North Carolina Artist Rosali and Her Resolute Tales of Defiance Coming to Rickshaw Stop
Photo credit: Asia Harman
The cover of Rosali’s dazzling 2024 album, “Bite Down,” presents a strange, discomfiting vision. The North Carolina based singer-songwriter (born Rosali Middleman) is only slightly visible behind a blanket of green flora, her expression blended somewhere between demonic smile and anguished howl.
That delightfully eerie visage is the perfect avatar for the album, a defiant, kiss-off record that champions resoluteness and tenacity in the face of endless challenges. It’s an album about getting up and dusting yourself off, time and again—an act that can be both tragicomic and triumphant.
“I saw a fan write online that the album cover is what healing looks like, and I kind of couldn’t agree more,” said Rosali. “This record is about healing and transformation and sometimes that isn’t pretty. It’s not just a love and light thing—it can be dark and horrible and it can also be funny. The photo is a little bonkers, but so is life.”
Released on the venerable indie rock label Merge Records, “Bite Down” is a showcase for Rosali’s considerable skills, with the album vacillating between billowing country-inflected ballads and knifelike guitar anthems that recall Crazy Horse at their finest. It’s a collection of blunt confessions, candid introspections and breezy declarations—a compendium of an artist searching for solace and finding it in unlikely places.
On Tuesday, Rosali will bring those tunes to the Rickshaw Stop, part of a two-week West Coast tour that will mostly conclude more than a year’s worth of touring behind “Bite Down,” the fourth album released under her mononymous moniker.
“Bite Down” reflects the winding, but ultimately rewarding journey of Rosali, who’s enjoying a second act of sorts as a folk-leaning artist rooted south of the Mason-Dixon line. For years, Rosali was based in Philadelphia, participating in a number of noise-rock and experimental outfits.
After the dissolution of a longtime relationship and during the onset of the pandemic, Rosali was looking for a change of scenery. She had some friends in the Durham area and decided to visit them during the early days of Covid. Initially intending to stay for just a short visit, Rosali has lived in North Carolina ever since.
Not only did Rosali embrace living in the more bucolic settings of North Carolina, she was serendipitously closer to Merge, which is also located in Durham. After acclimating herself to her new home, Rosali contacted Merge head Mac McCaughan about releasing her new album on the label. McCaughan quickly agreed and “Bite Down” debuted in early 2024, to much critical acclaim.
“It just made sense—I was living down here and I had met Mac before when I was playing in Philly,” said Rosali. “When I had another album ready to record, I just reached out, basically to let know I was down here. Mac agreed to put the album out and they’ve been great since.”
Rosali picked an apt time to make the move, as North Carolina and the American Southeast are quickly turning into the epicenter of “indie country” sound that is having a zeitgeisty moment. Buoyed by Asheville acts like MJ Lenderman and Wednesday and Kentuckians S.G Goodman and Ryan Davis, the scene is making national headlines. With her penchant for pairing confessional, cerebral lyrics with expansive and exploratory sonic landscapes, Rosali is a natural entrant into that cohort.
“I’ve never categorized myself as country music, but I can also see how I fit within the realm,” said Rosali. “I’ve known Ryan [Davis] for many years and I’m really stoked with all the attention he’s getting. I feel a certain kinship with him, since we're both kind of on the older side of this group. But yeah, I feel very much in alignment with what’s happening here and that’s exciting.”
Rosali is quick to credit her partnership with Mowed Down, an Omaha-based band led by David Nance that has played with her on the last two albums. The squawking, feedback-heavy interjections of the backing band provides the perfect complement to Rosali’s unwavering, steady vocal presence. After being introduced by a friend, Rosali toured with Nance while playing with her former band, the Long Hots, in 2019, and the two formed an instant bond.
“It was kind of this adult going to summer camp vibe—where you’re like, ‘wow, this is my new best friend,’” said Rosali. “The whole time was a blast. And toward the end of it, Dave was like ‘we want to be your backing band.’”
For this string of West Coast dates, Rosali is hoping to record some of the performances for a potentially future live release. Once this jaunt is finished, she has a few European festival shows, but she said the plan is to decamp with Mowed Down for some more recording sessions in the near future, continuing the partnership that has been so fruitful.
After years of nestling herself within the more opaque worlds of noise rock and experimental bands, Rosali is excited about embracing the more vulnerable nature of her current outfit.
“I can be a really shy person, so I just didn’t think about putting out solo music for a really long time,” said Rosali. “But once I did, I felt like I had to continue pulling that thread. And I don’t think I can turn back at this point.”
Show Details:
Rosali with Walt McClements
Where: The Rickshaw Stop
When: 8 p.m., Tuesday, August 5
Tickets: $24, available here.