Destroy Nate Allen
is a singer, songwriter & storyteller from Portland, Oregon. In three years as a solo artist, he has self-released 10 records and toured multiple times. Nate's shows have a working class knack for bringing people together and he loves leading first time listeners in spirited sing-a-longs.
Nate spent a good portion of last year on a self-booked 160 date US tour then came home and married his best friend Tessa, who now joins him on stage. They love traveling together and making new friends. Their collective goal is live every moment honestly and to have as much fun as they can in the process.
Booking/Contact:
[email protected]
TAKE IT EASY
05/15/2007 (via e-mail)
Two days ago, I decided to go ahead with plans to record a new full length on the road. After my set a guy named Robert offered to record me that night after the show. It was already midnight. I was running on four hours of sleep and way too much caffeine. We started recording at 2:30, in a garage located between two sets of railroad tracks. By 6:30, Take It Easy was finished – in fewer than 20 takes. This record is by far the best thing I have ever been a part of. I am extremely proud of it.
This is one of those 'miracle' albums of sorts, that genuinely caught the artist with his guard down, hitting the record button in someone's basement studio in the vampire hours of the morning. Without the aid (or hindrance) of energy to carefully micro-manage the recording process, out comes raw nerves, passion, grit and slightly urgent strumming on the guitar. In other words, he was too tired to hold back or be self-conscious. It's easy to imagine Nate trying to play faster in an effort to finish the song and get to sleep quicker. "Stand by Me' calls out with crackled voice, while 'Ambulance' patiently expresses emotions of being 'tired of being this wired' and 'take it Easy' almost as both a toast and a life-sermon-all seeming more believable in the end. Check out either one of these tunes out and you'll have a perfect representation of Nate's musical identity. The 4 bonus live tracks are an accurate testament to his infectious songs, too, as they capture an audience joyfully singing or clapping along- especially during his great and unforgettable older tune 'Don't Walk Away.' - HM Mag
Destroy Nate Allen? Why would I want to do that? His earnest, idiosyncratic wail is charming, his guitar playing simple and unfettered by flashy trickeration and reminiscent of a somnambulant Violent Femmes, and his simple DIY folk-punk approach is admirable for eschewing politics (a la This Bike is a Pipe Bomb) for literate diatribes on the trials and tribulations of regular life. Why, if you destroy nate allen, you'd only be destroying yourself! - Columbia SC's Free Times
In a time when there seem to be more indie-folk bands than anything else, Destroy Nate Allen's acoustic musings stand out as authentic without being saccharine. - Easy Bay Express
Imagine Woodie Guthrie and Mike Ness duking it out in a drunken brawl and then resolving the issue with a trip to church. - Avatar
Lo-fi acoustic sing-a-longs of charm and wit. Nothing too fancy, just enough to separate himself from the countless droves of "singer/songwriter" clones out there. - Buzzgrinder
Allen sings and plays like a man near death, wanting to make every second count. - The Black and White Mag
PUT DNA ON YOUR TOP FRIENDS: [email protected]
