After 15 years as a band, The Rough & Tumble can say they’ve seen the continental United States forwards and backwards, up and down, inside and out. They’ve bounced between Atlantic and Pacific, Gulf Coast to the Great Lakes and have seen the sheer magnitude of the National Parks from Acadia to Yosemite. They’ve walked their mastiffs along the Rio Grande, up Mount Ascutney and through the Flint Hills of Kansas. When a hail storm interrupted their swim in the Black Hills, they ran for cover with a bunch of bikers on their way to Sturgis and hid out from tornadoes in basements and public bathrooms from Tennessee to Minnesota. They have never hopped a train but have parked their camper for the night next to many train tracks. They’ve woken up on the sides of one lane roads up steep Sierras and next to dumpsters in back of the venue they played the night before. They’ve done yoga at gas stations and have been kissed by a wolf in Colorado. They’ve seen Salt Lake City at night, high on a mountain, the lights of the city reflecting the expanse of the milky way above them and they’ll tell you that it filled them with that wide open wonder that you can only find in the high desert. They’ll tell you they were only there because they were sleeping in the Wal-Mart parking lot and if you looked down you’d see spent hypodermic needles in the sage brush. They’ve found common ground with people they disagree with, sung atheist hymns in Church, and have more than once mourned with those they met only minutes before. They once found a hamster on a glue trap in FL and after scraping her off, named her Goo and traveled with her for 3 years. They’ve made a life as independent musicians and they’ll be the first to say it’s because of the kindness of strangers who, after showing up night after night, have become friends.
This is the United States as seen by a tiny traveling folk band and this unique perspective and imagery fills the songs of The Rough & Tumble.
Mallory Graham and Scott Tyler formed The Rough & Tumble in 2011 and that decision quickly turned their life upside down. By 2015 they were living full-time in a 16ft camper with their first dog Butter, by 2016 they were married, and playing over 150 shows all over the country. This itinerant lifestyle suited them and allowed for diverse experiences to pour into their songs and flavor their interests. They’ve got a theory that an audience doesn’t care about your music if you don’t care about your audience. And so The Rough & Tumble have made it a point to get to know their fans and learn about the places they play.
Their musicianship has always been a little eclectic; incorporating accordions, ukuleles, guitars and nose-flutes and oddball percussion into a thriftstore Americana that leans on bluegrass as well as rock n’roll, all while maintaining the powerful, teardrop-in-the-throat vocals they’re known for. They’ve become a not-to-miss band when they tour through town. After releasing an EP or an album almost every year since 2011, there is enough material where you won’t see the same show twice. It’s this searching and constant evolving that has kept them working all these years, responding to the social climate and their own personal lives with stark honesty and their songs carry the emotional resonance of that reality.
There are plenty of points of entry for The Rough & Tumble; folky familial heartache? Try 2021’s We’re Only Family If You Say So. Raucous Americana? 2023’s Only This Far is for you. Looking for cold, sad songs about grief for the short days of the year? Check out the most recent EP, Winter Hare, recorded with friends and frequent collaborators The Honey Badgers. Or maybe you’re like one of the many who resonated with the message of unity and radical, irreproachable love on the humanist gospel album, Hymns For My Atheist Sister and Her Friends To Sing Along To. It’s also possible that you’re just not even into their music, but instead enjoy the dog photos, funny stories, handbound books by Mallory or vegetarian recipes they post in their very active Patreon and social media communities. There’s plenty there that isn’t music, including essays, creative writing and the radio-drama styled Penny Jar Story Theatre. Whatever way you found your way to The Rough & Tumble, they’re just glad you’re here.
While these two now make their home in a cabin in a little town in the foothills of New Hampshire’s White Mountains, they still spend at least half the year on the road. You can find them playing listening rooms and festivals across the country, house concerts on the sides of mountains and cozying up at your local coffeeshop the morning after a show.
A List of Some Notable Accomplishments:
2025: Successful months-long tours with The Honey Badgers and Flagship Romance
Hosted first Weekend Spooctacular in our home town, a weekend of music and immersive New England experiences.
Released Winter Hare
2024: Atheist Sister goes semi viral on Tik-Tok with over 110,000 views
Released Hymns For My Atheist Sister and Her Friends to Sing Along To featuring Flagship Romance, Ordinary Elephant, Dave Coleman, Sam Robbins, Halley Neal, Alice Wallace, The Honey Badgers
2023: Old Coleman camper breaks down for the last time and a new Casita was
purchased outright after raising $22,000 from a crowdfunding campaign
Received the Iguana Fund grant from Club Passim to purchase new equipment for their home studio, affectionately called Random Bark Studios.
Released Only This Far
2022: Scott and Mallory move to New Hampshire
Released Love is Gross…but it looks good on you
2021: Found a hamster on a glue trap and named her Goo.
Released We’re Only Family if You Say So
2020: Two week tour with Canadian Folk Duo, Piper and Carson, before the world shut down. Cancelled a whole year of shows, but found an audience online. Wrote a lot and developed new hobbies like bookbinding and printmaking. Scott joined the Yamaha Ambassador Program and was given a Yamaha Red Label FS5 which he plays to this day.
Released home recordings Everything Goes Viral But My Band
Released two singles on Dutch Baby Records
2019: “The Hardest Part” won the Independent Music Award’s Americana Song of the Year.
Released Howling Back at the Wounded Dog
Got their dog MagPie Mae.
2018: Released We Made Ourselves a Home When We Didn’t Know, funded by a successful Kickstarter Campaign
2017: Released Cardboard and Christmas Lights, via Rock Candy Records.
2016: “Pieces and Pieces” featured on Welcome To Nightvale
Got their dog, MudPuddle.
Got married on leap year day.
Released Pieces and Pieces, for like named film by Alyssa Pearson.
2015: Moved into a 16ft camper and hit the road as full-time musicians.
Contributed to the Nashville star-studded Book/Album Based On: Nashville
2013-2014: Released The Rough & Tumble’s Holiday Awareness Campaign, funded by a successful Kickstarter Campaign.
2012: Played the International Biscuit Festival and thought they hit it big with a $400 guarantee.
2011: Formed band and released 3 EP’s in the first year.
Festivals played: 30A, Mile of Music, Nor-East’r, Sioux River Folk Festival, Campfire Festival, Thumbfest, Ossipee Valley Music Festival, Falcon Ridge, South Florida Folk Festival, Black Bear Americana Festival,
Official Showcase artists at Folk Alliance International, SERFA, NERFA.
Grant recipient Iguana Fund from Club Passim
