Widowspeak & Hair: The Brooklyn Band's Five 'Mane' Inspirations

Posted on Jan 31st 2013 3:00PM by Caitlin White
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Andrew Smith

"Hair is awesome. Hair is a big part of our band," declares Robert Earl Thomas, the guitarist of Brooklyn Widowspeak. I spoke to him and singer Molly Hamilton by phone about the importance of coiffed curls in the grander scheme of rock 'n' roll. Both he and Hamilton sport long, dark brown locks: You know, the almost messy, free-swinging strands that have become such a signifier in alternative musical culture.

Rock 'n' roll is in many ways predicated upon the subversion of popular culture and the pursuit of more divergent paths, and for a while, long and messy hair was a symbol of the freedom and subversiveness that rock music encompassed.

"I'm at my most calm and natural, most 'myself' state when my hair is down," Hamilton says. "I get nervous at shows so I think being comfortable is really important for me."

A band named after a foreboding hairline certainly has its reasons. Given the chance to think, the duo easily named five musicians who inspired them both aesthetically and musically.

T.Rex's Marc Bolan

Terry O'Neill, Getty Images

"One of my biggest influences [is] Marc Bolan from T. Rex. He has some awesome hair that looks a little like Molly's hair which is kind of weird. But yeah, he has big hair that helped make the silhouette and just brings out, like, who he is. I think it's a really great example of an iconic hairdo. My favorite song by him is 'Metal Guru' -- I actually have that tattooed on my left arm. It's like a little T.Rex homage. It's nothing big or anything but it's important to me." -- Rob

Dolly Parton

Michael Ochs Archives, Getty Images

"Dolly Parton before the mid '80s. Basically when she was a young country star and it was a lot more about those big huge roller curls and beehive updos -- it's kind of bigger than life. And I love her music and think she's just a great personality, so I think her hair is really admirable. I mean now it's kind of just straight and not as exciting. 'Jolene' is my favorite song by her. That's her best era I think. The cover of that record is also a perfect example of the hair I'm talking about." -- Molly

Keith Richards/Patti Smith

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"It's the same haircut on two different people. It's either Keith Richards in the '70s or Patti Smith -- they both have the same kind of dirty mullet. Patti Smith is pretty rad and the raunchy '70s era Rollling Stones are a huge tone reference for our last record. The way their guitars and organs sounded was definitely something we were going for. And then, it's such the epitome of being like the kind of skeevy awesome '70s rock star. That haircut epitomizes touring in the '70s and all that imagery that we tap into -- that time period -- it's something we try to use. My favorite Patti Smith song is probably her version of 'Gloria.' my favorite Stones song would be 'Tumblin' Dice,' going with a classic from that period. " -- Rob

Stevie Nicks

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"The obvious one, considering we're getting a little comparison for some reason, is Stevie Nicks. She had so many different eras and I feel like Stevie Nicks is sort of personified in her hair -- she was very wild and Fleetwood Mac was the hugest thing on the planet. So it's also kind of weird, she has a little bit of Victorian style, kind of gypsy imagery in all these photos. I like her hair choices, and I also have kind of crazy hair so I like how she handles hers. It's funny because, [in reference to] our album cover, people said we were posed similarly to the Rumours cover. But, as a totally separate influence, she's a really cool icon. Trackwise, I think I'd say 'Gypsy' is my favorite." -- Molly

Elvis Presley

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"One more -- Elvis Presley. We picked one hairstyle that is clean cut and awesome. So coiffed. Before I grew out my long hair, I had really short hair and it was groomed and parted. I wouldn't say that it looked good, but I was definitely trying to move in the Elvis direction. So maybe in my future I will visit that. I have to pick 'Hound Dog' as a favorite song by him because the guitar solo in that song is probably my favorite guitar solo ever. I definitely try to rip that off every time I do a solo." -- Rob

"This is one we can both agree on, because he also endured and had so many different variations on the theme, but it was always consistently combed back somehow. I like the Elvis in Vegas with the sideburns. It was still just so iconically him -- he was still young, spritely and kind of happier. 'Love Me Tender' is my favorite song by him. It's actually an old Civil War song that he just changed all the words to." -- Molly

Watch Widowspeak's "Locusts" Video