Nashville indie rock band Mellow Down Easy are not easy to put into a musical genre, which happens to be one of their biggest advantages. The band’s sound combines twangy classic guitar rock with elements of country and blues. Their latest album, Cosmisutra, features song after song of genuine, riveting rock that has won them approval of fans and critics around Nashville and throughout the world.
And if all of that isn’t enough, Mellow Down Easy has also received critical acclaim from country rocker Ryan Adams, the one and only George Jones and the surviving members of the wildly popular 1970s southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. Before his death in 2003, the Man in Black himself – the legendary Johnny Cash – reportedly heard the band and gave them a hearty and powerful thumbs up. An endorsement from Johnny Cash is big, really big.
What Johnny Cash saw in the band all those years ago has come to fruition on MDE’s new record. Right off the bat, of all the songs on Cosmisutra, perhaps the most likely to appeal to wider audience is the catchy, gritty single, “I Am The Universe,” which is garage rock at its best.
The band’s hip, energetic blues rock style is evident on other songs like “Love Money” and “Pure Gold.” The latter topped the indie charts earlier this year on OurStage.com. Mellow Down Easy deliver edgy, infectious rock reminiscent of modern bands like The White Stripes, and nostalgic psychedelic rock that would make bands like Cream and The Jimi Hendrix Experience proud.
Lead singer, songwriter and guitarist Andrew Adkins understands and appreciates the musical roots of modern day rock as demonstrated by songs packed with heartfelt lyrics, melodic guitar riffs and top-notch vocals. What makes it all come together and work so well owes a great deal to the impressive contributions of band mates Daryl Dasher (bass and vocals) and Rodney Russell (percussions and programming).
In a recent interview with Leicester Bangs, Adkins described Cosmisutra this way: “It’s full of various flavors and shades of sounds and music. The result of 3 years of pulling ourselves apart and piecing ourselves back together again…this band had went through so many things. Self-destructive things, really dark areas in our life. Writing and making this record was our way of getting through and moving on from all of that.”
Adkins says he was strongly influenced as a boy by artists and bands such as The Beatles, CCR, Bob Dylan, T. Rex, Led Zeppelin, Velvet Underground, Elvis Presley, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and others.
MDE is signed with Dualtone Music Group in Nashville. Contributors to Cosmisutra include Tommy Butler (pedal steel guitar) and Nathan Johnson (Wurlitzer piano, organ, Hammond b-3 organ).
MDE set out on tour Friday and will be playing shows throughout the midwest and south on and off through December.
“I Am The Universe” – Mellow Down Easy from Cosmisutra (2009)
“Pure Gold” – Mellow Down Easy from Cosmisutra (2009)
Official website: www.MellowDownEasy.com
MySpace page: www.MySpace.com/MellowDownEasy