Premiere: TüN tunes to music of the ’70s spheres

Mercury Retrograde contains Magic

L-R Will Bagby, Bill Dehart, Lauren Santi, Nick Fair, Chris Cootsona; Photo: Kalina Cimone

Seattle, Washington’s TüN weaves vibrant strings of blues, funk, and soul together to form a strong sonic fabric, both familiar and unique. Their mission is to recapture the essence of the ‘70s era, when musicianship mattered above all.

Principal songwriter Chris Cootsona and his like-minded gang may have done just that with their new release, Mercury Retrograde (Mercury in retrograde: a disruption of technology, communication, travel, logic, and information).

Cootsona named the band TüN (pronounced toon, meaning—improbably—“tune”) for his own quirky reasons, one of which involves couture: “When deciding on a name for the band, I considered something more eclectic, but settled on TüN because it is a cheeky take on the word ‘Tune,’ and this band is all about the original music. Plus, it looks great on a T-shirt!” Whatever its handle, the band has produced a mature collection of songs that reverberate with echoes of long-gone juke joints, delivered by passionately creative musicians who infuse these timeless melodies with the spirit of the new.

Founding member Chris Cootsona told Elmore a bit about the magical origin of “Magic.”

“The music and lyrical concept for ‘Magic’ were inspired by a vivid dream. I awoke with all the music playing in my mind, complete with a vocal chorus, as if playing on the radio. ‘This ain’t no illusion, no trick from up your sleeve’ was on repeat in my head until I could introduce the song at rehearsal. TüN brought this song to life – each member adding their own flavor to it. Skye Warden, of Clockwork Productions, was instrumental in recapturing the imagery of the dream that inspired the song.”