Rock’n’Roll Romantic Cover
DownTown Mystic will be releasing a new album in 2015, and as usual, I’ve got so much to talk about that there’s no way to keep it all in one post. So here’s Part 1 to get us started…
With the release of the DownTown Mystic CD in 2013, the awareness for DownTown Mystic was raised dramatically, as well as raising the bar musically. DownTown Mystic would stay on the Americana Music Association Radio Airplay Charts for 40 consecutive weeks. That’s 10 whole months hanging as an indie outsider with mainstay Americana acts, as well as veteran AAA acts!
DownTown Mystic also made a splash on the Independent Charts, hitting the Top 5 on the Alternate Roots 66 Airplay Chart and most notably, having the single Way To Know going to #1 and the DownTown Mystic album going to #3 on the Roots Music Report Charts. Of course, this makes for a bit more pressure in planning the next DownTown Mystic release. But at the same time it gives me the chance to do something that I’ve been thinking about for some time.
At this time in 2015, it is DownTown Mystic’s intention to create and release an unapologetic classic Rock’n’Roll Album, complete with underlying theme. As I said, this is something I’ve wanted to do for a while now and I think the moment has finally arrived. If any of you have been paying attention to the debate on whether the Album as a format is dead, then many of you know that it has been indeed pronounced DEAD. I wrote about it in a few blog posts back and not surprisingly, I came out in favor of the Album format, although I felt the issue had been kind of mixed up with the death of the CD. With vinyl making a strong comeback, the Album as a format will clearly make a comeback as well because I don’t think you can have one without the other.
The new album is called Rock’n’Roll Romantic and it’s release will be preceded by 2 Digital Singles, the 1st of which, Turn Around and Go, comes out on March 23rd. As I mentioned, there is an underlying theme to Rock’n’Roll Romantic. I know that people’s attention spans are one of the main reasons often cited in The Album is Dead movement, so I take full responsibility in getting people to listen to this album as a whole. It’s on me to make it interesting, so the buck stops here with me. I’m not looking for excuses. To make it work as an album I have to arrange the songs for CD as well as 2 sides for vinyl. Not too much pressure! lol
Turn Around and Go Digital Single Cover
Regarding the underlying theme to the album…As the title infers, all the songs on Rock’n’Roll Romantic deal with romance. That is, RnR Romance, which has a quality all its own. To be sure, when talking about affairs of the heart rock’n’roll style, the sex is always great and full of passion. But the people involved are crazy, so inevitably, they break up, make up and tear it up. Hearts are worn on sleeves and the emotions are raw. There are no happy endings here.
Songs about relationships are followed by songs with sad endings. Elton John sang “sad songs say so much”, and I believe there’s something in human nature that gravitates to sad songs. The one thing we all have in common are our emotions and I think when we listen to something that is gut-wrenching, in a weird sort of way, there’s something comforting about it. Maybe it’s because we can relate to what the singer is going through, and although we can identify with the emotions, it’s not directly happening to us. And believe me; in some of these songs, the listener will really feel for the singer and yet find comfort knowing they’re not as screwed. LOL
One of the main reasons I’m excited about this album is that the songs were recorded in the way DownTown Mystic was originally intended—as a vehicle to showcase my artistic side and to play with great musicians. Rock’n’Roll Romantic has 14 great musicians lending their talents like an ensemble cast, and the songs are some of the best I’ve ever written and collaborated on. Also, as it turns out, this is somewhat of a 20 year retrospective for me, but I’ll get into that more in Part 2.
Turn Around and Go