The sound of DownTown Mystic is “vintage yet modern”. The music is rooted in all the great traditions of American Rock‘n’Roll, blending story telling songs with vintage guitars and analog recording into a unique style that owes nods to Buffalo Springfield, The Byrds, Eagles, The Beatles and Rolling Stones but somehow manages to sound as contemporary as anything currently available.
DownTown Mystic is the alter ego of American Rocker, Robert Allen, whose passion for “old school” recording borders on obsession. Robert adds, “I grew up listening to all these great records and their sound and style has stayed with me”. The new DownTown Mystic CD is a perfect example of that sound and style, garnering strong reviews on both sides of the Atlantic that compare the music to a host of classic bands and influences, as well as young Turks like Band of Heathens.
The DownTown Mystic CD has become DownTown Mystic’s most successful release to date, spending 40 consecutive weeks on the AMA Radio Charts. The CD has also been in the Top 10 on the Roots Music Report and Roots 66 Airplay Charts, with the single Way To Know going to #1 on the RMR Chart.
Robert is joined by a stellar cast of musicians, including drummer extraordinaire Steve Holley (Paul McCartney/Wings/Elton John/Ian Hunter) & urban legend Paul Page (Dion/Ian Hunter) on bass, as well as one of the great rhythm sections in the history of American Rock’n’Roll–Garry Tallent & Max Weinberg of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band.
It would be DownTown Mystic’s previous cd, Standing Still that would put the Americana/Roots-Rock artist on the map. Standing Still would garner a good deal of Americana Radio airplay, landing DownTown Mystic on both the AMA Radio Chart in the US and the Euro/Americana Top 25 Chart in Europe. The airplay helped lead to a European Licensing Deal and the release of Standing Still to critical acclaim on AGR/Sony Music in Europe. And this would not be the first time that Radio played a big part in the career of DownTown Mystic.
It started with veteran tastemaker, Jed The Fish, playing a DownTown Mystic track as his “Catch of The Day” on “World Famous” KROQ in LA, one of the most influential stations in the US. This would be followed by the “Mayor of The Sunset Strip”, legendary KROQ DJ Rodney Bingenheimer, playing another track and leading to national airplay.
From there, DownTown Mystic was off and running. Besides gaining recognition from Radio programmers, the DownTown Mystic Brand has been developing with music placed on American TV, including The Voice on NBC, American Pickers on the History Channel, as well as shows on MTV, USA, TLC,WE, Discovery and Lifetime Channels.
Here’s what’s being said about the new DownTown Mystic CD:
“one of the best albums of the year”
John Shelton Ivany/jsiTop21.com“Way To Know”, a straightforward rocker in the best Stones tradition…a perfect radio-single” Dani Heyvaert/Rootstime/Belgium
“The modern influence comes across on many of the songs, but to my ear is best played with the Band Of Heathens-like “Everything”” Shawn Underwood/Twangville
“”In The Cold”…a fast paced acoustic rocker it captures the likes of Poco and the Eagles as guitars and mandolin mesh over the rhythm section and the harmonies soar, it’s a sparkling and invigorating song” Paul Kerr/Blabber’n’Smoke/UK
“brilliantly conceived piece of musical art” Rod Ames/ReviewYou.com
“DownTown Mystic is a real pleasure: a pure sound with a brilliant production and top musicians gives the listener the feeling there is still reasons to hope in Music” Mike Penard “The DJ” / “American Roots Music”/RadioISA/France
“With Robert Allen and DownTown Mystic we are in the field of best crafted rock’n’roll” Davide Albini/Roots Highway/Italy
“Allen’s influences–Byrds, Beatles, Buffalo Springfield–permeate his guitar-driven songs, adding a retro sound to his more modern Americana leanings” Dave Curtis/Direct Current
LINKS:
http://shala.com/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/DownTown-Mystic/33506110940
http://downtownmystic.bandcamp.com/track/lost-found-single-for-tommy-mastro
http://twitter.com/dtmysticbandhttp://www.cdbaby.com/cd/downtownmystic3
