Biography

Rock'n'Roll spoken here...

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, Poco, The Beatles and Rolling Stones.

DownTown Mystic is the alter ego of American Rocker, Robert Allen. When asked about how he got the name DownTown Mystic, Robert says, “I wanted a name that could work for a group, as well as represent me personally. One fateful day I was driving up to Boston and saw a little sign that said ‘NEXT STOP DOWNTOWN MYSTIC’. I immediately knew that was the name I was looking for…DownTown represents my rock’n’roll nature and Mystic represents my imagination…it’s perfect”!

DownTown Mystic’s cd, “Standing Still”, is the 1st release under a new European Licensing Agreement with AGR Television Records in Germany. On "Standing Still", 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.

On playing Roots/Rock‘n’Roll, Robert says, “there’s a good deal of Country in the roots of Rock‘n’Roll. Going back to Elvis, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, the Everly Bros. and even the Skiffle craze in Britain that had a big influence on The Beatles, Country was in the ‘feel’ that was a big part of that music”.

And it’s a big part of what makes “Standing Still” DownTown Mystic’s most fully realized album, landing on both the Euro/Americana Top 25 Chart in Europe and the Americana Chart in the US, thanks to a good deal of Americana Radio airplay. And it seems like Radio has 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, DownTown Mystic has also had music placed on American TV, including "The Voice" on NBC, MTV and the History, Lifetime & WE Channels.

"One of the best albums of the year"...John Shelton Ivany/Top 21.com

“With Robert Allen and DownTown Mystic we are in the field of best crafted rock'n'roll”
Davide Albini/Roots Highway

“brilliantly conceived piece of musical art”
Rod Ames/ReviewYou.com

“unpretentious spirited music with personality and an endless flow of energy that is simply irresistible”
Keith “MuzikMan” Hannaleck/MuzikReviews.com