Perfectly “Weird, Edgy, and Experimental”: Ryder Cooley

Ida Rosenstein

Jon B. Woodin (left) and Ryder Cooley (right) are two members of the Dust Bowl Faeries.

Ryder Cooley, an interdisciplinary artist and regular performer at Berkshire Busk!  believes that live performance is integral to the authenticity of the arts scene: “Every performance is different. You think, ‘this is never gonna happen again. This exact moment in time with these people listening and these people performing.”  When Ryder began her art career, she did so as an installation and performance artist. Her work focused on evoking disreality and creating dark, dreamlike spaces. Later, she used her talents to form the band Dust Bowl Faeries, bringing listeners into her hauntingly beautiful world. With a name as exceptionally cool as “Dust Bowl Faeries,” you’d be right to assume their musical performances are equally unique and mystical. 

“My background is actually as a visual artist, but I did a lot of performance and I always played music on the side,” Ryder explains to me. Before she began her own band, Dust Bowl Faeries, Ryder performed in different bands while she pursued her art career. But it was actually one of these art installations that kickstarted the formation of Dust Bowl Faeries. Her project, XMALIA, a multimedia stage show about extinct animals featured Hazel, a taxidermy ram, as the extinct Pyrenean ibex. Ryder continued to perform with Hazel even after XMALIA had finished and the duo eventually expanded into the larger band, Dust Bowl Faeries. Hazel’s role in XMALIA helped Ryder to realize that performing together just felt right.

“Hazel’s head and my body work in this way that feels very balanced,” Ryder tells me, “Something about it just made sense physically.” Hazel is loved by fans and usually appears for stage shows but doesn’t join for busking: it’s difficult to accommodate her while on the move.

Dust Bowl Faeries mainly busk on the side while traveling. For Ryder, performance atmosphere is one of the most important aspects of busking: “I’m usually drawn to beautiful locations. I would rather busk in a location that’s architecturally interesting, or not too noisy, not too much traffic.” Dust Bowl Faeries is a “visual band,” Ryder says. The last few years they’ve been playing at Widow Jane Mine, a historic cave in Rosendale, New York and her favorite busking experience was on a piazza in Catania, Sicily. She describes it as “magical”:  the beautiful, old architecture created the perfect environment for the dark and dreamy music. 

Their sound is what Ryder calls “dark cabaret.” She draws influence from old vaudeville music, especially pieces that addressed political and social crises. The intention with Dust Bowl Faeries’ music is to balance a real, significant message with entertainment value — blending the new and the old together. For example: their song, “Film Noir Double Feature,” heavily references old film noir while simultaneously commenting on the current climate crisis. And there’s no specific formula to it. Ryder clarifies that commentary will naturally “sneak in” during the songwriting process, adding new layers if you listen closely to the lyrics. She doesn’t worry about adhering to certain songwriting structures or conventions: she’s more interested in experimenting with language. 

Dust Bowl Faeries doesn’t play the kind of music that you would typically expect to see from buskers. “It’s weird and edgy and experimental,” Ryder says, “I’ve honestly been shocked at how well-received our music is at Berkshire Busk!” But the surprise is certainly not unwelcome. One of the beauties of street performance is its ability to expose people to new genres and forms of art they might not otherwise have engaged with. “I think things like Berkshire Busk! and playing outside for the public is really important,” Ryder continues. With the prevalence of music streaming platforms, she worries that live music is losing the prevalence it once had. For her, live music is a full-body experience — something that headphones just can’t give you. With Hazel and their eclectic fusion music, Dust Bowl Faeries creates an otherworldly experience when performing live. Berkshire Busk! brings this out into the light and introduces attendees to something new and wonderfully different.