Roll The Bones X celebrates 10 years since the release of Roll The Bones. Accompanying the anniversary pressing are 15 additional tracks comprising an Odds + Ends LP, which stands as an essential document of Shakey Graves’ early era. Highlights include deep cuts, such as the first-ever true recording of “Late July,” a version that’s drastically different from the live rendition that’s generated over 14 million views on YouTube.
Shakey Graves is the brainchild of Rose-Garcia who released Roll The Bones on Bandcamp in 2011 without any promotion and little information about Shakey Graves. That year, Bandcamp made it a featured album for a month and from there it has stayed among the website’s top-selling records. Over the past decade the record has gone on to sell well over 100,000 units—despite being offered to fans on Bandcamp for “name your price”—and as a result, Shakey Graves has garnered a massive cult following. “If you discover something for yourself, it will always hold more water because it’s tied to memory and coincidence,” Rose-Garcia says of embracing the direct-to-fan platform. “It gives you a sense of ownership as a listener.”
With Roll The Bones X, Rose-Garcia believes the release of his early output will provide some needed framing for his discography. It’s his genesis story before he had the studio time to make his 2014 Dualtone Records debut full-length And the War Came or the full-band cohesion to create 2018’s Can’t Wake Up. To him, it’s a scrappy effort, but the most intentional work he’s ever produced. A decade later, he wouldn’t change a thing. “It’s a record that sounds like my years of exploration and influence, funneled through my abilities at the time—and it all became something bigger,” he muses.
