by Nancy E. McCarthy
In 2018, Cortland native James VanDeuson and his girlfriend Rebecca Girouard were living in South Lake Tahoe, CA. VanDeuson, a singer/guitarist, was chasing a music career, and Girouard booked his solo club gigs. He was performing Americana covers and some original tunes when a show patron complimented his song “Black Sheep.” He encouraged VanDeuson, then 24, to write and record an album around it. Then he took it a step further and offered to fund the recording.
It was an astonishing offer. VanDeuson was stunned but gratefully accepted. “It felt like a movie plot,” said Girouard. After recording sessions wrapped up for “Dilation” in 2019, the couple moved back to Manlius, NY and then hit the road. VanDeuson played out songs from his album as they traveled from New England to Georgia.
When Covid hit in 2020 and live performances shut down, they returned to New York. It felt like an end, but there was a second act. VanDeuson would form and front a band, record more albums and play to large festival audiences while Girouard managed their music business.
First act
VanDeuson hadn’t planned to play professionally, but music was a big part of his early life. His father and an uncle, both guitarists, taught VanDeuson the guitar. At 11, he played alongside his dad in bars.
Traditional band and chorus programs at Cortland High School didn’t interest VanDeuson. His musical influences were country-folk artists like John Prine and Townes Van Zandt. He and friends, Jim Hearn and Kyle Dennis, jammed and sang together before, during and after school. “I was 100-percent intimidated by them,” said VanDeuson of Hearn, a guitarist and Dennis, a percussionist/singer. “They were, in my eyes, way better at what they did than me.” They bonded through music but went separate ways to different colleges.
VanDeuson graduated with a BA in renewable energy and ecological design from Green Mountain College in Vermont in 2016. At school he met his future life partner Girouard, an English major and music lover, from Fairfield, CT. They clicked right away.
After graduating, the couple stayed together. VanDeuson worked for an architecture firm in Syracuse but didn’t enjoy it. His happy place was playing local weekend gigs. Meanwhile, Girouard was waitressing. “There were too many career options and any one of them could be the right one,” explained Girouard. “Honestly, I still feel that way. Life is too short to just do one thing.”
It didn’t occur to VanDeuson to pursue a music career. But when his best friend died in a freak accident in December 2017, he gained a new perspective. VanDeuson decided to play music full-time. “If Dustin were alive, I would not be a professional musician,” said VanDeuson. “I basically decided to live when he wasn’t able to any longer.”
Girouard was all in. Together, they impulsively moved to Lake Tahoe. This led to the surprising opportunity to record an album, travel and perform before moving back east to wait out Covid.
Second act: The Rollin’ Rust
The couple settled back in Manlius. VanDeuson had written songs on the road and wanted to make a second album. In April 2021 he reached out to Hearn and Dennis to help him flesh out and record new material.
“James approached me about writing and recording drums for his second record. I was living in Cortland and working a sales job at the time,” said Dennis. Hearn was relocating back home. “Literally the day I moved back from Colorado, within an hour of pulling into Cortland, Kyle asked if I wanted to go play some music with him and James,” said Hearn. He had quit his job, came back to help his mother move and was still figuring out his next steps. “This fell into my lap.”
VanDeuson’s songs were more robust with their input. He still wrote the lyrics and melodies, but Dennis contributed vocal harmonies and instrumentation while Hearn created the guitar riffs which gave some tunes their final direction and sound.
The friends decided to showcase the songs live as a band. They were experienced musicians but unaccustomed to playing gigs as an ensemble. “We decided to say yes to everything in the beginning,” VanDeuson explained. “We had some rust to clean off.” Not ironically, they named themselves The Rollin’ Rust (TRR). After about 30 shows under their belt, they rolled out a Kickstarter campaign and raised $20,000 in December 2021 to fund what was now the band’s debut album.
TRR ushered in 2022 with a high-profile New Year’s Eve gig opening for Driftwood (a national touring band from Binghamton) at the Center for the Arts of Homer. VanDeuson was a longtime fan of the band and befriended its bassist, Joey Acuri.
“James is a beautiful songwriter. He really knows how to craft meaningful and catchy music,” Acuri said. “He is a great lyricist and guitar player as well.”
The group traveled to out-of-town gigs in a school bus that they retrofitted into an RV (more “rollin’ rust”). Girouard, the band’s manager, traveled with them. She booked shows and interviews, handled social media/marketing, photography, videography, merchandise and is often their sound or IEM tech.
The Rollin’ Rust stopped their school bus/RV to take in the view near Thomas, WV. Photo by Rebecca Girouard.
“Rebecca is the CEO, built into our business plan like butter in a cookie recipe,” said VanDeuson. “Our relationship gave my music and the band a place to grow from. The collateral beauty in that is beyond words for me.”
They recorded their LP, “Road Rats,” in February 2022. It was produced by Ben Brodin at Another Recording Co. in Omaha, NE. Brodin had also produced VanDeuson’s solo album. After sessions wrapped up, TRR toured from Cortland to South Carolina and then continued playing shows in New York, Pennsylvania, the New England Region and Ohio.
They were excited when one of their songs “I Never Needed a Good Reason to Go” was added to Spotify’s “Campfire Songs” playlist. “That got the number of plays into the thousands quickly,” said Girouard. Then, in summer 2023, the band performed for large audiences at the Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival of Music & Dance in Trumansburg, NY and Stony Fork Music Fest in Wellsboro, PA.
VanDeuson is a longtime friend of guitarist Chris Merkley who manages Rose Hall, a concert venue in Cortland. Merkley booked TRR to play there several times. “It’s been great to watch the progression of James and of TRR as they’ve matured as musicians individually and grown together as a band,” Merkley said.
Bassist Nash Robb joined TRR in November 2023 and the band just keeps rolling. “We all have a constant buzz and excitement about the future and can’t wait to see where this next year takes us,” Dennis said. TRR is recording a second album with a spring release planned. They look forward to playing their new tunes locally, on the road and at more summer music festivals in 2024.
Visit therollinrust.com for more information. Follow The Rollin’ Rust on Facebook and on Instagram @therollinrustband.
