Daniel Botkin, Cooper Trail and Bill Tracy are musicians in Moscow who have experimented with music, produced it and made connections in the industry in Moscow and Pullman. Their efforts have allowed them to release their music on streaming services and have sent them out on tours to share their music across the Pacific Northwest and beyond.
Photo courtesy of Cory Summers
Botkin came to the area for school. He attended the University of Idaho and studied graphic design. He now lives in Moscow with his wife and three kids. During his time in college, Botkin and his friends Chris Lowe and Jason Oliveira formed the band Runaway Symphony. Botkin is the lead vocalist, Lowe is the guitarist and Oliveira plays drums. Later on, they met AJ Stevens who plays bass and acts as the band’s audio engineer.
As a kid, Botkin was shy and had huge stage fright. “It’s funny because I would sing a lot just on my own but once I came to college, I was more interested in performing and stuff and it was kind of a surprise for my family,” he said.
An open mic night at Moscow Alehouse was Botkin’s first performance. He would participate in open mics at other local businesses where he met others who were in the same boat as him: people who were trying to figure out how to write songs. These events gave Botkin a community. He even met Lowe at an open mic night.
Lowe and Botkin started collaborating on music and then Lowe invited Botkin into a band he and Oliveira were in as a bass player. Eventually that band broke up and left the three of them to create a new band, Runaway Symphony.
When discussing the genre of Runaway Symphony, Botkin said, “If I have to put a label on it, I would say cinematic indie rock.” Botkin had a lot of folk influences growing up. He listened to Prairie Home Companion and Inland Folk on the radio. Inland Folk was “an old radio show that they used to broadcast at WSU.”
“We found our sound by really focusing on telling stories through our music. And so that’s where some of the cinematic elements come in and trying to build these dynamic worlds for the songs to live in,” Botkin said.
For the last decade since being in the band, Botkin has tried to learn more about music production. The band started DIY-style by recording demos on a laptop because it was what they could afford. For the last album the band released in 2021, they rented some time at a studio. In total, Runaway Symphony has three full-length albums that are available to listen to on Spotify and other streaming services.
In the band’s early years, Runaway Symphony toured because they were in college and had summers off. They travelled from Oklahoma to the South, then up the coast through California. Since then, they’ve done regional shows mainly in Idaho, Washington and Oregon.
With having families and busy lives of their own, the band hasn’t been able to work together or perform as often. As of now, there are no plans for an album but they’ll continue to work on music in some capacity.
Photo courtesy of Desolation Horse
Cooper Trail is another musician living in Moscow. He grew up in Moscow, moved to Astoria, Oregon, then moved back to the Palouse. He is studying English at UI.
As a kid, Trail played piano and drums in his church’s band. In junior high, he met Bart Budwig. Budwig was and still is a songwriter and audio engineer and he welcomed Trail into the world of playing live shows, writing and recording music.
After high school, Trail started touring as a drummer for different bands. He also did studio work for songwriters.
Right before the coronavirus pandemic began in 2020, Trail had about a year of shows booked, which were all canceled. Because of this, he moved back to continue school. Around this time is when he created the band Desolation Horse.
Trail describes Desolation Horse as “a solo project where I write the songs and record usually with one other person… So I usually track the albums by myself with one engineer. And there’s a live band, too.” The live band members for Desolation Horse include bassist Corey Oglesby, guitarist Joe Marsh and drummer Bill Tracy. Nevada Sowle has been Trail’s audio engineer.
Trail has been inspired by artists like Simon and Garfunkel and Velvet Underground. Some other bands that are important to him are ones from the Pacific Northwest that were more active when he was growing up like The Shins, Death Cab for Cutie and Fleet Foxes. “I like writing about traveling or visiting friends, nothing crazy. I like writing about partying with your friends but also the more hidden feelings that go along beneath all of that stuff.” Trail said the genre of Desolation Horse is post-Americana.
Desolation Horse has released three albums. Trail has studio time booked in January and is hoping for this recording to be more collaborative.
They can tour in the summer and play occasionally throughout the rest of the year. Most of their shows are in the PNW. Trail would like to live in the Pacific Northwest after college because many of the people he knows through creating music live and play in this area. He wants to keep doing music for as long as possible.
Photo courtesy of Mother Yeti
Bill Tracy, one of Desolation Horse’s live band members, has his own separate band called Mother Yeti. Tracy grew up in Eagle, Idaho. He attended Boise State University for a year before transferring to UI.
The first instrument he learned to play was a violin, and he played in a few orchestras around his hometown. Tracy said he felt embarrassed playing violin so he told his parents he wanted to play guitar. “I also had a little electric drum set that I played on all the time, I just became obsessed with rock and roll, all the classic rock. AC/DC was my biggest influence, and Led Zeppelin,” Tracy said.
“I even had a crazy friend who threatened me, like he’d break my arm if I had ever stopped, and I’m like ‘Okay, alright, I guess I’ll keep playing music.’”
At UI, Tracy and his friend James Macfie would jam together and play at house parties. At that time, Tracy said he had no idea what he was doing. They didn’t get much attention, but there were people in his life who saw his talent and told him not to stop playing. “I even had a crazy friend who threatened me, like he’d break my arm if I had ever stopped, and I’m like ‘Okay, alright, I guess I’ll keep playing music,’” Tracy said.
It took a while for Tracy to write songs and lyrics and be comfortable singing. It wasn’t until his friend Zack Degler helped him that he could formulate songs. When they started the band Mother Yeti, Degler would do most of the singing. They played a few shows in 2012, then Tracy found a bass player named Mike Halladay. After that, there were multiple versions of the band, as members have come and gone.
Photo courtesy of Cory Summers
Tracy and Degler wrote and recorded Mother Yeti’s early music, “cheaply and terribly,” said Tracy.
Tracy graduated from UI in 2013 with a bachelor’s degree in broadcasting and digital media. He now works at Washington State University as a media producer. He still works on the side playing music and gigs.
Mother Yeti is made up of Bill Tracy on guitar and vocals, Corey Oglesby on guitar, Joe Marsh on bass and Jim Rizzuto on drums. Now, they are focusing on recording music. They have a few new songs but not a full album.
Even with all of these musicians having lives and careers outside of the music industry, they make strong and rewarding efforts to also spend time with their creative outlets. The community in this area has had a great impact on the musicians and the connections that they made throughout their careers.