Charleston, S.C.
Soulful Southern Rock

Our fans expect a different show every time they see us,” says Wallace Mullinax, guitarist for Dead 27s. “We switch up the covers, but we also rework our original tunes. To an extent, nothing in the set is sacred.”

Back in 2012 at Charleston, S.C.’s Pour House, the Holy City-based rock and soul five-piece came together for a friend’s birthday party and “things clicked right away—everyone seemed to gravitate toward different roles that broadened the sound.” They realized this was something special and the band—whose music is informed by everyone from Allman Brothers to Guns N’ Roses to Bill Withers to Steely Dan—hit the road
in 2014, releasing an EP, Chase Your Devils Down,that same year. “The South also has a certain influence that is undeniable in musical development,” Mullinax says. “Down here, it better mean something when you play it—flash alone will not d .”

This fall, the band put out their full-length debut, Ghosts Are Calling Out, produced by Galactic’s Ben Ellman and recorded in New Orleans. “Ben worked with us to cultivate our vision for the record,” says Mullinax. “There was always a furious cycle of excitement and ideas.”

During several writing trips to develop the demos, Dead 27s would bring gear and a recording rig and “lock ourselves away in some secluded location and hammer out ideas for four or fi e days. Most of the song ideas were built around a riff or hook someone brought in, but a few were developed from scratch on these weekends.”

Next up, they’ll be touring behind the new album and are also looking forward to returning to Floyd Fest. (“Dreams are made, and cellphones are lost, at that  place.”) From picking up an omnichord at Ani DiFranco’s house, to learning the hard way that a diesel van freezes in the cold, to vocalist Trey Francis sitting in with Galactic at Brooklyn Bowl, Dead 27s already have a few stories from the road to tell.