Based in San Francisco, Mellow Drunk was initially practically a one-man project by Gregory, a veteran of a variety of groups for numerous years before that, including Connecticut's Dispossessed in the late '80s and San Diego's Miles From Nowhere in the early '90s. Drawing on a variety of darker psych forebears old and young -- most notably the Church, which he covered for a tribute album -- Gregory first put together a version of the band in Minnesota, where the group's debut, Always Be Drunk, was recorded over 18 months. Gregory relocated to the Bay Area and re-created the group with a variety of well-known local performers, including Imajinary Friends/Smallstone member Rick Maymi and Dora Flood's keyboardist and drummer, Steven Cavoretto, and Sean DeGaetano. Bassist Alexander Mann fills out the lineup. ~ Ned Raggett