TAKES ME BACK is the debut release from the front porch desert roots duo Oxygen on Embers. While it’s impossible to hear all of the band’s eclectic inspirations in five songs, this EP presents the storytelling chops and the emotional landscapes that define much of McCarson Leigh’s and Zach Hively’s songwriting. 

Southern expression meets sparse instrumentation in these tracks. There’s the communal foot-stomping of “Moonlight In My Cup” and the heart-opening honesty of “Wally’s Song.” The introspective “Cicadas” and the soaring  “C’mon And Walk With Me.” “Tango In The Tipi” is the undeniable centerpiece, with its Western groove and playfully soulful vocals. 

Oxygen on Embers cut TAKES ME BACK live at Scooter’s Place studio in Durango, Colorado. The band draws on the past and merges traditions (from country and gospel to folk and grunge) into their own unassuming, genuine style. Both musicians share vocals, with Hively on acoustic guitar, electric guitar, harmonica, and shaker egg, and Leigh playing ukulele, tenor guitar, and an old explosives box.