Ranging from heavy sounds of doom rock, ambient shoegaze, and everything in between; the sweet and sour music of Natural Rat has become a staple of the Northern West Virginia music scene. Kelsie Cannon, the band’s creator is no different, as she has solidified herself as a creator with influences that outstretch the basements, bars, clubs, and backyards that she has performed in.
Anyone invested in the rock scene of West Virginia will find the name hard to avoid. With a career that started with Appalachian art zines and eventually into her own music career, Cannon has woven herself into the world of rock, sludge, and noise, with a sound reminiscent of a cowboy that found a fuzz pedal.
Cannon found the beginning of her career around 2017 when she started working as a poet with the Travelin’ Appalachians Revue: a zine created in Morgantown that focused on both creating and covering the arts across parts of Carolina up to Pennsylvania.
“They would take writers, people who wrote stories or poetry, and musicians and we would travel around Appalachia for like a week in my van, and we’d go to different places, about 8 of us, and we’d perform these weird, hodge podge performances. Someone would read their poetry, someone would read stories, some would sing. And I started in that as a writer, reading poetry. Then one night we were playing at a big theater in Fayetteville, West Virginia and then they really need more musical performances to take up more time, so my first show ever was at that theater, and I played a solo performance. It was terrifying and I never went back, but I played music for the rest of my life.”
Kelsie Cannon
Cannon continued playing music by herself around Morgantown, but as she kept being asked to perform with bigger, louder bands, she realized she needed more from her live performances. Then, for a performance with Roswell Kid, the first iteration of her full band, Natural Rat was formed with the addition of bass, keys, and drums.
“When we first started, I didn’t know how to describe us. I really like metal bands and I
really like doom music,” said Cannon. “Crazy stuff that’s like really heavy, but I’m also singing. So, I know I like to incorporate little notes of that but at the same time a lot of what I write is a lot lighter and airy on the guitar. I’ve had it described as ‘doom pop’ or even ‘sludge pop’ stuck as well, but realistically it’s more along the line of shoegaze.”
With the release of three popular EP’s Cannon grew in local popularity to where she is now, with songs such as “Dateline”, “Cowboy Underwater”, and “Miata Song.” Now, after a two-year hiatus from recording new music, Cannon has begun working on new releases with Trinity Island Studio in Pittsburg. Natural Rat will not see the stage for a couple months until a full-length album is released. According to Cannon, the new materiel is “little more poppy,” with more keys and more of everything else Natural Rat is known for.
“I like to think that Natural Rat has played a connecting role, kind of what I like to do personally, but as a band that’s definitely important, I just want to be an act for the people. So, I want to be able to play a basement or a backyard, or even a big venue and have it be the same experience for everyone, and make sure everyone has a good time at all of the above.”
Kelsie Cannon
