Mellow Down Easy was an American three-piece rock group working from Nashville, Tennessee, United States.
The band was composed of singerâ€"songwriter and guitarist, Andrew Adkins and singerâ€"songwriter, bass guitarist, Daryl Wayne Dasher and drummer, Rodney Russell. In 2006, Adkins was voted as a top three "Best Local Songwriter" by Music City publication, The Nashville Scene, in their "Best of 2006 - Readers Poll" issue (along with Will Hoge and Marcus Hummon).
In 2009 the group signed with Dualtone Records. April 2009 they released their final album, Cosmisutra. The following year the group disbanded acrimoniously.
The band's tenure occurred during the immediate post-9/11 Nashville non-country scene. A time when seldom popular music (aside from Country music and Contemporary Christian Music) came out of Nashville on a mainstream or highly-visible, notable level. The band toured regularly, nationally and often in the Southeastern region of the United States. The band has shared the stage with several artists who would go on to mainstream success and various forms of notoriety such as Cage the Elephant, Little Big Town, Sunday Valley (featuring Sturgill Simpson) and Grand Ole Party, Cheers Elephant, Dexter Romweber, Billy Joe Shaver and Wayne "The Train" Hancock.
Music Style
Mellow Down Easy's style has been described as, "a quirky blend of roots music and psychedelic rock", often blending guitar-centric riffs with retro-styled arrangements and odd-instrumentation. One critic called the band, "Waylon Jennings meets Jimi Hendrix". Wade Phylips from Outlaw Magazine said, "The greatest accomplishment of MDE is their ability to use their musical influences (Led Zeppelin, Waylon Jennings, Buddy Holly, Cash, Hendrix, Dylan) combined with a completely unique lyrical perspective, and meld them into a truly soulful experience unto themselves."
Discography
- "The Splendid Ms. Maize" (2001/self-released/out-of-print)
- "Brothers of The Left Hand Path" (2005/self-released)
- "Cosmisutra" (2009/Dualtone Records)
References
