Allegheny Drive is Daniel Noe, Mackey Divine, and Nathan Clark. Those three names spawn from an insanely rich history of local music lore. Each member of this group shares the local spotlight with family members that are extremely active in the past and present local music scene. They each have fathers and brothers that play regularly in their own bands every week across the north Texas scene. This history has afforded them the right to have the “I’ll do whatever I want to do” attitude. And so, Allegheny Drive was born.
Allegheny Drive isn’t your typical power chord driven, redneck rock band. In fact, it wouldn’t be an easy chore to try and fit them in any musical box. There are definitely some jazzy elements to what they do, but if you had to point a finger and call them a name, “experimental” would be the only label that might stick. They started out in 2015, but, as a lot of newly formed bands discovered, the bumps along the road shook them apart. There was a member or two that decided along the way that they just couldn’t hang. In early 2016, the trio regrouped and forged ahead to create some of the most artful and melodic tunes north Texas has to offer.
While reminiscing with me about the early days and the discussions they had about which direction they wanted to go, they all laughed as Mackey explained, “We talked about it and agreed that we just wanted to be different!”. Daniel, the lead vocalist and guitarist, went on to list his influences which included Yes, Frank Zappa, Jethro Tull, and Mars Volta. Nathan was in full agreement with this list and pointed out that it was more or less forced upon Mackey, who also “liked different music, but not quite as far out there!”, then stated that “Mackey kinda holds us down and keeps us grounded so that we don’t get too weird”.
The band is currently working on 2… or is it 3?… or?… well, they are working on more than one album right now and the one they seem to be the most excited about happens to be in production with Jaret Reddik of Bowling for Soup. It’s been an on and off again project due to the busy schedule of everyone involved, but it’s Reddik’s excitement about the project that keeps pushing it forward. They are approaching these recording projects with true artist spirit, which means nobody has any idea when they will be finished, but they are anticipating some completion before year’s end.
They went on to reminisce more about their early shows at The Deep End, their latest gigs out of town, and their strategy in having a well-balanced schedule. They will be playing more local shows, and when they do, I highly suggest that you make the time to enjoy a Texas brew along with their skillfully crafted tracks. Sick of the same ole, same ole? Well, take a ride down Allegheny Drive.
Keep up with the band’s shenanigans online at:
facebook.com/alleghenydrive
alleghenydrive.bandcamp.com
– David Fowler
