The Levees
Nashville, Tennessee, United States | SELF | AFM
Music
Press
"With rootsy, imaginative songs about French Quarter Hustlers, Sarepta cemetries, scatterguns, po' folks, big-bellied Sheriffs, bloodhounds, debutantes, sawmills, hurricanes, cross-cut saws, and promiscuous preacher's daughters, the Levees' debut album plays out scenes around Louisiana like an Ernest Gaines novel. Levees frontman Adam Jones' soulful voice invites you aboard this Pelican state journey, where you find yourself mystified by the swampy Tony Joe White-esque slide guitar of Dan Cohen, the heavy groove laid out by Captain James Cook and Derek Mixon, a thick bed of gospel piano and Hammond Organ, and the stellar harmonies of Cook and Cohen. The Levees are the hottest thing to come out of the bayou since Tabasco." - Monty Russell, Louisiana singer-songwriter, concert promoter, and host of KXKZ 107.5's weekly Americ
“I am a country boy that likes some good blues & rock occasionally and The Levees are the best I have heard in a long time! It carries me back to the old days but it’s a whole new ride!” - Tracy Byrd, platinum-selling recording artist:
“Sometimes a band finishes a song and there's a moment of vacuum-silence, and then a thunder-clapping of applause. This is a sign that the audience has been paying profound attention, and it's what happens when you're listening to The Levees. It's also a sign that you're really enjoying yourself and the music. The next thing you know you're dancing!” - Biff Watson, producer and studio session ace of Trifectone Music Group:
“The Levees sound is cut from one part Zepplin and two parts Little Feat. They’re guaranteed to take away your blues. A&R reps take note!”
- Steve Fishell, Grammy Award-winning producer and artist
Discography
The Levees 2008
Photos
Bio
Standing ovations in bars are rare. And in a town where the audience is often filled with music industry types, they're downright unheard of. But you'd never know that from watching THE LEVEES play around town. For them these displays of gratitude are a nightly occurrence.
Since 2007, THE LEVEES have become a topic of conversation among even the most critical of music lovers, and have earned a reputation for outdoing themselves with each and every show. This four-piece band has been relentless in honing a unique pulse-quickening sound, highlighted by the unlikely pairing of slide guitar and trombone, rich vocal harmonies, and whisper-to-a-scream dynamics. Their songs take the listener from a Saturday night juke joint, through a hazy midnight swamp ride to a a Sunday morning gospel revival. This combination of sound and song results in music that is immediately familiar, yet one-of-a-kind.
In 2006, members Derek Mixon, James Cook, and Dan Cohen ended a stint with a major record label. As luck would have it, frontman Adam Jones had recently moved to Nashville and the idea of forming a new band became a reality. Soon the topic of musical direction appeared and they decided to look at what they all had in common. The realization that every member of THE LEVEES was born in Louisiana proved to be the source of inspiration for their name and the style of music they would play.
After only a few performances in Nashville, people started taking notice, and word started to spread. As the band's first recording was quickly becoming standard listening on the tour buses of many Nashville acts, the band was perfecting an electrifying live show. A blistering performance caught the attention of Grammy award-winning producer Steve Fishell. Steve had recently started the Music Producer's Institute and chose THE LEVEES as MPI's first act to record at world-renowned Sound Emporium Studios in Nashville. From this initial collaboration, a relationship developed, and Fishell and THE LEVEES are currently in production on their upcoming album.
Shortly after their success with MPI, JoAnn Rossi (talent coordinator for the live radio/internet show Muscle Shoals to Music Row) witnessed the band at Nashville's legendary Third and Lindsley. By the third song the audience was howling, and Rossi was on the phone booking the band in Muscle Shoals as the season opener. THE LEVEES not only made an impression with station owner Jerry Phillips but with radio and internet listeners as well. After setting an online viewing record for the program, THE LEVEES' show crashed the server- a feat Rossi described as "a phenomenon!" Phillips booked THE LEVEES again, this time for a spot on the Sam Phillips Music Celebration which included Delbert McClinton, Paul Thorn, Sonny Burgess, and Jason D. Williams. the concert, a huge success, was filmed in high-definition and is in production to be released as a DVD.
THE LEVEES continue to be a hit with audiences young and old. Every performance sees these four Louisiana natives making die-hard fans out of people who may have forgotten just how fun rock and roll can be.
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