Being assertive and open-hearted is a challenge to any singer-songwriter who wants to write about his — or especially her — life. (Rock is and probably will always be mostly a boy’s game.) Deaf Angel frontwoman Tina Downs manages both perfectly. Unfortunately, she made her chops the hard way. A wife at 18 and mother shortly afterward, Downs recalls “being beaten up, cheated on,” she said. “I couldn’t leave. I was stuck. The music was a cry for help. I was trying to get people to relate to me.”
The time was 2005, not long after the Fort Worth band had formed. Downs is OK now — she and her husband of the time divorced not long after the band got together. Downs credits one song in particular from back with helping her get un-stuck. “Breathe,” full of soaring solos and ferocious drumming, she said, “was therapeutic. … It did give me the courage to leave.”
Only one other original band member remains, guitarist Duston Daulton, who previously played in a local metal outfit called Stoned Famous. Over time, Daulton assumed a leadership role and began replacing Deaf Angel members one by one until he achieved the current lineup: guitarist Lee Daniels, bassist Kelly Robinson, and drummer Tony Aspero. “It’s about being tight,” Daulton said, “We didn’t want anyone to slow us down.”
The band is about to release its debut album, a mix of old and new songs recorded at Tonal Records in Fort Worth.
As Downs attempted to write a better story into her life, she found her new bandmates allowed her to push as far as she was willing to go vocally. Downs, who also plays saxophone, trumpet, piano, drums, and guitar, understands the technical aspects of music and how a voice can tie together seemingly disparate sonic elements. Onstage, however, Downs only sings, which lets her focus on her breathing and interact with the crowd. An alto with an extremely broad range, she confesses to practicing with power. “I almost don’t need a microphone,” she said.
Deaf Angel and Downs dislike being compared to the Amy Lee-fronted Evanescence, but powerful bands with expressive female singers are somewhat rare. “I’m just being me,” she said. “I’m not trying to sound like anyone else.”
And in all fairness, it would be hard to fault Downs and Lee for having powerful, controlled, almost operatic voices and a penchant for visceral rock.
Like most of her bandmates, Downs has children and a full-time job. There is partying but not like there used to be, when Downs and company would invite their friends to rehearsals, drawing sometimes in excess of 60 people. The upshot is that a lot of those folks are still going to Deaf Angel shows and paying for the pleasure. A slew of dates is planned throughout the rest of summer.
As for Downs’ current life? Much better now, thank you. She recently got married again, to a fellow musician, Cody Downs, who manages Deaf Angel. Though Downs said she’s “scarred for life” by her past, she can now find her happy place and even translate that into song. And she’s not sorry about sharing her pain, either. “I don’t hold anything back,” she said. “If I have something to tell, I will tell it.” l
