Sound Tribe said it best; “The only constant in life is change”. I must admit, my heart sank in a similar fashion to that of being dumped when I first read the STS9 announcement that David “Murph” Murphy was leaving the band. However, their newest addition Alana Rocklin seems pretty damn promising, and the new era of Tribe is looking bright with the new addition.
Alana Rocklin is notorious for her fierce groove and electric onstage energy. The woman has dominated the industry over the years, from touring with My Morning Jacket frontman, Jim James, to filling the role as official bassist to Grammy-winning producers the J.U.S.T.I.C.E League. Prior to joining STS9, Rocklin was already affiliated with 1320 Records through her project with Brad Bowden known as Sub-ID.
The band made their debut with Rocklin as bassist at McDowell Mountain Music Festival last weekend. Their set appropriately opened with Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good” with the lyrics stating: “It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day, it’s a new life for me and I’m feeling good”. Unfortunately for me, making it to the occasion wasn’t in the cards, but I’ve since then rocked out hard to the recorded set; I might have even teared up a little bit in a few of the spots.