Robert Allen Announces Remastered '21st Century Rock 'n Roll' Album

Roots Rocker Downtown Mystic - stage name for American songwriter Robert Allen, has announced the release of his record 21st Century Rock 'n Roll for January 21. The album features the talents of Max Weinberg and Garry Tallent from the legendary E Street Band, along with Steve Holley and Paul Page from Ian Hunter's Rant Band. 21st Century Rock 'n Roll will be released via The Orchard/Sony Music, and is currently available for pre-order here.

21st Century Rock 'n Roll contains 11 remastered tracks of DownTown Mystic's best tracks, 7 of which have been sync-licensed to the 200+ TV shows that have DTM music on them. The album is a chronicle of Allen's longtime career, from his early performances opening for Jim Croce, John Prine and Bonnie Raitt, through his years performing in the gritty 1970-80's NYC nightclub scene, to his embrace of the studio and vintage recording techniques with Ben Elliott.

Allen's songwriting talents are on full display on songs like "Hard Enough," which paired him with the unrivaled rhythm section of Max Weinberg and Garry Tallent, who laid down tracks with Allen while simultaneously recording songs for Born In The USA with Bruce Springsteen.

"Garry Tallent and I go back aways. I met him when he was working on The River with Bruce. He had come to see my band play in NYC and would record with us when we got a production deal. I stayed in touch after he got back from the The River World Tour and we got together. He picked 'Hard Enough' to record because he thought the lead riff was something George Harrison would play and brought in Mighty Max, who I knew from high school."

The release also provides Allen with the opportunity to honor long-time engineer Ben Elliott, who owned and operated Showplace Studios in Dover NJ, until his untimely death in April 2020. Elliott was DownTown Mystic's collaborator for 20 years and engineered all the tracks on 21st Century Rock 'n Roll. Allen credits Ben with being a primary developer of his high-energy sound, combining old-school chops with modern studiocraft. Allen writes, "If you want to make a great record, it has to sound great... and that was Ben's forte."

Working with Ben also gave DownTown Mystic something in common with Stones legend Keith Richards. Ben was Keith's personal engineer at the Rolling Stones guitarist's home studio in Stamford, CT. Robert remembers fondly, "The stories Ben would tell about working at Keith's were hilarious. He really enjoyed every minute with him". Robert continues, "Keith Richards understands great sound and that's why he had Ben as his engineer because great RnR is all about the sound."

21st Century Rock 'n Roll blends Allen's musical vision and Ben Elliott's sound to create a signature distillation of rock that lives up to the genre's high-water mark era of unfiltered songwriting and inspired recording. The album is a testament to Allen's status as a true rock n' roll survivor and an eyewitness storyteller of modern American music history.

Listen to the new single here: