Carrying the listener on a journey, Roki Kilroy’s songs paint a connection to the natural world. Her Western and Irish roots, lead way to a unique sound where the wilds of the American west and moody mists of Celtic sea, meet in balance through ethereal vocals, eerie cadences, intricate fingerstyle guitar and warm bass tones.
Chosen as #1 Best New Band in America, the Boston Phoenix describes Kilroy’s sound as “having the softness of Alison Krauss’s Americana roots folk with the deep bass and drums of Depeche Mode and the brooding emotion of a Bach Fugue, creating something awesome that a genre simply can’t define.” Bluesman, Guy Davis describes her sound as “beautiful and genuine, it takes me somewhere deep and way back”. Roki’s sound has been compared to Joni Mitchell, Vashti Bunyan, School of Seven Bells, Pentangle’s Jacqui McShee and others.
Spending her youth between Montana, California and Ireland, Roki’s modest upbringing and Irish family sparked her love for Celtic music at a young age. Growing up in a remote cabin without electricity with musician parents, it was easy to get lost in the sounds of wildlife and song. Later, working ranches, fire crews, mountain guiding and playing hootenannies, Kilroy embraced life on the road and made ends meet while living out of a beat up 1989 Toyota Celica.
Kilroy’s talent was noticed by Grammy Award winner, Skip Ewing who referred to her as “a 21st Century EmmyLou Harris”. After watching her perform at a Wyoming hootenanny, the country hit writer invited her to perform at the legendary Bluebird Cafe in Nashville with Pat Flynn and Viktor Krauss. Encouraged by Flynn, Roki began competing in songwriting competitions where she earned awards in the bluegrass and western genres. Between odd jobs and fire seasons, she couch surfed through Music Row, co-writing with a host of Nashville’s best, for artists in the country western world.
Weary of the limits imposed writing for major labels, Kilroy headed back to the Montana woods, started an experimental folk project (Pterodactyl Plains) and began creating songs for the simple sake of creating music with unhindered expression.
With a tour history of 30+ countries, Roki has performed solo and with talents such as Califone, Allison Russell, Charlie Parr, Bill Callahan, Elephant Revival, Guy Davis, Lukas Nelson, Yonder Mountain String Band, The Devil Makes Three, Infamous Stringdusters, Darrell Scott, String Cheese Incident, Greensky Bluegrass, Railroad Earth, Trampled By Turtles and others. Roki has shared the stage with greats such as Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Kostas, Little Feat, John Prine, EmmyLou Harris, Robert Earl Keen, Bill Kreutzmann, Del McCoury, Darol Angor, Sam Bush, Don McLean, Richie Havens, Doc Watson and others.
Roki’s nomadic nature keeps her moving. She can be found somewhere between Ireland, Montana & the Sierra Nevada mountains where she keeps busy climbing and writing alongside a cast of talented songwriters
