'The Brag & Cuss' marks a major turning point in Rocky Votolato's career. Unlike the minimal acoustic guitar and vocals of his breakthrough 'Makers', it's very much a band record. Featuring a group of exceptionally talented musicians - James McAllister (Sufjan Stevens), Bill Herzog (Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter), Casey Foubert (Pedro the Lion), and Rick Steff (Cat Power, Hank Williams, Jr.) - the album ventures at times into the classic country territory of lovers, drinkers, and the distant oasis of a truck stop on a stretch of dark highway. If 'Makers' was his fi rst giant step up, then 'The Brag & Cuss' marks his arrival as a major force in American songwriting.