is a hard/blues rock band from Los Angeles, California, composed of Dorothy Martin (vocals), Jason Ganberg (percussion), guitarists Nick Maybury and Eli Wulfmeier, and bassist Eliot Lorango. Original members Zac Morris and Mark Jackson left the band in 2016, and Gregg Cash left in 2017.The band had its inception in a meeting between Martin, Mark Jackson and Ian Scott in 2013, who brought Zac Morris to the band and suggested modifications to the song "After Midnight" (originally a piano ballad) that resulted in a signature sound mixing old-school metal rock with tones of Southern blues. Many of DOROTHY's songs have the beat and repetition of Afro-American spirituals but are lyrically anything but, combining well with Martin's raspy singing voice. They came in at #14 on Rolling Stone's 50 Best New Artists of 2014.
Their second album 28 Days in the Valley has more of a smoother, pop-rock sound, with Martin saying she was inspired by The Rolling Stones and her journeys through addiction and a bad break-up.
In 2021 Martin gave an interview with Loudwire wherein she said that the band's next album would be called Gifts From The Holy Ghost. She said the title for the album came to her following an incident where she allegedly watched her guitar tech die from a heroin overdose and then return to life. Martin described feeling the urge to form a prayer circle around the tech, joining hands with the rest of her crew while they prayed to "anyone out there" to send him back, and heard a voice saying "Okay, we're sending him back now". When they opened their eyes, the tech was in the midst of waking up alive and well.
The band has made appearances with Lita Ford and Halestorm, whose lead singer Lzzy Hale said the band made her "proud of the future of rock".
You've probably also heard them featured in commercials or TV shows.
Discography:
- Dorothy (EP, 2014)
- ROCKISDEAD (2016)
- 28 Days in the Valley (2018)
- Thrive In The Darkness (Compilation EP, 2021)
- Crawling My Way To Your Heart (Compilation EP, 2021)
- Gifts From The Holy Ghost (2022)
Tropes in DOROTHY's music or performances:
- All Drummers Are Animals: Jason Ganberg can be... a little wild◊.
- Hard-Drinking Party Girl: Martin was this for a while before landing herself in the hospital with alcohol poisoning. She's since cleaned up her act and no longer drinks.
- Lighter and Softer: Their second album 28 Days in the Valley is this, with Martin saying it has a "more feminine energy... It has a lighter and brighter feel, with less metal influence and more Stones. It has a cool desert vibe."
- Male Band, Female Singer: The band is named for lead singer Dorothy Martin but the other members are male.
- Ms. Fanservice: Actually played with. Dorothy often appears on stage wearing a sleeveless T-shirt that leaves a black lace bra visible through the arm holes, but according to her (from an LA Times interview):"I don't care if you think I'm hot or not, or want me to take my shirt off. I'm not going to. I'm going to grab the microphone and sing. That's what I came to do."
- Oral Fixation: A lot of the imagery around the band has a laser-focus on Dorothy Martin's bright red lips, including the cover art for the EP and first album and the music video for "Get Up".
- Dorothy actually collaborated with makeup brand OCC Lip Tar in 2016 to create a shade called "Hellcat" (and yes, it's red).
- Dorothy actually collaborated with
- Precision F-Strike: In "Missile": "You're fucking with the wrong wolf, baby" and "You're fucking with a sickness, baby".
- Shout-Out: Martin consistently gives a holler out to Halestorm during live performances for launching them on the 2016 Into the Wild Life tour.
