Singer/songwriter and co-founder of Elephant Revival, Dango Rose, recently released his new five-song EP The Forgotten Years: Vol II.
The Forgotten Years: Vol. II is the second release from Rose’s The Forgotten Years EP Trilogy. This volume highlights a more experimental phase with deeper subject matter, into a style Rose calls “Steam Pop” – a hybrid of Pop, Folk, Roots and subtle electronic motifs. The Forgotten Years: Vol I was previously released in October 2021.
The three-volume release consists of songs that the Elephant Revival bassist wrote and recorded between 2008-2018 whilst in-between tours. Together with his longtime songwriting and production partner, Evan Reeves, co-collaboration in the studio offered a reprieve from his hectic life in a busy touring band. When the band went on indefinite hiatus in 2018, the stillness and loss of identity was unexpected, yet palpable. So began a healing journey where recalling and releasing these recordings became essential in redefining Rose’s sense of place and purpose in the world.
“Songwriting for me has always been a vessel for processing work,” Rose explains. “I believe these songs are somehow an expression of this undertaking, an expression of healing. The Forgotten Years: Vol. II is a departure from anything you’ve heard from me before.”
The Forgotten Years: Volume III is expected to be released in winter 2022.
About Dango Rose
Dango Rose embraces a passion for music as a vital healing influence and spiritual path. He creates and collaborates to support harmony and truth. Born with a poet’s soul and a warrior’s heart, his life’s journey has been one of transformation.
For seventeen years, Dango traveled nationally and internationally in touring bands. In 2006, he co-founded Elephant Revival and spent eleven years performing and recording with this influential outfit that pioneered the genre, “Transcendental Folk.” Rose penned band favorites such as, When I Fall, The Pasture, Jet Lag Blues and others.
Rose has shared the stage with the likes of Gregory Alan Isakov, Noah Gundersen, Watchhouse, Hiss Golden Messenger, The Oh Hellos, Billy Strings, Greensky Bluegrass, Bela Fleck, Sam Bush, Joan Baez, Ani DiFranco, Abigail Washburn, Donovan, Little Feat, Blind Pilot, Amy Helm, Chadwick Stokes, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Leftover Salmon, DeVotchka, John Oates, Elvis Costello, Josh Ritter, Joe Pug, Dirk Powell, Yonder Mountain String Band, Gone Gone Beyond and many more. He was a three-time headliner at Red Rocks with Elephant Revival and performed several headlining shows with The Colorado Symphony Orchestra. In addition, he’s performed at high profile national festivals, such as Newport Folk Festival, Telluride Bluegrass Festival, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass and more.
Since Elephant Revival went on hiatus in May 2018, Dango has begun a solo career, focusing most of his time in the recording studio and behind the writer’s desk. As music journalist Marc Tonglen explains, “He reminds me of a cross between Leonard Cohen, Cat Stevens and Alan Parsons. His voice is distinctive, words penetrating and his arrangements— on the edge, yet engaging.”
Dango is in the midst of releasing a collection of genre-defying EPs dubbed The Forgotten Years. From this collection, fans will hear takes and storylines that Rose has never before shared. Written while touring with Elephant Revival, yet released well thereafter, The Forgotten Years is a culmination of Dango’s seventeen year journey on the road, inviting us to see elements of his transformation from a different point of view.
For more information on Dango Rose, visit www.dangorose.com and connect with him on Facebook and Instagram.
For more information on Elephant Revival, visit www.elephantrevival.com and follow the band on Facebook and Instagram.