Matthew Mayfield Plugs In

8/6/2019 Matthew Mayfield Plugs In

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/matthew-mayfield-plugs-in 1/1june 3 - june 10 , 2010   BIRMINGHAM WEEKLY16

5 Points South across fromThe Original Pancake House

Monday Madness - 1/2 off sMall Plates & diPs

$2 taco tuesday - any taco on our Menu is only $2.

“Well” Why not Wednesday - all Well drinks and

shots are only $3.

thirsty thursdays - $1 tecate cans all day.

tGi friday - haPPy hours extended til 8PM.

MarGaritas and Mojitos only $3!!!

stay late saturdays - 1/2 off all of our sPecialty 

drinks froM 11PM til 2aM. (at the bar only)

sunday fun day - enjoy $10 Pitchers of ManGo

MaMosa & bloody Mary’s.

Matthew Mayfeld

plugs inMatthew Mayeld is obsessed with reedom. He

admits it himsel, and you only have to look at thetwisted vein o his history to see that the man has been constantly reinventing himsel as a means o survival. He escaped the rigid connes o collegeor the ever dreams o promised rock stardom.When corporate indierence helped destroy his band Moses Mayeld and his moment or major-label success lay in shambles around him, he es-caped to the comorts o hometown Birminghamto lick his wounds and regroup. Soon healed, heemerged as a singer-songwriter with hurt to share

and a voice that ached with injuries past, and has been steadily releasing EPs ever since, includinghis latest, Matthew Mayfeld and the Blue Cut Robbery .

His new record is anything but more o thesame. Mayeld’s new identity may have garneredhim a national ollowing, radio airplay and trackson the Grey’s Anatomy soundtrack, but is he con-tent to settle into a groove and enjoy what moder-ate success has been aorded him? No. Instead hehas released a record radically dierent rom any o his earlier eorts, a record ull o searing guitarris and chunky bass lines, raucous shouts andpunishing drums—in other words, a rock record.“Yeah, it’s denitely something I’ve been wantingto do or a long t ime,” says Mayeld. “I love beinga singer-songwriter, but I also love playing electricguitar. I grew up on Led Zeppelin, Hendrix, andGuns and Roses. They’re two dierent animals, you know, but both equal parts o who I am. The

singer-songwriter thing is a huge part o my heart,and I eel like with this it’s more about the vibe andthe spirit and the ri.”

Matthew isn’t alone or this one either. The BlueCut Robbery in the album title isn’t just a reerenceto Jesse James’ amous last heist, it’s Mayeld’snew band. To ll the ranks, he’s dipped into the well o compatriots past to recruit ormer MosesMayeld drummer Wil Drake and Stewart Vann,an old riend and member o the original MosesMayeld back when Matthew was 18 years old.“The rst time we got together, which was prob-

ably about a year and a hal ago, it was thus at Stewart’s grandather’s old house itown,” Mayeld recalls. ”We played thr became the songs “Good Girls” and “Swit was so loud that (a) the entire house wand (b) the police got called and we werdown. The interesting thing was that th who called the cops weren’t the neighboperson one block over and ve houses d was a long way away or them to hear usthe police. They were not happy about it

less to say we had to nd another storagepractice in, bccause that was not going tthe loudest band I’ve ever heard.”

The record is indeed a loud one. It is r with the best track, a blistering number“The End is Near” with great breaks anda gritty rock groan, and stays strong thrthird track “Swamp,” but devolves into mcliché a bit in the wind-down. This does because, at ve tracks and 18 minutes, tgets by on the strength o its upront onpunch. It also helps that Mayeld really the bejeebus out o some electric guitar.has one or two fights into the higher regmight reer to as “shredding,” i you werto use such a term. I would never.

I know what you’re thinking: “We’re treading your babble, old man, just tell u we can get our grubby little mitts on thi we can go back to staring into our phonFine, I’ll give you young whippersnappe you want. Matthew Mayfeld and the BCut Robbery is streaming live and availapurchase at www.matthewmayeld.commmbluecutrobbery. You can also downtrack there, so don’t say I (or Matthew Mnever gave you anything.

Sam George is a sta writer or BirminWeekly , concerning himsel with populaand, increasingly, other topics. Send youments to editor@bhamweekly.com.

by sam george

Local songwriter channels an outlaw spirit into new rock r

music feature

Constant reinvention: Birminghasongwriter Matthew Mayfeld has rehimsel several times as a means o s

Mayfeld has released several

EPs, including his latest, MatthewMayfeld and the Blue Cut Robbery .