Finding home: Roses for Paradise inspired by Santa Fe, will release 'Love in Middle America'

Adrian Gomez, Albuquerque Journal, N.M.
·2 min read

Sep. 22—It's been a few years since Adam D'Josey packed up his life in Nebraska and moved to northern New Mexico.

It's a decision that's still working for him.

D'Josey and fellow Nebraskan Jeremy Buethe moved to New Mexico around the same time. The pair met up with Daniel Cuatt and Elliot Gitter and began making music.

The foursome formed the band, Roses for Paradise, in 2022. It will release its first EP, "Love in Middle America," on Saturday, Sept. 23, to all digital platforms.

D'Josey says the band started the EP by recording at Frogville studios.

"We recorded the whole thing in like 10 hours," he says. "I had this idea of trying to finish it in one day. We had to get back into the studio in October to do overdubs."

D'Josey says the EP weaves together oral traditions of folk storytelling, the ethos of midwestern Transcendentalism, and instrumental textures of indie rock to create a new American mythology, simultaneously modern, nostalgic and timeless.

D'Josey wrote two songs "Love in Middle America" and "Lightning." Buethe wrote the other two.

"I was sitting down and writing on the guitar and the songs zapped through me," he says. "That's where the melody came through," he says. "I grew up in the Midwest and in Nebraska, I have this memory of this girl, and we were cruising from Omaha to Lincoln. We stopped at a truck stop and I got a Subway sandwich and a 40. It was at that moment I realized how much of a shared space a truck stop is. Somehow that triggered the thought of living in middle America."

D'Josey moved to Santa Fe in the fall of 2020.

With live music at a standstill due to the pandemic, he got a construction job to pay the bills.

"Jeremy then moved out here," he says. "The creative process continued in a new space for us. Santa Fe is a really nice place to be. I'm taking a break from building things right now to talk about music. It's a pretty good gig."

Roses for Paradise performs in and around Santa Fe. The band has played the likes of Meow Wolf and the Santa Fe Plaza.

D'Josey says the band will embark on a short tour in October.

"We're looking forward to performing more around the state," he says. "The EP is the next step in getting our name out there."