Biography

Contact: Robert Allen/robert@sha-lamusic.com

Other DownTown Mystic Releases:

DownTown Mystic: AmeriKarma

DownTown Mystic: Acoustic Sessions

DownTown Mystic: RnR 4 The Soul

DownTown Mystic: 21st Century Rock'n Roll

DownTown Mystic On E Street Deluxe

DownTown Mystic: Rock'n'Roll Romantic

DownTown Mystic: DownTown Nashville

DownTown Mystic: Used Records History 1979-1985

DownTown Mystic

With Bruce Engler:

Bruce Engler feat. DownTown Mystic: One More Chance

DownTown Mystic
The DownTown Demos (AmeriKarma Demos &Final Versions)
Sha-La Music/The Orchard/Sony Music
Digital UPC: 198846712642

1. Live (AmeriKarma) 3:48
2. Shadow Walk (AmeriKarma) 4:27
2. Fly (AmeriKarma) 3:08
4. When The Angels Sing (AmeriKarma) 4:13
5. Acoustic Heart (Angels Demo)
6. Live (Demo) 4:00
7. Shadow Walk (Demo) 3:30
8. Fly (Demo) 3:01
9. KoolSkool (Bonus Track) 2:38
10. Shadow Walk Instrumental (Bonus Track) 2:31
11. StratoBlaster (Bonus Track) 2:59

Produced By: Robert Allen
(p) & © 2024 Sha-La Music, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

In 2023 DownTown Mystic released the career-defining album AmeriKarma. That album raised the artist's profile with over 3 million streams, thanks in part to its global Radio success. The DownTown Demos: AmeriKarma Demos & Final Versions contains 11 tracks: final versions of 4 core AmeriKarma tracks: Live, Shadow Walk, Fly & When The Angels Sing, with 4 demos and 3 bonus tracks. This will allow listeners to compare the demos against the final versions. DownTown Mystic writer/producer Robert Allen comments, "I was recording a sync project and experimenting with some beats. There were 4 tracks out of about 15 that I kept coming back to. I eventually heard the possibilities and began to create melodies and then write lyrics." The result would be the songs that would become the core of AmeriKarma.

One of the main reasons for the holiday release is to celebrate the personal journey it took to create AmeriKarma. The lead track Live was written by Robert 10 months before he would be diagnosed with MDS, aka pre-Leukemia. 7 months later in 2019, he would receive a life-saving stem cell transplant as a cure. Robert says, "I guess I was trying to tell myself something. It's been a long, strange trip for sure and the one constant that kept me going was the music." Robert would write most of the songs for AmeriKarma during his recovery and the Covid-19 quarantine. In 2022 he entered Shorefire Studios with drummer Steve Holley and bassist Paul Page to record the tracks that would be released as AmeriKarma. The 1st single Fly was released during the mixing sessions, a year before the album even had a title.

"The DownTown Demos: AmeriKarma Demos & Final Versions is a celebration of creativity, resilience, and the human spirit. It invites listeners to not only hear the music but to experience the journey—a journey of survival, introspection, and artistic triumph. With its roots in life’s challenges and its sights set on the stars, DownTown Mystic’s work continues to inspire and elevate." Jamsphere Magazine
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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 storytelling songs with vintage guitars and analog recording into a unique style that owes nods to Buffalo Springfield, The Byrds, 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”.

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--Max Weinberg & Garry Tallent of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band.

2023 was been a banner year for DownTown Mystic with the release of the career defining album, AmeriKarma. This album comes on the heels of 2 major musical statements, 21st Century Rock'n'Roll in 2022 and DownTown Mystic On E Street Deluxe featuring Max Weinberg & Garry Tallent in 2021. 10 years earlier, DownTown Mystic’s 1st release, Standing Still, found critical acclaim overseas in 2011. That album made the Top 25 Euro/Americana Chart, which led to a Licensing Deal in Europe distributed by Sony Music.

Radio has played an important role 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.

Since then DownTown Mystic has been played on over 5000 stations in over 40 countries. The artist has also had a #1 single and #3 album on the Roots Music Report Charts, as well as going to #1 on the European Independent Airplay Chart. Other Radio achievements include a few #1 albums on the AirPlayDirect Top 50 Rock/AAA Chart, as well as debuting in the Top 5 Most Added on the Americana Music Assn. (AMA) Radio Chart.

Besides gaining recognition from Radio programmers, the DownTown Mystic Brand has been developing via Sync Licensing with music placed in movies and on over 240 TV shows, including The Voice on NBC, American Pickers on the History Channel, as well as shows on MTV, USA, CNN, Discovery, National Geographic, TLC, WE TV, GACTV and Destination America. Many of these shows are also broadcast internationally, helping to spread the music of DownTown Mystic around the world.

"If names like The Rolling Stones, Tom Petty, Buffalo Springfield and Bruce Springsteen have occupied any significant time in your life, well, DownTown Mystic most certainly should be on regular rotation, too." Take Effect Reviews.com

“I have never heard a rock n’ roll band be so relentlessly high-quality, intelligent, thought-provoking, fun and just wonderful to hear; musically solid, and never-ever boring!” Rick Jamm/JamSphere

“Robert Allen AKA DownTown Mystic, took those old school influences that were planted in his musical soul, tended them with reverence, pollinated them with some fresh melodies and produced a tasty crop of tunes” Kath Galasso/OnStage Magazine

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

“genuine emotions and lots of soul” Rune Hager/Rootsy/Sweden

“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