Robbing Mary - El Otro Lado

With a touch of twang, a slew of vintage guitars, and some heavenly male-female harmonies, Robbing Mary is ready to take Cleveland’s summer festival by storm. From gigs at The Barking Spider Tavern to Cleveland Metroparks Zoo’s Twilight at the Zoo festival, the nearly decade-old band likes to share their tunes in unique venues. On their first official full-length studio album, chugging alt-country seamlessly pours from the six-piece band. Drawing inspiration from their Cleveland roots, songs like “Halite” highlight the town’s skyline -- “it’s pretty/even through the haze, it’s pretty.” Organ melds with classic guitar solos in “Where I Am,” while Uncle Tupelo and Drive By Truckers’ influences can be felt in the rumbling heat of “Tell Me.” Funny enough, the album title is less serious than the subject matter. Spanish for “the other side,” El Otro Lado comes from vocalist Dan Mills’ experience taking a picture for the cover art. “When I took the picture of the chicken for the artwork, it sounded like it was swearing at me in Spanish,” explains Mills.