I caught up with The Resonant Rogues at Blue Ox Music Festival this past June. Tucked in the backwoods, walking up a hill, the duo of Sparrow (banjo, accordion) and Keith Smith (guitar) stopped to point out some poison ivy and prevent me from walking through it. They shared that poison ivy grows where there’s a disturbance in the soil, like people trudging all over the land. It’s natures natural defense. The Resonant Rogues revel in the ability to poetically tell stories, using history and traditions as the foundational base.
The married couple have crossed the country in freight trains and highways, no stranger to blazing unconventional paths. Their dark Appalachian folk is heavily influenced by where they live in the mountains of Western North Carolina. The deep history of music from that area plays a large part to their sound and style, but the wider mojo of the duo is based in past lives and their traveling experiences. The roots of North Carolina and the branches of the globe have combined for a forest of music from their start in 2013. Soaking up the music from other regions, they tie in tradition and a working understanding of the importance of music to the people. You can hear Woody Guthrie anti-facist folk, Middle Eastern rhythms, French jazz Manounche, and Eastern European Romani brass bands while indulging in their 4 albums. The Resonant Rogues resonate forgotten stories in our past with their music and clothes.
“I feel like your identity, musical taste, and your subculture all end up getting wrapped together in a way that is hard to tease apart from each other. We play old time music and wear Pearl snaps and country clothes, while living in the country.”
-Sparrow
Sparrow hearkens back to one of her first job when she rode her bike around to different thrift stores, finding old dresses, and then selling them on consignment at the vintage shop. She learned to appreciate vintage clothing by telling the fabric from a mile away, knowing how it’s going to hold.
Sparrows’ grandma was also a huge influence growing up. Her grandma was heavily into Shirley Temple and old musicals. She ended up teaching Sparrow how to sew. At the time Sparrow was involved in theater, which sparked her making dresses and trying stuff out for shows.
As a teenager she got into swing dancing, which carried on that tradition of the vintage aesthetic. A voracious learner, Sparrow has dabbled in figure skating, belly dancing, and even attended the Circus Center in San Francisco for acrobatics. On top of Resonant Rogues, she also fronts a traditional jazz band. This eclectic blend of passions weaves it’s way into her closet.
“I’ve had to really pair down a lot through the years. A lot of it was influenced by New Orleans and the combination of vintage music and a punk rock activist subculture, like buskers and the circus. But also a lot by just the Dirty South.”
For Keith it can be traced back to his days where he started busking as a teenager. On the street when you’re dressed old fashioned, playing old fashioned music, it just makes the experience complete for the person who’s watching. That connection can translate to more tips and engagement with passerby’s.
Our teenage years oftentimes are the moment where we all try out things, finding our expression and identity. Keith spent those formulative years in a community that just didn’t care about the way he dressed. He would head to Goodwill, grabbing random clothes that he thought were cool. It was his way of trying all sorts of items and learning what he liked.
Sparrow’s outfit starts at the only pair of boots she owns. The knee high white socks with the laced tops came from her mom. She continues to receive that classic tradition of new socks and underwear at Christmas from her mother.
You then start to gather more of her style with the thrifted patterned dress and tease of the old-timey knickers underneath. The historic bolo tie (derived from boleadora, an Argentine and Uruguayan lariat) are widely associated with Western wear and have been part of the Hopi, Navajo, Zuni, and Puebloan traditions since the mid-20th century. The bolo tie is also the official neckwear of Arizona and Texas. It was a gift she bought for Keith and continues to steal it back for specific outfits.
The earrings came from a festival they played in South Carolina. Concluding the outfit is the most interesting combination with the black beret.
Blame it on how cheap felt was to manufacture, but in the 14th and 15th centuries berets had effectively saturated Europe’s farming and artist classes. It was the most utilitarian things a person who would be working outside (as many landscape artists did) could wear.
Sparrow’s attraction to the beret is connected to her love of French music, jazz, but also the political symbolism of the hat. That started in Spain during the Second Carlist War with the red beret started a long line of revolutionaries and militarized personal wearing the flat hat.
Keith mainly shops in antique stores, finding unique Western wear that coordinates with his style. The roll-up sleeved button shirts work well for playing. His black pants with leather belt are other common pieces in his closet, tying the whole look together.
Keith got his trademark cowboy hat in a little store in Pinedale, Wyoming.
“It’s really hard for me to find a cowboy hat that fits my head. As soon as I tried it on, I knew this was the one. The price tag was more than I wanted to spend, but I’ve been looking for something like this for years.”
Cowboy fashion has a deep past from the gauchos in Spain that evolved when vaqueros drove cattle from Oregon to Montana mining camps during the 1860’s. But Western wear took it’s largest evolution when Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis in 1873 created a new style of pants. Keith carries on many of these trademark accessories, like the belt buckle, Stetson hat, and earth tone shirts.
“I like to dress different every day. I generally like to surprise people and dress unexpectedly for whatever the situation is. So I’ll wear a vintage black dress to the punk show or wear my more punk clothes to the two-step.”"
-Sparrow
Their latest release Straight to Tape at Bigtone Records is a prime convergence of old-time music and recording to an old time medium, aka analog tape. The opening notes of “Dusk and Dawn” have the warmth of that tape sound and character that Sparrow’s voice finds a nest in. The retrospective lyrics merge time. “Dusk and dawn they carry on, the past and future live as one” reassert that homage to heritage. The Resonant Rogues follow this with “Victory Garden”, a song of support and love through cultivating the land. The swing in “Do You Have the Time” showcase the accordion and jazz influence from Sparrow, with the musicianship of Keith’s solo parts. You can hear that beret and see that stetson hat nod together in time.
Much like the music that pays respect to history, Sparrow dons the oldest hair setting technique, her iconic pin curl. Created by taking sections of wet hair and winding them up, the technique achieves a wavy look in a really fast way. This signature curl has even gained notoriety, especially in New Orleans where there’s a picture of Sparrow on the wall at a coffee shop. It’s led to them being stopped on the street and recognized multiple times. The pin curl is Hollywood glam, but on a thriftier lifestyle.
Currently the duo is building their own homestead from the ground up. Without disturbing the poison ivy on the hills and while growing their own victory gardens, The Resonant Rogues will continue to be purveyors of music appreciation and education in the old time traditions.
Check out the links below for ways to follow The Resonant Rogues and all the topics we mentioned above.
The Resonant Rogues - Straight to Tape at Bigtone Records - Instagram - History of the Beret - Sparrow & her Wingmen
