Red Rooster is the New York-based folk collective led by Jay Erickson (lead vocals) and Nat Zilkha (lead guitar) - lifelong friends who fashion plainly honest and self-reflective songs from fragments of their diverse musical influences and sensibilities including bluegrass, folk, country, blues, gospel, electronica and hip hop. Since its founding in New York City ten years ago,
the band has included a revolving roster of musicians from mandolin players to DJs. Today the core group includes Susannah Hornsby (vocals and accordion), Andrew Green (banjo), Dave Gould (saxophone), Brandon Doyle (french horn), Lucas Ives (drums), Jeremy Randol drums), Daniel Engelman (bass) and Pete Nilsson (keys).
Based in New York, the band has steadily built its audience and critical recognition through recording and constant performing. Red Rooster’s second album Dose (2005), released to critical acclaim, reached the top 40 on the XM Radio Outlaw Country chart and was described by the Houston Chronicle as “a journey through the heart of Americana and roots music.”
After a successful tour in 2008 (including an appearance at the Newport Folk Festival), the band went to work on its third album, “WALK,” scheduled for release in the fall of 2009. Their most mature work musically and lyrically, the album is infused with the musical tension between the traditional and the modern. The songs are deeply personal meditations on transitions, from the birth of a child to failed marriage and the draw of a simpler, more rural existence.
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