"devil got me down, run me out of town..."
When I heard the twangy guitar lines and the evocative rattle snake sound of a vibraslap I was already pulled down into "Devil Got Me Down" by Atlanta based duo Andrea & Mud but when Andrea Colburn's dulcet southern vocal tones, scratched and husky, poured over the song like sweet sorghum, I am fully invested. With her partner in crime, Kyle "Mud" Moseley, the pair draw you into their stories, stories that sometimes have dark underbellies. The upbeat tom tom beat that falls into a sort of two step snare beat is uplifting and cool, offsetting the dark lyrics, "if you are a pretty girl, he'd love to take your life, never have a senior prom, you'll never be a wife...". As the bass gallops and surf meets country western guitar strains somewhere between Chet Atkins and Dick Dale it is easy to get lost in the darkness and light. The production even features subtle strings, the exquisite and obligatory pedal steel and what sounds like a saw or Theremin (I don't have production notes).
I don't believe in the devil in the religious / mythological sense but the devil as man exists and is horrific enough so while listening I flashed on (thought of) the 2020, not for the faint of heart, psychological thriller/crime drama 'The Devil All the Time' which takes place between the 40's and the 60's. Interestingly that feels like the period of time that Andrea & Mud are mining so well. This retro country sound is so compelling for many reasons. To me, at least, Andrea's & Mud's iteration feels like an earnest representation of the roots music of that period as opposed to a sort of coalesced friendly mockery meets modern pop and because I dislike modern Country or country pop and HATE bro country I love this kind of take. It draws me into atmospheres shaped by the musical history and the context of specific parts of Americana. There is also a sort of dark and light romanticism of this sound / period for good and bad reasons. This noir aspect is what I think Filmmakers gravitate towards whether a certain movie is a period piece or not. "Devil Got Me Down" is a song, I could definitely see in a future Netflix binger even if it were a modern story because the subject matter is evocatively timeless.
Digging what Andrea & Mud and collaborators are stewing up. My understanding is that this song and others that they will be putting out this year will end up on a new album, a follow up to their 2020 full length "Bad News Darlin'". Oh, I included a stripped down live performance by Andrea & Mud down below because it is just too good not to.
-Robb Donker Curtius
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THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:
https://www.facebook.com/andreaandmud/
https://soundcloud.com/andreaandmud
https://open.spotify.com/artist/2IW4MLR7TBzqVSl8LBrmws
https://www.instagram.com/andreaandmud/
http://andreaandmud.com/
Surf-western music is a vigorous elixir - blending spaghetti westerns with rough-edged, honky-tonkin’ classic country. Atlanta-based duo Andrea & Mud draw upon genre stalwart Junior Brown, who coined the “surf-western” term, into their own special mix, tossing in heartier blues stock ala Shovels & Rope. Their songwriting is uniquely potent, and with their new album, Bad News Darlin’, they extract parts of themselves to cope, mend, observe, and grow.
Consummate storytellers, Andrea Colburn and Kyle “Mud” Moseley bury their instruments and melodies in the earth’s dusty shell. Each song is soaked in style, immersive and heightened like a Quentin Tarantino soundtrack 一 think Kill Bill or Once Upon a Time in… Hollywood.
The duo co-produced the record with Damon Moon at Standard Electric Records in Decatur, Georgia, and the roster of musicians is impressive. Players include Tre “Danger” Watts (upright bass), Adam Higgins (electric bass, organ), Will Derr (drums), Bradley Daugherty (drums), “Smoking” Brett Resnick (pedal steel), Liz Sloan (fiddle), Chad Paulin (trumpet), Jim Ivy (saxophone), and Matt’s Blues (Matt Jordan on piano).
These 11 tracks are ragged, transportative, and electric. “Birmingham, AL 8:30 AM” is a bluesy, late-night swiller, as they tie together a real-life story about a debaucherous night in the Yellowhammer state that carried on well after sunrise. Then, a song like the boot-scootin’ “Used Car Salesman” depicts a tale about a greasy, sleazy salesman and his hooker. With “I Ain’t Home,” they bite off their most straight-arrow country tune, a thick pluck reminiscent of Loretta Lynn with a smooth Conway Twitty charm.
Together, Andrea & Mud are a match made in heaven, their stories forever intertwined. Separately, their backstories could not be more different.
Growing up in St. Louis, Colburn wanted to play guitar, so her mother bought her one 一 but she “never learned very well,” she admits. During her youth, she largely gravitated to classic rock and blues music and musicians like Robert Johnson, the Black Keys, and Led Zeppelin. When she moved to Georgia in 2012, a shift happened. She connected with members of Rolling Nowhere and the Deslondes, and a new path opened before her. She grabbed her guitar, sat on a stool, and performed open mics around town.
Still unsure of her talents, she sought out and surrounded herself with “people who really wanted to play with me,” she says, “really talented friends.” A spark had been ignited, and there was no extinguishing it. Colburn released her solo debut Sad Songs & Switchblades in 2015.
Meanwhile, Moseley always had a knack for playing. His father collected guitars, and he’d always pick one up and “make a bunch of noise.”
“I was always the one to bring a guitar to the bonfire where everyone is getting drunk,” he says. He later went to college to major in art with an emphasis in ceramics, trodding out to open mic nights often caked in clay. The nickname “Mud” was born, and it stuck.
Moseley and Colburn met in 2016 at Atlanta’s beloved Star Bar during a Legendary Shack Shakers show. They struck up an instant connection, and in the coming months, Colburn was “begging Kyle to come play with me,” she says. “He came over and played ‘Dark River’ for me.”
And the rest is history.
The two not only connected musically but personally, as well. Following their muse, they took a leap of faith and dove headfirst into a full-time music career. “We knew that was the only way to really do it. I know how it goes when people do music and still have a day job,” considers Colburn, “and it’s just so hard to ever really throw yourself into it or get anywhere. We were just balls-to-the-wall in music since then.”
Now residing on family-owned property in Waleska, Georgia, Andrea & Mud are gearing up for their second full-length album, a follow-up to 2018’s Easy, Sleazy and Greazy. They have once again tapped producer Damon Moon, who, as Colburn puts it, “brings something we don't even know that we need. We’re happy with him. We’ll probably stick with him for a while.”
Bad News Darlin’ slathers on surf-western sensibilities, owed to the format’s long history, but Colburn and Moseley doll it up with their own signature vocal bravado and musical sparkle. “We thought it would be an interesting mix,” Mosley says. “It’s also a really cool vibe. Surf music is like shag music.”
“Hellhounds” is deeply devilish and references a story Colburn once heard about Memphis Minnie and Muddy Waters. “They played in a guitar competition, and the winner got a bottle of gin,” notes Colburn. “She was the winner. She’s a total badass.” In the next track, “The Reason Why She Cries” springs from their fingertips, as they draw upon John Cephas as a distinct reference point and pepper in Bakersfield sizzle and a Merle Travis nod.
Andrea & Mud’s Bad News Darlin’ is a true melting pot. Their style harkens to the classics but remains contemporary and fresh, running the gamut between rock, blues, country, and surf-western. They entice you with their mesmerizing musicality, and you stay for the moving heart-felt stories.
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We get by with a little help from our friends
Andrea & Mud, Anrea Colburn, Kyle Moseley, singer-songwriters, guitarists, Surf Rock, Garage Rock, country and western, Americana, rustic, roots music, "Devil Got Me Down", upcoming new album, Atlanta based,
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