What's Up! Magazine

Seattle’s Zoe Muth and her band the Lost High Rollers are reclaiming the term country. Courtesy photo

The term “country music” can evoke the feeling of horror, sadness and even nausea for some people. But, it wasn’t always that way there was a time when some of the most beautiful music made was country music when the likes of Loretta Lynn and Dolly Parton ruled the country charts.

Over the last 30 years or so, though, not all country has been in the tank. Artists such as Lucinda Williams and Emmylou Harris inspired young musicians while creating heartfelt and honest music all under the name of country.

In spite of that calling yourself a country artist can be an automatic mark against a young, up and coming musician many play country, but call themselves Americana or Alt-Country. But for Seattle’s Zoe Muth it’s time to legitimize country music again or at least not be afraid to say that’s the style of music they play. And if country music is going to have a new ambassador, Zoe Muth and her staggeringly beautiful voice and songwriting could do wonders for the genre.

Recently, the 25-year-old Muth and her band the Lost High Rollers released a strong, deliberate and beautiful country record on August 1 with their CD release at the Sunset Tavern. According to Zoe, she just “wanted to make a record. We had no idea what the response would be. We thought, we should just make a record.” Adding, “I had no idea if people would like it, I hoped they did.”

The first track “You Only Believe Me When I’m Lying,” was a KEXP song of the day. She was also featured in the Seattle Weekly, who called her “Our Own Emmylou.” a title that is a bit overwhelming for the eternally modest Zoe. “It’s kind of a hard thing to live up to,” she stated. “Her voice always sounds perfect to me. I never hear her sing flat – every once in awhile, I think my voice sings flat.”

Zoe does cite Emmylou, though, as a major influence, along with the Louvin Brothers, John Prine, Steve Earle and Lucinda Williams all music she grew up with. “A lot of my musical taste came from stuff my dad listened to.” She added, “Almost all of my favorite music is country. (But) I don’t like a lot of the new stuff.”

While Zoe continues to build a fan base in the growing Seattle roots rock scene, though continues to find fans whom skew away from the term country music. “It seems like people are leaning towards liking more rootsy. But, a lot of people who say they don’t like country say they like us.” She added, “We need to reclaim the term. People think that country music is not just the new stuff.”

In the near future, Zoe Muth and the Lost High Rollers will continue to play in Seattle and neighboring areas. There’s talk of a couple members heading for an East Coast tour. “We’re getting air play at the station at MIT,” but there’s nothing concrete. It’s just a matter of gaining fans and getting people to realize it’s OK to love country music.