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For those of us who were lucky enough to have grown up in the South during the college rock heyday of the early 80’s, the name Mitch Easter is synonymous with most of the music that we loved. His touch can be found on mountains of great albums from artists such as REM, Marshall Crenshaw, The dB’s, Don Dixon and Marti Jones, to name but a few. Mitch’s resume of credits is quite eclectic and includes duties such as Producer, Engineer, Mixing and multi-instrumentalist (which includes the Sitar). In addition to all of this, he also found time to release three successful albums with his own band, Let’s Active.
In more recent years, artists such as The Connell’s, Suzanne Vega, Dinosaur Jr., Shalini, Alejandro Escovedo, Drive By Truckers and The Fabulous Knobs have utilized his studio and musical magic. It seems that he can do just about anything, and has.
With such a wealth of music history under his belt, it seems a little strange that he is currently touring in support of his debut release, Dynamico. Yes, you heard me correctly. Released in early 2007, Dynamico is officially the first solo album by Mitch Easter, as all of his previous releases have been band projects. When I asked what finally prompted him to release a solo CD, he replied,
“Nothing particularly earthshaking other than the fact that time is definitely marching on here dude, so I’d better do this thing now”.
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And we’re glad he did. Dynamico features 14 tracks of driving pop rock, with a little more emphasis on the rock part. Mitch definitely shows that all of those years trapped behind a mixing console didn’t dull his ability to weld his trusty Rickenbacker like a light saber. In addition to some stunning guitar work, Mitch also plays most of the other instruments featured on the CD. Bassist Shalini Chatterjee (also known as Mrs. Mitch Easter) and former Let's Active drummer Eric Marshall contribute a few parts to the project as well. The tracks on this CD are well crafted and intelligent, and offer listeners an alternative to most of today's cookie-cutter, corporate stamped music. My favorite tracks have to be the rocking sounds of 1 ½ Way Street and Sights Set On Heaven. The songs on Dynamico definitely represent a quality standard that most of today's bands don't even know exists. Hopefully it won’t be another twenty years before Mr. Easter treats us to some more new music. For fans of great, guitar driven pop rock, Dynamico should be your next purchase. I promise you won’t be disappointed.
During a recent stop in Tampa Florida, I had the opportunity to sit down with Mitch and discuss Dynamico. Click the following link to read the complete transcript from this interview.
COMPLETE INTERVIEW WITH MITCH EASTER
LINK TO MITCHEASTER.COM
PURCHASE DYNAMICO AT AMAZON.COM , BARNES & NOBLE OR 125 RECORDS
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