Blonde Roses, formerly known as The Wooden Wings, is a four-piece rock ‘n’ roll outfit that blends alternative grit and southern blues to create a harmonious union. Based in New Orleans, Louisiana are band members Molly, Harry, Anthony and Albert – a group of lifelong friends ready to set the stage for a longstanding career in music.
In this interview, we chat with Molly about her influences, the band’s newest project, and navigating this digital age as an indie musician.
Full Q&A, links, and a stream of their single “Bullet” available below.
Let’s dive a little deeper into You, the artist and your music. What attracted you to this genre(s) or style(s)?
My parents introduced me to incredible artists like Joni Mitchell and Simon and Garfunkel (among many, many others) at a young age. I grew up being inspired by singer/songwriters and the stories they told through their lyrics. It’s shaped me into the artist I am today. Making sure that the music we create says something is extremely important to us. We love blending folk, rock n’ roll and blues – genres that we love and listen to regularly.
How long have you been creating and sharing your music with the public?
We have been together for 7 years! We were formerly under the name The Wooden Wings and recently made the change over to Blonde Roses.
Who or what influences your playing and/or writing? Also, what motivates you to keep going?
Just to list a few: Grace Potter, Gary Clark, Fleetwood Mac and Muddy Magnolias.
Music is just one of those things that keeps me going personally and it’s hard to imagine a life without it. Memories and music go hand-in-hand for me. The fact that I can listen to a song and immediately associate it with a person, time or place – that’s powerful. That’s what motivates me to keep going. I want someone to hear one of our songs and say, “this reminds me of that one time when…”
Were you trying to accomplish anything specific on this new project? Creatively or otherwise?
We are diving into a new sound, one that we haven’t played around with much in the past. It’s pushed us outside of our box and challenged us as musicians which I think is really important to constantly keeping doing as an artist.
What was the last song you listened to?
The last song I listened to was “Bright Lights” by Gary Clark.
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?
I think each of them has their time and place, but nothing beats the sound of listening to your favorite record on a vinyl.
How about this one…. Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?
I do most of my listening on Spotify. It’s super user friendly and I love being able to explore my friends playlists and discover new music! Currently have Gary Clark’s album ‘Blak and Blu’ on repeat.
Other than the digital era overwhelming us with access to an abundance of music, what are one or two of the biggest challenges you face when trying to attract listeners to your music?
I think you hit the nail on the head here. Technology has made it easy for anyone to create, promote and sell music. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s incredible that artists are so easily able to put out their music, but it does create a challenge because there’s such an abundance of it. It definitely makes it harder to push through and attract listeners.
Do you gig, tour or perform? Do you ever live stream? Where can music lovers see you live?
We are working on putting together a tour soon – more details to come, so make sure to follow us and keep in touch!
Where is the best place to connect with you online? Discover more of your music?
You can visit our website www.blonderoses.com or get social with us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter (@blonderosesband).
Any last thoughts? Shout outs? Words of wisdom?
I want to give a shout out our producer Ben Lorio of The Music Shed in New Orleans for making our latest single ‘Bullet’ come to life. We have been so blessed to have the opportunity to work with such talented, inspiring people recently.
My words of wisdom for today – dream big because life’s too short to think small.
