Baltimore Pays Tribute to Pink Floyd: Mobtown Moon

September 25th, 2013 by WLOY Staff

It’s a classic. It’s been admired and covered by musicians all over the planet. It’s Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon and now it’s Baltimore’s turn to re-imagine this legendary, 1973 album. With over forty musicians participating, each bringing with them their own musical genre, this album is sure to be an eclectic, musical experience. Collaborators and co-creators Sandy Asirvatham and ellen cherry have been at the center of this album since its inception.For over four years, these two talented musicians/composers have achieved the tremendous feat of combining musicians and genres from all walks of life to complete one epic album. Together, they have formed an album that features jazz, bluegrass, hip hop, classical and rock music. Rarely is this kind of variety found on a single album. Yet, it is even more of a rarity to find this in a cover album. Mobtown Moon’s eclectic nature and the overall excellence of the musicians featured is what raises the album above any other of its predecessors. Strangely enough, the entire concept of the album revealed itself to her while spending countless hours on a treadmill when she was training for a triathlon. Asirvatham would listen to Pink Floyd’s original Dark Side of the Moon everyday as she trained. She said that eventually the album became so familiar to her, that she found herself riffing and changing certain songs to adapt the music to her own particular jazz style. Once the concept of covering Dark Side of the Moon was apparent to her, Sandy realized that she didn’t want to cover every song by herself. She turned to her friend and fellow musician, ellen cherry, to collaborate on the songs. Little by little, they started to realize that in order to do this album justice, it would have to be huge. Soon, a plethora and variety of musicians were in the studio recording what would become Mobtown Moon.

The album pays tribute to Pink Floyd while still being singular. Familiar riffs take on an entirely new sound in this re-imagining. For instance, the song “Money”‘s opening riff, which is originally played with a guitar, is now played with a bass. The deep, soulfulness of the bass contrasts wonderfully with the song’s title. Another stand out track is Brain Damage, performed by Lea Gilmore. Gilmore does a gospel rendition of this classic. It is strikingly different in tone and yet, it retains that same, manic energy that made the original so jarringly fantastic. Interestingly enough, the song will be performed by Lea Gilmore’s son in their September. 28 live performance.

Sandy Asirvatham and ellen cherry thanked Baltimore for being the kind of the city that would accept such an endeavor. Come out and support the artists of Mobtown Moon on Saturday, September. 28th at Goucher College at 7pm. Tickets are on sale now! Come and hear Dark Side of the Moon as you’ve never heard it before.