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Though they wouldn’t officially take the name Slow Down Lady until months later, the Austin quintet’s roots were founded in April of 2008, when lead guitarist Keith Levy pulled a wild card from his sleeve.
“One day Keith came up to me,” remembers songwriter and rhythm guitarist Andrew Crosby, “and he just said, ‘You gotta meet this girl Abby Peck. She’s a raw talent. She’s got something.’”
Levy says he saw that something the moment he first heard her sing. “When people hear her voice they want to stop and listen. I haven’t met too many people like that, and I know that I haven’t been fortunate enough to play with a talent like that before.”
With the addition of Peck to Crosby, Levy and drummer Adam Klaybor, Slow Down Lady was born. But they wouldn’t mold into the soulful Americana outfit they are today until bassist Shelby Stephens joined the group in January 2009. Levy suggests that the addition of a low end to the picture has helped the band beyond imagination.
“Completing that picture and adding a bass player has really done a lot,” the songwriter/guitarist suggests. “But it’s also helped that Shelby’s such a creative dude and writes a lot, because he needs an outlet just as badly as the rest of us.”
The progress is clear as day. Once dominated by Crosby’s folk-roots songs, Slow Down Lady has evolved into a tough-as-nails blues rock band perfectly at home playing such legendary Austin venues as Momo’s and the Saxon Pub.
“Originally, the band’s songs catered to what Crosby was doing,” Levy admits. “But I think we’ve grown into this spot where we can take anyone’s songs and turn them into a Slow Down Lady song, which is a great spot to be in. And I’ve seen that the songs have only gotten better. There’s a lot of collaboration, and I think that’s made our songs and our band and our shows only better.”
The band’s set to go into the studio to record their debut EP in late September, and they’re poised for a push to become regulars on Austin’s Americana scene. Surely Slow Down Lady’s up for the challenge.
“I think that’s why we’re here,” says Levy. “We want to make music that stands up to the best in Austin. If you can make it in Austin, you can make it anywhere. We haven’t made it here yet, not by a long shot. But I’d rather be grinding it out here than be the best thing in Indianapolis.”
Chase Hoffberger, September 2009
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