Winners of the 2023 Virtual Band Competition at the Blue Ox Music Festival, spooky-folk duo The Spine Stealers found their way from learning guitar during the pandemic to performing at a sold out festival in a very short time. Emma O’Shea and Kate Ruland were both experiencing some form of existential crises before the shut-down happened, but unlike many of us, found their calling with the forced pause of life.
Emma had graduated from UW Eau Claire with her eyes on a career as a travel writer. The shutdown had her move back home to Sun Prairie, dealing with a multitude of issues before devoting her mental energy into learning something new. She picked up a guitar that her father bought for $50 on Craigslist and started writing songs. While after attending college for a year for architecture and dropping out, Kate was living a little city rat life in Chicago. The pandemic hit and in the move back to Sun Prairie, also picked up a guitar to learn. They both had never imagined or thought that playing music was something they would either do.
Fast forward to 2022 when Emma attended Blue Ox for the first time. The duo hadn’t even performed live before, but the festival invigorated and inspired her. Now, standing close to the Backwoods Stage after winning a spot on the lineup, Kate claims it feels like a full circle moment. She remembers Emma sharing her stories about Blue Ox and making it a point to attend together in 2023. The moment feels very symbolic for them, confirming the clarity they got coming out of the pandemic with their new passions.
“Literally never, this is going to sound dramatic, but never thought that this was gonna be something that I was doing. It's so strange. I've always loved music and wanted to learn guitar, but it also took a lot of me getting out of my shell in terms of being a performer.”
-Kate Ruland
Kate remembers back and shares that she’s always loved fashion, even being a little fashionista growing up. She always preferred thrift stores over the big box places, scavenging small bits and pieces here and there for her closet. Her style is definitely still evolving, but now as a musicians, it’s allowed her to be a bit more experimental in outfits.
Emma’s parents took her to thrift stores growing up. It was an affordable way to shop, admitting she tends to ruin most of her clothes. Thrifting was a way to find weird little things to appease certain fads; one being wearing oversized baseball jerseys as a 12 year old major tomboy phase.
“There’s merit to there being one singular thing in a thrift store versus 16 of them that a lot of other people are going to get. I think my mom has definitely taught me to appreciate that it’s more bang for your buck too,” shares Emma.
Emma and Kate both grew up in Sun Prairie, which sits outside of Madison, Wisconsin. Their childhoods in the small town didn’t inspire either of their personal styles, as it was more about not wanting to break the mold and wear something different. But Kate graduated high school and really wanted to move to a larger city where people were more eccentric and free to be who they were. Sun Prairie urged her to look forward and emulate where she wanted to go to be herself.
Described as “spooky-folk”, The Spine Stealers has a variety of influences in their music. There are heavy traces of 70’s folk music like Fleetwood Mac and Patti Smith. Emma also notes that Basia Bulat has been a favorite artist since she was in 7th grade. The Canadian folk singer carries a very hippy, Bohemian sense of rugged style that you can see in Emma’s vintage dresses. Kate credits Sierra Ferrell as an influence as well in that everything she wears is very much a statement choice.
A major theme for music comes from a road trip they took together in 2021 out West. With the plan to record some songs on the road with no idea how to use the recording equipment, The Spine Stealers left with a car packed to the brim with ideas. The rustic west and isolation with large vast open land helped form the direction and style of their songwriting. Their blend of Americana music has a twinge of spookiness that comes out in their combined blend of voices.
Before their sweltering set on the Backwoods Stage, Emma shares the details behind the fit. The white everyday sneakers are made from a solid lite foam, a festival must with the amount of steps and terrain needed to be covered. The vintage white dress has ruffled sleeves and lace cutouts near the top. It was thrifted and newly speckled with blood.
The necklace, made by Kate, is a simple leather string with a large circular piece of shell attached to it. The hentai bracelet was gifted to her and the only ring on her finger is of a little bird. She doesn’t like to wear wings because she’s always biting her fingernails. The duo is wearing matching Wisconsin pins found at a booth at Blue Ox and purchased the day before.
She also doesn’t typically wear earrings because she has a tendency to break most things. Emma mentions that she almost wore a pair of little book earrings, which you can write tiny messages in them. For a duo named The Spine Stealers, the clever tie-in isn’t lost on me.
(speaking about her dress)
“It’s covered in blood at the bottom cause I ran through the raspberry patch near our campsite. Everyone was a little peeved at me for telling them to run through and follow me.”
-Emma O’Shea
Kate had been looking for special Frye boots for awhile and finally found a brown leather pair on Ebay. A common them in Kate’s closet is purchasing things, but never wearing them. The black dress was thrifted a few years ago and finally worn today for the first time. The v-cut sundress has a slick sheen to it, contrasting perfectly with Emma’s vintage white dress.
Her necklace was made from coral when she was in Bali on a recent trip. The big chunky little piece of earth makes a statement hanging around her neck. Kate wears rings all the time until they break and need to be switched out. Two of the rings were gifts from her mother, while one was handed down from when her mother was her age.
Kate’s earrings are from a farmers market in Madison and look like tiny full moons hanging from her ears. The connection to nature is seen in these small details in both ladies.
“The late nights are definitely what I live for here at Blue Ox. I’m a little bit hot and bothered during the day, but once night falls, with all the lights, and everyone’s just really free flowing, it’s the best time.”
-Kate Ruland
Witnessing The Spine Stealers perform tracks off their debut EP River Teeth Tapes, there’s a coordinated revelation with their style and songs. The recording of “Lilacs” starts with the atmosphere of a summer night, while the visual of fireworks and flowers crawl under your skin. The collection of songs induce heartaches of nostalgia, with their outfits pulling the vintage past with them. Their respect for nature with pieces of coral, shells, and leather boots stylistically molds into songs about flowers, campfires, pines, and dark lakes. The influence of Midwest seasons permeates through their songs. Watching the duo play to a full audience at Blue Ox, the steely confidence and bond they have together shines. Even though it was sweaty hot and sticky, there were shivering moments in “Coal” that flipped my temperature.
The Spine Stealers want people to be curious and mesmerized when seeing them for the first time. So many shows they appreciate are when you become entranced with an artist, wanting to dig in deeper to what they are about. The duo definitely carries that intrigue and an energy that emanates from them while playing. Lured in like a fish on a line, Emma’s voice is warm with the slightest tinge of vibrato, while Kate’s harmonies melt into the lines. It’s not often that a band starts their journey with such a strong identity and sound. The release of their first EP introduce us to a duo naturally akin to songwriting and playing together. At just 14 minutes long, it’s also the perfect bait to make you dig in and find out more about this talented duo.
Check out the links below for ways to The Spine Stealers and all the topics we mentioned above.
Bandcamp - Instagram - River Teeth Tapes EP - Basia Bulat - Sierra Ferrell - The Frye Company - Blue Ox Music Festival
