Rocky Votolato grew up in Texas, but he spent his late teens in Seattle.
So he actually had the best of two worlds when it came to music.
In Texas, his uncle would visit and play guitar and sing Beatles, Bob Dylan and country covers. In Seattle, Votolato got into punk rock and went to Jawbreaker and Fugazi shows.
"That's when I figured out that's what I wanted to do with my life," Votolato said during a telephone interview from New York City. "Seeing those shows pushed me down this path."
Votolato's early bands, including his most notable group, WaxWing, was heavy and more punk-rock oriented. "But I had a catalog of songs that didn't work out within that sort of band setting."
So Votolato took those mostly acoustic songs and recorded them for a 1999 self-titled solo debut album.
"It was totally stripped down, with me and the acoustic guitar," he said. "My earlier influences started coming out organically."
His new CD, "True Devotion," continues the acoustic/folk and country exploration.
But "True Devotion" was a struggle to record. At the time, Votolato was fighting depression and insecurity.
"I was really having a hard time for the first time in my life," he said. "Usually I am relatively prolific, and it wasn't ever an issue for me with writer's block. But I couldn't write songs. I reached a low point in my life where nothing was working and nothing was flowing. I struggled for about a year to even write songs at all."
His inner turmoil, however, became a blessing in the end, he said.
"I was able to get outside of (songwriting)," he said. "The song 'Lucky Clover Coin' broke the spell of not being able to write songs. When I wrote that song, it opened up the flow again."
Like most singer/songwriters, Votolato's songs are autobiographical, but they're veiled with metaphors and characters.
"I made this record in a pretty dark period in my life," he said. "And I saw it as kind of what I needed to do to get through what was happening to me. But I kind of have a sense of detachment from it as a work of art.
"There is autobiography in it, but it's fiction," he said. "Because of the characters and stories."
"The album as a whole is a concept," he said. "It is a story of someone who is very lost and struggling with issues. And I feel it opens up after the song 'Sparklers,' (where) the rest of the album is based on a sense of enlightenment.
"Throughout the process, I adopted this perspective that tells me in order to write anything good and meaningful, I have to get out of the way and let it happen. It can't be forced."
If you go...
What: Rocky Votolato, Adam H. Stephens
Where: Velour, 135 N. University Ave., Provo
When: March 11, 7 p.m.
How much: $12-$15
Phone: 801-467-8499, 800-888-8499
Web: www.smithstix.com
e-mail: scott@desnews.com