Old Mill Sessions

The Blushin' Roulettes deliver old-time tunes with a modern twist. 'Their songs are stripped down, sexy little jewel boxes stuffed with ancient mountain magic,' says the San Francisco Free Folk Festival. Guitaress and songwriter Angie Heimann belts her stirring songs of damsels in their bliss and distress in a clarion vibrato often likened to Iris Dement. Cas Sochacki interlaces bright dobro stylings amid the rich lyrics of the Roulettes' more serious songs, and rings in vocally with his molasses baritone on the occasional cheeky duet. Like so many great couples in history, Cas and Angie appear to be each other's foil. Where Angie stands barely five feet tall, Cas breaks six. With her Old World looks: large hazel eyes and wavy brown hair, Angie's stage presence is both affable and day dreamy. Mr. Sochacki on the other hand, not just tall, but dark and handsome to boot, is a man of few words: he has a sardonic sense of humor, his delivery deadpan. On stage, as in life, the two play off of these differences beautifully, comically. Their differences are as important as what they share: a history living on Cas' family farm and a rare knack for writing songs that are at once poignant and clever. Duets like The Day Pigs Fly and Ramblin' Gamblin' are written with an affectionate, tongue-in-cheek take on relationships, while Angie's award-winning solos resonate with a more earthy lyrical depth. Cas and Angie don't just sing about country living: they embody it. The hi-lonesome sound of their latest release 'Old Mill Sessions' was recorded mostly by Cas in his farm studio, peppered with a few tunes produced by the Roulettes' long time engineer Calvin Turnbull. The Roulettes' previous releases 'Took to the Country' (2009) and 'March Sketch' (2008) have included other members of the band's kindred rotating cast of characters, including Kate Stone on cello and vocals, Buddy Stubbs on soulfully gritty guitar (Stubbs has played with members of Crazy Horse, Gene Clark, and Hollywood Fats, to name a few,) Jubal Stedman on drums, and Luke Stone on piano. The Blushin' Roulettes' appearances include performances at the Kate Wolf Memorial Music Festival, San Francisco Free Folk Festival, North Bay Hootennany and the Humboldt Folklife Festival, as well as shared stages with the Wailin' Jennies, Wayne the Train Hancock, Big Sandy and His Fly Right Boys, and The Devil Makes 3, and poet John Trudell. Angie has won songwriting awards in KZFR/Sierra Nevada's Celebration of the Song, Woody Guthrie Songwriting Contest, Artists for Literacy SIBL Songwriting Contest, and South Florida Folk Festival. Recently, the Roulettes video performance of Angie's song 'Dark of the Wood' was aired internationally on Destination America's 'Monsters and Mysteries' series. Angie and Cas have recently made their home in Western North Carolina, where their music can find echo in the mountains that have shaped it's roots.