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The Devonns

by The Devonns

supported by
Jon Hobbs
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Jon Hobbs Marvin and Curtis rest easy, knowing their legacy is being carried on... Favorite track: Blood Red Blues (Protest Song).
SchmoBass
SchmoBass thumbnail
SchmoBass We love this fresh revitalization and melding of Soul and R&B that both brings it back and brings it forward. Makes you crave to hear it live.
Cosmographer
Cosmographer thumbnail
Cosmographer This record captures a certain vibe that makes it utterly irresistible to anyone with a Moon in Pisces... you know that lush atmosphere with strings and reeds over a groove with a beautiful human voice singing about quaint things such as falling in love?

I love this album with all my heart. Favorite track: Think I'm Falling In Love.
Tim Mee
Tim Mee thumbnail
Tim Mee It’s like Marvin Gaye is back and has joined forces with Curtis Mayfield. ‘Blood Red Blues (protest song)’ in particular is very powerful #blacklivesmatter ✊🏾 Favorite track: Blood Red Blues (Protest Song).
more...
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  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    25 packs available:
    "The Devonns" Limited Edition LP
    "The Devonns" CD digipack
    "Tell Me / Tell Me (Instrumental)" Limited Edition 45 Black
    "Think I'm Falling in Love / Come Back" Limited Edition 45 Black

    Includes unlimited streaming of The Devonns via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days
    edition of 100  14 remaining
    Purchasable with gift card

      €39 EUR

     

  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    25 packs available:
    "The Devonns" Limited Edition LP
    "Tell Me / Tell Me (Instrumental)" Limited Edition 45 Black
    "Think I'm Falling in Love / Come Back" Limited Edition 45 Black

    Includes unlimited streaming of The Devonns via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days
    edition of 100  16 remaining
    Purchasable with gift card

      €29 EUR

     

  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Limited edition LP The Devonns s/t

    Includes unlimited streaming of The Devonns via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days
    edition of 1000  36 remaining
    Purchasable with gift card

      €19 EUR

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Includes unlimited streaming of The Devonns via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days
    5 remaining
    Purchasable with gift card

      €12 EUR

     

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      €8.99 EUR

     

1.
Come Back 03:42
2.
Green Light 03:25
3.
Tell Me 04:05 video
4.
5.
6.
More 04:35
7.
8.
I Know 04:46
9.
10.
Long Goodbye 04:28

about

The Devonns dust off the golden age of 70's Chicago Soul with their self-titled debut album on Record Kicks.

Straight from the streets of Chicago, Illinois, The Devonns (pronounced "De vaughns") are the brand new soul outfit and the latest addition of the Record Kicks' family, whose self-titled debut album that drops April 03, is an assortment of influences taking us back to the heyday of soul.

Drawing influences from bands such as The Dramatics, The Isley Brothers and Leroy Hutson, yet bringing in their own unique modern twist, influenced by artists such as Jamie Lidell and Raphael Saadiq; singer Mat Ajjarapu explains how unintentionally, the rich heritage of Chicago's history with soul music influenced him.

"The city was at the epicentre of a lot of good music back in the 50's all the way to the 80's, a lot of the labels specialising in soul were based in the Chicago and we even had our own sound known as "Chicago soul". Through several years of crate digging it surprised me how many songs I loved were recorded in this city, for example one of my favourites is this great little song by The Natural Four, produced by Leroy Hutson 'Can This Be Real', and released via Curtom Records."

The band started in 2016 after multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Mathew Ajjarapu dropped out of med school and found himself unemployed and drifting. Listening to music constantly at the time, he found inspired to put a band together and create his own music. Pairing up with some of the best musicians Chicago has to offer, he founded The Devonns: the rhythm duty is entrusted to Khalyle Hagood (bass), Ari Lindo (guitar) and Khori Wilson (drums).

Originally he wanted to focus on 50s style doo-wop, similar to The Flamingos; rich in reverb and vocal harmonies, but in the first initial practise they had it was evident the band clicked on their love of soul music from the 70s, so their music took a natural turn towards that sound, with tracks such as the Wilson Pickett-esque single 'Tell Me'.

The release took almost two years to complete as Mat explains "I am a perfectionist, I had a very specific vision in my head about how it should sound and I wasn't going to rest until I achieved it."

"This is a definitely a throwback soul record, as well as being drawn to lush and intricate arrangements of Motown, I was also inspired by the more lo-fi works of smaller labels such as Chess and Capsoul, and I wanted to capture the magic they had in those recordings in our record, as everything feels too precise nowadays" clarifies Mat.

It was thanks to his engineer Mike Hagler, who introduced him to Paul Von Mertens (Mavis Staples, Paul McCartney, Elton John) who arranges and conducts for Brian Wilson's live touring show and after a 45 minute phone conversation about what Mat wasn't keen on, on the album, he realised Paul totally understood where he was coming from.

After a few months wait for Paul to get back from touring they entered the studio with "Paul's players" and as soon as they hit record, Mat explains "I was getting chills up my neck, it was one of the happiest days of my life, and finally we had nailed it!"

Tracks such as 'Come Back; which Mat wrote in ten minutes on a $300 Daneelectro Singlecut guitar initially, came to life, with Paul's rich string arrangements and features guitarist and percussionist Ken Stringfellow (R.E.M.).

It still took a few months to get the recording process finished but finally after a torturous nineteen months they album was finally finished.

The result is an album filled with lavish arrangements and catchy melodies which take us on a nostalgic musical journey inspired by chic 70s soul, yet the band don't hesitate to add their own unique and elegant contemporary stamp to the record.

credits

released June 5, 2020

All words & music written by Mathew Ajjarapu except:
“Green Light” (written by Jamie Lidell, Dominic Salole, & Jason Charles Beck), &
“So In Love With You” (written by Leroy Hutson & Michael Hawkins)
"Ain't That a Man For You?" (lyrics by Mathew Ajjarapu, music by Lloyd Reese & Mathew Ajjarapu)
All tracks published by Edizioni Record Kicks (SIAE)
All music performed by The Devonns. The Devonns are: Mathew Ajjarapu (keys, organ, vocals); Khalyle Hagood
(bass); Ari Lindo (guitar); & Khori Wilson (drums)
Arranged by Paul Von Mertens with the exception of tracks 1 – 5 (horns arranged by Parris Fleming & Ryan
Wayne Tedder)
Strings (tracks 1, 2, & 4 – 10): Katherine Hughes (violin); Chihsuan Yang (violin); Carol Kalvonjian (violin); Ben
Wedge (viola); Charles Bontrager (viola); & Matthew Agnew (cello)
Horns (tracks 1 – 5): Parris Fleming (trumpet); Alex Wasily (trombone); & Corbin Andrick (saxophone). Horns
(tracks 6 – 10): Max Crawford (trumpet); Dylan Rehm (trombone); Paul Von Mertens (alto sax & flute); & Wes
Chihosz (tenor & baritone sax)
Flute on "Think I'm Falling In Love" sexily performed by Paul Von Mertens
Overdubs: Ken Stringfellow (background vocals, organ, percussion, tracks 1 - 10); Mathew Ajjarapu (additional
guitar on tracks 1, 5 & 10); Robert Edward Campbell (additional guitar on track 10); Alex Santilli (percussion on
track 6); Christopher Siebold (guitar solo on track 1); & Ajani Marsh (additional drums on track 1)
Recorded & mixed by Mike Hagler of Kingsize Sound Labs (Chicago)
Produced by Mike Hagler and Mathew Ajjarapu
Mastered by Golden Mastering
Album artwork & design by Mathew & Jacob Ajjarapu
Photography by Sarah Elizabeth Larson

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

The Devonns Chicago, Illinois

The Devonns
-------------------
Chicago-based Rare Soul 4-piece. Debut album out June 05 on Record Kicks


Members
--------------
- Mat Ajjarapu
(songwriting, vocals, keys)

- Khalyle Hagood (bass)

- Ari Lindo (guitar)

- Khori Wilson (drums)
... more

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