Iris Marlowe - From Hell to Honky Tonk | Dark Country Revolution | Rugged Revival
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There's a particular kind of honesty that comes from someone who knows they don't fit in—and never will. Iris Marlowe, self-proclaimed Devil's Favorite Country Band, carries that knowledge the way some people carry their names. Growing up in Lacon, Illinois, a two-stoplight town where the Casey's gas station doubled as the cultural epicenter, she was always going to be the girl with the pink hair wearing an onion shirt, trying to make sense of a place that had no use for her particular brand of peculiarity. But that mismatch between herself and her surroundings didn't break her. It made her.
This is what drives so much of what makes Iris Marlowe's music compelling: she writes from the margins, from the spaces where traditional country music has never bothered to look. While so much modern Americana trades in the safe nostalgia of trucks and beer and dusty highways, Marlowe is interested in ghost stories, the occult, and the darker corners of human experience. Her music doesn't ignore the pain and strangeness of existence—it leans directly into it, with the kind of gothic sensibility that country music desperately needs more of.
I call myself the Devil's Favorite Country Band.
— Iris Marlowe
In a recent conversation with Cam at the Rugged Revival, Marlowe traced the winding path that led her to music, and more specifically, to the kind of music only she seems willing to make. The journey itself is instructive. She spent her childhood pleading with her parents to let her play guitar instead of enduring piano lessons she despised. For over a decade, she begged. Her parents, remembering one half-hearted attempt at karate, dismissed her pleas as another passing whim. It wasn't until she was sixteen that they finally relented, convinced by sheer persistence that maybe, just maybe, this time she meant it. She did. By twenty-eight, she'd added banjo to her arsenal, and somewhere along the way, she acquired a theremin she's still learning to master—though perhaps the instrument's otherworldly wail suits her perfectly.
What's striking about Marlowe's journey isn't just the instruments, but her relationship with the act of creation itself. For years, she wrote songs in isolation, convinced they'd never amount to anything. She imagined herself as a bedroom guitarist, one of those solitary figures who pour themselves into music purely for private catharsis. In 2018, everything changed when she met a sound engineer who believed in what she was doing. Within a year, she was performing for the first time at an open mic night, terrified and exhilarated. Since then, she's assembled what she describes as "the world's nicest band"—a collection of people who share her vision of what country music can be when you stop apologizing for your darkness.
I knew I was never going to stay there, and someone wearing an onion shirt with pink hair probably doesn't fit in that sort of atmosphere.
— Iris Marlowe
This matters because country music, at its roots, has always dealt with darkness. It's just been trained to dress it up in softer language. Marlowe removes the costume entirely. Her music speaks directly to what drives people to the margins: alienation, spiritual hunger, the seductive power of transgression. She's not interested in redemption arcs that feel unearned or in pretending that faith arrives as easily as it does in gospel country. Instead, she's building something new within the tradition—a dark country revolution that takes the genre's best instincts and pushes them toward unexplored territory.
For anyone who's grown tired of country music that asks nothing difficult of its listeners, Iris Marlowe represents a necessary correction. She's what happens when you give the girl from the two-stoplight town permission to make exactly the music she wants, apologies to no one. The full episode with Marlowe at the Rugged Revival is essential listening for anyone curious about where alternative country is headed, and where its bravest voices are leading it.
I'll help you. I'll help you. Start a revolution for this Monday morning love situation. Hey, what's up everybody? This is Cam, aka the Honky Tonk Hair Machine for the Rugged Revival. Who am I with today? Hi, my name is Iris Marlowe and I like to call myself the Devil's Favorite Country Band. All right, well thanks for sitting down with me. I appreciate it. Thank you for having me. So, all right, I like to um start with this question. It gives us like a bit of a peek behind the curtain of who you are. You can answer in-depth or as little as you want, but um where are you from and what was life like for you as a kid? So, I grew up in a really small town in Central Illinois. It's called Lacon, rhymes with bacon. Two stoplight sort of town, middle of nowhere. Casey's gas station was the hot spot. That sort of town and uh it was very interesting growing up there because on the one hand, I think it gave me a good imagination because there was nothing to do. But then also, I craved bigger community and the big city and I knew I was never going to stay there. And I think, you know, someone who's wearing like an onion shirt with pink hair probably doesn't fit in really in that sort of atmosphere, but um I made it work and I think there was some some positives, but I'm in Chicago now and it's the best thing that's ever happened to my life was moving here. Fantastic. I love that. That's really cool. So, are you um are you strictly guitar or are you on banjo as well? So, I play mostly guitar, but then I do some rhythm banjo on some of our tracks and once in a while you'll catch me on my autoharp. And I did buy a theremin, but I am absolutely terrible at it. I have no concept of how to use it at this point. So, I'm I'm going to try to bring that into my music at some point, too. Well, I mean, you know, as you know with your instruments, it all just takes time, and I'm sure you'll get there. Yeah, it's weird with the theremin, though, cuz there's no um distinct sort of way to tell where you're at sometimes, so I need to really figure out like to use that. Yeah, it's cool. So, take us back, if you don't mind. When did you start playing guitar, and when did you start playing the banjo? So, guitar, um I always played piano as a kid, so I learned piano starting at the age of 3, and I hated it. I just I always knew I wanted to play guitar, and I begged my parents. I was like, "Please, let me play guitar." And they always referenced the one time I tried karate and hated it, so they're like, "It's just going to be another karate situation. You're going to chop a piece of wood and never want to do it again." So, I think it was around 16 when I started taking lessons, and I think my parents were like, "Okay, she hasn't shut up about the guitar for 10 plus years, so we might as well let her try." So, 16, I started taking lessons, and then banjo, I didn't start playing until I was 28, I believe. Cool. It's funny you mentioned the um the guitar thing. Like, one of my oldest one of my daughters, the oldest one, she always dabbles in little things here and there, and um she wants to get in the hockey now, which is great. Totally support it. We also have like, "Well, you tried this, you tried that," you know. Exactly. It's such a parent thing. It's really funny. Yeah, I think my parents were like trying to get me into sports. I'm relatively tall, so I think my parents were like, "She's going to be really good at volleyball or basketball or softball." And I was terrible at every single thing I tried. Um cheerleading, I was only good because I was loud, so they would just put me in the back. Um Um, I sucked at everything when it came to that, so I think my parents are finally like, you know what, we should let her try the art the art thing and see where that goes. That's right. You got to find your talents. So, when did you start um, taking your music to the stage, you know, and like did you start in any other bands or cover bands or anything like that? So, I started taking my music seriously, I think around 2018. I was writing a lot of songs for about five years and I just kind of thought I would never make anything of them. Like I didn't ever picture myself with a band and I just always thought I was just going to be a bedroom guitar player, like someone that just makes songs and never performs a day in their life. And then it was it was 2018 when I met my sound engineer and he was the first person that really believed in what I was doing and we've been working ever since. But, the first time I performed was 2019 at open mic and I had never performed my music in front of anybody before and it's kind of just been uphill since and I found a group of people that I love playing music with and I never thought I'd have a band, but now I have the world's nicest band and greatest people to work with, so I I truly feel blessed in a in a Satan sort of way, not in a God way. Got you. Yeah, we have room for all things Western Goth around here, so that's great. Yeah, not blessed in the godly way. So, you have as a performer, you have your hands full and I've seen some of your clips. Um, you're playing guitar, you're singing, you're putting on a hell of a show. What are some of your biggest challenges that you face when you're trying to bring all that to the stage? You know, I I I it it's really important for me in this kind of niche genre that I play to be entertaining is like the first thing. So, I I'm day-to-day I'm kind of a shy, awkward sort of person. So, I want to make sure that doesn't really show on stage. That's like my number one thing is I have to like I want to be seen as powerful when I'm on stage. And that to me is more entertaining. And sometimes in the country genre it's really hard to to not uh stay in one spot on stage. So, I wanted to make music that I could run around and like get the audience involved and it's with being a more crazy performer running around on stage, I notice I make more mistakes with playing, but my band always picks up where I lack in that department. So, any challenges my band they're really supportive and have my back. So, they're the best. I think that's true. You know, I remember reading an interview with uh Doyle from the Misfits and he said, you know, if you want to hear the record, you've got the record. We put time in the studio, you know, I'm paraphrasing of course. You put time in the studio, you're you're fleshing it out, you're getting the perfect song. You come see the live show and you're going to get the raw, the real. I might break some guitar strings. Hell, I might fall off the stage, you know. I I have fallen off the stage before. I have forgotten lyrics. I have broken strings on stage. But to me, I actually think we're better live just because in the studio I'm very like go go go and there's not a lot of time for mistakes in the studio with me. So, I think seeing us live is just more fun even though I have fallen off stage. I have fallen on my ass on stage and people thought it was for the show. Like, you know. So, the mistakes happen quite often, but they're kind of hidden by my very, very talented bandmates and my spring to action. Sometimes I'll just pretend like, "Oh, I didn't fall off the stage. You blinked and saw an apparition. That wasn't me." That's right. And you just got back up there and made it happen. >> So, I think you have a pretty wide range of influences. So, if you don't mind sharing, who were some of your biggest like country and folk versus non-country folk and bluegrass influences for everything that makes up who you are? So, for country, I grew up on Johnny Cash like a lot of people, Merle Haggard, I love Marty Robbins, Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, you know, the classics of course. But then I I also I when I started writing more country music in my 20s, I I really loved Kacey Musgraves, Orville Peck, um yeah, just even some of the newer country artists that really caught my I mean, Sierra Ferrell, of course, Charley Crockett. So, yeah, and my non-musical like my non-country musical influences, I think actually impact me more because for a really long time, I didn't want to write country music. I was like, "I'm from the country. I don't want to write country music." But then, I started realizing that my non-country influences almost inspired me more. Yes. So, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Tom Waits, Lana Del Rey, Stevie Nicks, um Twin Temple, which is like probably my all-time favorite band, but those influences, I was like, "Man, there's something lacking in the country music scene where we could have a little bit more darker subject matter, but still have it be linked to country music and the sound that I felt there was kind of lacking." I was like, "Oh, we need the Goths need something." There's a few few gothic country artists for sure, but there can always be a little more. Well, if you're not familiar with um the Fields of the Nephilim, I think that'd be a great band for you to get into. I can send you a link. Yeah, I'll send you a link. >> do. Yeah, no, I've never heard of them. I would love to listen to it. Yeah, I think that'll be a a little bit of a a mind-blowing experience for you. They They when I first heard them and I saw these guys with like a western goth style and bringing like a heavy tone to it all, but still had that like, you know, kind of cowboy tough thing going on. Yeah. They They They bring all the black metal and the goth rock and the country stuff all together. It's I'll send I'll send you a link. That'll be cool. Please do. That sounds awesome. So, Iris, have you done a lot of touring? And if you haven't, where would you like to go? So, I I have done some touring. It's mostly in the Midwest and East Coast. I would love love to do a Southwest tour. That's like on my agenda, you know, Phoenix, Arizona, like New Mexico. I would love to go all in that area. I would also love to go to Montana, which is strange, but for some reason I feel like it'd be fun to bring our music up to a place that doesn't normally hear it. Um but I would honestly I would go anywhere. Yeah, I think that'd be pretty awesome. You know, hit the hit those markets that don't normally Like when I was touring a lot in a punk band, we don't we you know, everybody goes to the big cities, you know? >> So, we want to go to the small spots where people aren't going. Kids are bored. So, we would go play, you know, in Berryville, Virginia and fill a gymnasium with people cuz they're like, "Let's go see the punk band. There's nothing else going on." Honestly, I'm from a town that had nothing to do. And when we would have somewhat big artists come down in that area, it was like the coolest thing ever. So, I would love to do that as well. We went to um Struthers Theatre, which is in Warren, Pennsylvania, which is like a super small town, but the whole town showed up to see us and it was just That sort of vibe is exactly what I love because it is kind of going to an area where it's not that they're forgotten, but they they're not really as reached out to by musicians or art or things like that. So, it was I would love to do more shows like that, too. Bring me back to Peoria, Illinois, you know. Great. Yep, I get that for sure. So, you know, of course, when I'm listening, you know, being in the fashion industry my whole adult life, the first thing I >> are awesome, by the way. I'm always like I'm I'm like that's a great outfit. That's a great outfit. Which is high praise coming from you because I was going to say that's the first thing I see is somebody's look, you know, I mean, as shallow as that is, the first thing I see is that, you know, but I love my my guys that dress it down, too. You know, my you know, my flannels, my my my work boots, but when I see something a little flashy, you know, I can't help it because of just what I do for a living. So, tell me, what are some of your favorite go-to on stage outfits? So, I do love a classic western button-up pearl snap with the fringe, kind of like what I'm wearing right now. Mhm. But what I'll do with like the top is I do a lot of hand embroidery. So, like this one I put onions on it. Just strings onions to me, but a lot of times I'll bring like a classic vintage western shirt and pair it with a non-conventional pant, skirt, shorts, fishnets, big like gothic platform boots, sometimes cowboy boots. I like to mix kind of the traditional western look with a little bit of edge because I think that fits our our music pretty perfectly and I think it also makes people feel less concerned to hear something like our music or like they're they're less weary if they see kind of like a somewhat traditional presentation with some of the Western wear. But then they hear the music and they're like, "Oh my god, this is this is not traditional." I think it helps bring people together with the clothing and Yep. I really like making eccentric Western wear cuz I feel like there's a little bit of that lacking. Like there's a lot of florals, horseshoes, beautiful designs, but I wanted something a little bit different. So I learned chain stitch mostly to make my own stage clothes. Which has all looked really incredible. I mean, the the shirt you have on now is awesome. And you've done a lot. Like I've been following this journey and there's some really cool stuff that you've put together. Yeah, I took it up a little over a year ago. So it's been a lot of learning and I'm always really touched and blown away by people and their support with the clothes cuz I honestly posted it just because I thought it was fun and the reception has been really, really really unexpected and kind and just really inspiring. It makes me want to make more. I have a whole stack in my corner over here just like staring at me waiting to be made. So That's so cool. >> really cool journey. Are you also applying the the fringe yourself? Are you doing that too? Sometimes yes. This one came with fringe, but I would say most of the shirts I have that have fringe, I have added myself. This one just happened to come with it, which was nice cuz that's the one thing I don't like is adding fringe. It's kind of annoying to deal with. Yeah, that look that looks like it could be quite And you have to like work with the contour of your body a little bit too. Yes, and sometimes I think it's I'll try to hide it with piping like the seam lines and things and that's also frustrating because the fringe like sneaks out. So then sometimes I have to redo it two or three times and so I'm like, "Oh, I really like it when a fringe is already on the shirt." which is not super common with the ones I find, unfortunately. I'm sure you're all familiar with India Ramey. Yeah, I think >> Love love her. Yeah, your your style reminds me a little bit of that and I I believe she makes a lot of her own stuff, too, if I'm not mistaken. Yes, we um we talk back and forth about embroidery sometimes and she's come up to Chicago quite a few times in the last couple years and I always go to her shows. I think she is so amazing, talented, a great songwriter. I find that I have a lot of her songs stuck in my head on a on a loop. That's awesome. That's really cool. Um well, you know what? Like I said, we keep it short and sweet and this kind of brings us to the end of the road. Is there anything Yeah, is there anything you would like to promote, show, album, new shirts? Yeah, um so our album Dead by Dawn, which is a spaghetti western, gothic grunge, country record inspired by inspired by the Evil Dead movies, is out now. Um we're working on two singles that are going to be released this year. Don't have dates on those yet. We're going to be working on our next album next year, but I'm also opening my Etsy store for westernwear embroidery and that's called Made by Marlo on Etsy. So that's that's what's happening over here. I you know what? I was like gushing expecting for you to do that. That's so great. I'm I'm so stoked you're doing that. >> Thank you. I um I honestly I didn't think people would really care, but then there was a lot of messages and DMs and people insisting I saw it, so I was like it honestly just started as a hobby, but if I can make people happy with my art, I that's my that's the best joy in life. So, whether that's music, embroidery, my weird clown paintings I also do, which you can't see any of them here, but Well, Iris, uh hang on the line with me for just a minute longer, but I'm going to hang up. I'm going to let you go, and thank you so much for sitting down with me. >> Thank you for having me.
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