Juan Wauters at Rozz-Tox -- June 8.
Thursday, June 8, 8 p.m.
Rozz-Tox, 2108 Third Avenue, Rock Island IL
Lauded by Clash magazine as an artist who "is able to blend surrealistic aspects with melodies dappled in light," Uruguayan indie singer/songwriter Juan Wauters headlines a June 8 concert at Rock Island's Rozz-Tox in support of his June 2 release Wandering Rebel, a work described on Badcamp as one that "attempts to reconcile the stability he's come to enjoy with the nomadic restlessness that's characterized his life thus far."
At stated at AllMusic.com, " Wauters was born in Uruguay and left in 2002 to join his father, who had migrated to New York for work a few years prior. While working in a factory, Wauters turned to music and socializing to alleviate the boredom and loneliness he was feeling in his otherwise drab working life. He met José Garcia in 2004 when they were both enrolled in a community college art class, and the two formed the ... garage act the Beets, who would go on to release several albums on Brooklyn indie label Captured Tracks beginning in 2009.
In 2014, Wauters stepped out on his own with his first solo album, NAP: North American Poetry, a much gentler approach to skewed folk than the often-demented Luddite garage rock of the Beets. The next year, he collaborated with like-minded artist and tourmate Carmelle Safdie on a short EP, Wearing Leather, Wearing Fur. The brief collection of songs featured lead appearances from both songwriters and was issued by Captured Tracks under the moniker Juan Wauters & Carmelle. Wauters' second solo full-length, Who Me?, was recorded toward the end of 2014 and released by Captured Tracks in May 2015.
"Over the course of the next several years, Wauters was involved in an independent film being shot in Argentina and spent some time traveling around Latin America. During his travels he would find collaborators in each city and record songs with his new friends, resulting in the album La Onda de Juan Pablo, which was released in January 2019 on Captured Tracks. He followed it in May with Introducing Juan Pablo, a collection of songs recorded between 2015 and 2016, intended as a prequel to the travelogue of La Onda de Juan Pablo. Prior to the 2020 pandemic and ensuing quarantine, Wauters had begun traveling the U.S., applying a similar collaborative approach with artists ranging from Mac DeMarco to Cola Boyy and Nick Hakim. The resulting 2021 album, Real Life Situations, combined these travel sessions with field recordings and intimate solo tracks from his New York home."
Juan Wauters headlines his Rock Island engagement on June 8 with an additional set by Mountain Swallower, admission to the 8 p.m. concert is $15-20, and more information and tickets are available by calling (309)200-0978 and visiting RozzTox.com.
