The Ghost Wolves
Sat., March 21, Saxon Pub, 10:30pm
Singing slide fuzz guitar wraith Carley Wolf of Austin garage-blues duo Ghost Wolves was raised by wolves in Fredericksburg. Or at least among them.
“Wolves, wolf hybrids, a lot of rescues,” she enumerates. “My dad always took in wounded animals. He got into rescuing northern breed dogs, wolf hybrid dogs, and sort of developed his own bloodline over the last 30 years or so, basically breeding and raising them by hand.”
Sitting in my East Austin living room with her and husband Jonny Wolf, the duo’s Keith Moon-esque drum destroyer, is Winter. An impressively large white specimen of Carley’s father’s line, the gentle beast is the Ghost Wolves’ spirit animal. He’s descended from Ice, who died as they formed. Ice inspired the band’s name.
Founded in 2010 when the couple tired of being apart as their then-respective bands toured, they didn’t have Jack and Meg in mind. Instead, they formulated their mutant Delta fuzz-stomp from Jonny’s articulate tub-smashing, Carley’s witchy woman wail and bottleneck frenzy (sometimes from a one-string guitar), and vintage rockabilly.
“That’s how we got started,” acknowledges Jonny, “covering Ronnie Dawson’s songs. She knew about him since she was a kid. She introduced me to him, and it just trickled down. You can do that stuff and punk it up, play it harder. Those things can all go into the same pot.”
Enough songs eventually budded to take on venues like Hole in the Wall and Momo’s, and issue an EP, In Ya Neck, for local Pau Wau Records, followed by Getchya Hip Thrust. Collaborating along the way with legends like Bushwick Bill, a slot on an Alejandro Escovedo Continental Club Sunday during SXSW 2013 led to inking with rising Nashville indie Plowboy Records. 2014’s resultant full-length debut, Man, Woman, Beast, was chock-full of what Jonny terms “female power” anthems.
“Dangerous females,” he admires. “We’ve always had some of them in our families, and we’ve always been inspired by them.”
Between Carley’s clothing designs being peddled by Tokyo fashion house Hysteric Glamour and songwriting sessions for the next LP is the seemingly endless Ghost Wolves tour, with Winter working as “van security.”
“He hangs out by the merch table, takes pictures with the fans,” smiles Jonny.
“Who can resist that face?” yelps Carley.
This article appears in March 6 • 2015.
