The Deep Vibration

The Deep Vibration is a rock and roll band playing American music. In a time when it might be more popular to play pitch perfected pop or distanced, “hipper than thou” rock, their sound calls a listener back to a stark simplicity and authenticity. A lean and gritty four-piece, The Deep Vibration has surprised Nashville with their heartfelt explorations and maturity, earned from years of listening and learning from the classics.

Matt Campbell (vocals, guitar) and Jeremy Fetzer (guitar), the band’s founding members, began collaborating while attending college in Nashville. Their original vision − playing blues and rock music as explosively as possible − has been enhanced over time with explorations of wild and lonely folk tales and soul powered rave ups. After shuffling through a handful of members, the band finally meshed with Adam Binder (whose bass has been heard backing bands in Nashville for years) and Luke Herbert (a drummer from Sydney, Australia who has studied with drumming greats Bernard Purdie and Joe Morello in New York). After signing to Dualtone Records, the band changed their name from “The Attack!” upon discovering that a 60’s British psych-outfit bore the same moniker. In searching for a new name, the group had to look no further than to their collective hero and indie pioneer Lou Reed for inspiration. The band approached Reed for some advice after his performance in Nashville on May 2, 2008. After a moment of thought, he christened them (in characteristic growl) “The Deep Vibration”.

With an arsenal of Americana tinged rock songs, the band recorded live onto 8 track one-inch tape at Nashville’s Masterlink Studios for their first EP, Vercruz. At the helm were Niko Bolas (Neil Young, My Morning Jacket) and Rob Clark (Neil Young), who took care to faithfully capture The Deep Vibration’s naturally classic aesthetic. Matt Campbell’s eccentrically soulful vocals pierce and tremble over the band’s driving stomp led by Jeremy Fetzer, whose jolting guitar work in “Thanks To You” and “Oklahoma City Woman Blues” plays out like a thoughtful combination of Neil Young’s edginess and the quirky rock endeavors of Wilco’s Nels Cline. Binder and Herbert provide the combustive impact behind “Third day of July” and a primitive elegance in “Mississippi Women”.

The EP is verdant with rich tones, driving rhythms, sly orchestrations and serves as the proper introduction to the band* loud, rock solid, and strangely spiritual. Appropriately skidding to a halt, Veracruz’s bookend gem “Tennessee rose” features Gillian Welch’s graceful harmonies accompanying the tale of a sojourner whose mind lingers at home with his love, as stated in American songwriter magazine, “Tennessee rose” is one of those songs that makes you stop what you’re doing, and, like the great American songs, outs an original voice in a pair of very old shoes. “The Deep Vibration are walking in those shoes of American musical tradition and taking them to strange, new places. They have “it”, that inarguable authenticity that accompanies music not made out of will or want, but whose creation and existence is simply necessary. To have “it” in such a city, at such a time, is no easy feat; leaving no doubt that soon the deep vibration will be felt everywhere.