D.B. Rouse
D.B. ROUSE | CHOICES WERE MADE | S/R | FEB. 1ST, 2019
Bio:
D.B. Rouse is America’s least-earnest traveling troubadour.
Offering up all the sincerity, none of the pretense, Rouse is armed with a guitar (nicknamed “Meal-Ticket”) and a kazoo. In fact, he is sponsored by Kazoobie Kazoos, natch. A poet with an absurd sense of humor, the Milwaukee-based (but always touring), former cruise ship lounge singer, goat farmer, and cabana man, will release a new album Choices Were Made on February 1st.
Recently, one choice made resulted in Rouse becoming yet another musician robbed of his gear while on tour. Rouse’s experience contains an unusual fact, however: The gear was stolen while Rouse was in the vehicle it was stolen from. With his van doors unlocked due to Rouse and his wife sleeping off a night of drinking in the back, thieves quietly worked in the front, absconding with Rouse’s laptop and most of his instruments.
If you’re asking, “Oh, no! What about Meal-Ticket?!” don’t worry, Meal-Ticket was spared, the tour rolled on, and while this event makes for a story, it also adds an important counterpoint to the art made by a guy like D.B. Rouse.
In other words, it’s not all fun and kazoos.
“It could have been so much worse,” Rouse admits. “What if we had woken up? What if they were armed? I was ready to quit,” he confesses. “Ready to quit touring, quit music, quit everything.”
Instead, after the insurance company refused to cover the cost of replacement, Rouse reached out to his fans. Owing to the relationships Rouse has built through that unique quality of pretense-free sincerity and humor, he was able to replace the gear.
Even so, he did quit one thing: Drinking.
And with that, Rouse continued the pursuit of his dream to be “the best damn hobo musician in the world.”
Not unexpectedly, the negativity of the robbery and the positive aftermath – the “choices made” – inform Choices Were Made. The album’s first single “Get My Shit Together” is a prime example. The title speaks for itself.
Even so, Rouse speaks for himself, too, offering this confirmation:
“This album is about a person struggling to quit drinking and get their shit together. It’s about having the courage to leave behind old habits, and facing the world with your best self forward.”
Other songs on the record, including “Your Jailbird is Coming Home,” new fan favorite, “The Only Designated Driver in Milwaukee is Having a Pity Party,” and the inspiration for the album’s first music video, “About the Bite Missing From Your Sandwich” all speak to Rouse’s undaunted sense of humor in the face of adversity.
“It is near impossible to tell when a bite has been stolen from a soup,” he says of the latter song. “This is why soups are the easiest foods to steal bites from.”
A ridiculous thought to end on, and also true! Believe the man with the kazoo.
Choices Were Made by D.B. Rouse is out on February 1st, 2019, preceded by the single and music video “Get My Shit Together,” available November 30th.
News:
Press Quotes:
“A superb musician.”
“He’s a sharp songwriter, his offbeat personality finding its way into comical folk songs.”
“Like an old-school bar song given a new lick of paint.”
“Offbeat humor with age earned wisdom and a hefty dose of heart.”
“There are moments when he approaches the sounds so often attributed to folksy storytellers, but... He’s a singer-songwriter whose work pointedly defies characterization.”
“Definitely comedic, reminiscent of some of our favorite Weird Al favorites.”
“He notably calls to the work of Woody Guthrie and John Prine, employing saucy, tightly-woven humor to elevate the human existence and staggering universal miseries.”
TOUR DATES:
02/09/2019: Terlingua, TX @ La Kiva
02/16/2019: Terlingua, TX @ La Kiva
02/23/2019: Terlingua, TX @ La Kiva
03/02/2019: Terlingua, TX @ La Kiva
03/09/2019: Terlingua, TX @ La Kiva
03/16/2019: Terlingua, TX @ La Kiva
03/23/2019: Terlingua, TX @ La Kiva
03/29/2019: San Antonio, TX @ Fitzgerald's Bar & Live Music
03/30/2019: San Antonio, TX @ Barriba Cantina
04/01/2019: Houston, TX @ Spring Branch Tavern
04/03/2019: Houston, TX @ JP Hop's House
04/06/2019: La Rose, LA @ The Willow
04/10/2019: Tallahassee, FL @ Blue Tavern
04/13/2019: Cape Coral, FL @ Rack’Em Billiards
04/19/2019: St. Augustine, FL @ Shanghai Knobby's
04/20/2019: Dahlonega, GA @ Shenanigan’s
04/21/2019: North Charleston, SC @ The Mill Lounge
04/23/2019: Wilmington, NC @ Juggling Gypsy Cafe
04/24/2019: Wilmington, NC @ Fermental
04/25/2019: Wilmington, NC @ Flytrap Brewing
04/26/2019: Mt. Holly, NC @ Catawba Coffee
04/29/2019: Lynchburg, VA @ White Hart
05/01/2019: Thomas, WV @ Purple Fiddle
05/03/2019: Charleston, WV @ The Boulevard Tavern
05/07/2019: Buffalo, NY @ 9th Ward at Babeville (w/ Brendan Shea)
05/09/2019: Kent, OH @ The Stone Tavern
05/10/2019: Petoskey, MI @ Beards Brewery
05/11/2019: Traverse City, MI @ The Acoustic Tap Room
05/13/2019: Petoskey, MI @ Red Sky Stage
05/18/2019: Iron Mountain, MI @ Sol Blu
05/25/2019: Milwaukee, WI @ Bremen Cafe
PRESS RELEASES:
On The Web:
Assets:
D.B. Rouse as photographed by Darin Dubinsky. Click for hi-res.
D.B. Rouse as photographed by Darin Dubinsky. Click for hi-res.
D.B. Rouse as photographed by Darin Dubinsky. Click for hi-res.
D.B. Rouse as photographed by Darin Dubinsky. Click for hi-res.
Choices Were Made cover art. Click for hi-res.
“The Only Designated Driver in Milwaukee is Having a Pity Party” single cover art. Click for hi-res.
“Get My Shit Together” single cover art. Click for hi-res.
“About The Bite Missing From Your Sandwich” track cover art. Click for hi-res.