie Rodriguez’ musical journey is a solo album. This February she recorded and co-produced with Chip Taylor 7 Angels on a Bicycle (Back Porch Records, EMI) with a combination of jazz, country, rock, and bluegrass musicians. Rodriguez blames New York City for contributing to her ever-expanding, eclectic tastes. In addition to her fiddle and vocals, the album features Bill Frisell on electric guitar, Greg Leisz on pedal steel guitar, Viktor Krauss on upright bass, Kenny Wollesen on drums, Javier Vercher on saxophone, and Richie Stearns on banjo.
7 Angels on a Bicycle is in stores now!
