The Gramophone

Just Added: Eytan and the Embassy

In the coming weeks, Eytan and the Embassy is sharing bills with Old 97s and OK Go. They were recently featured on the soundtrack of the MTV movie Turn the Beat Around.
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SoJourner Band with Benyaro

About two years ago, Ladired started performing with Yard Squad here in St. Louis at Club Viva. Since then, she travelled throughout the midwest and has played for the Kentucky Reggae Festival, the infamous Wild Hare and Club Exedus II of Chicago, Mojo’s in Columbia, and several other places.

“My original dream had to do with the cheers concept of playing in a place ‘where everybody knows your name,’ following in the footsteps of my father, John “Cap” Tims, a local blues drummer/singer of Ground Floor Band. My dad has been singing in a band my whole life. I wanted that feeling that I got when I heard him on stage. And the feeling later when I heard the same song on the radio. My father has been to Saudie Arabia playing for American troops, and Europe on a band tour. He hasn’t made it “big” but he’s doing what he loves and he always will. That’s my dream.”

SoJourner Band came about because several local reggae bands are somewhat a la carte as are many other genres. But the difference with SoJourner is that it is led by a female vocalist who combines all the sounds of reggae music to provide a full show.

“It’s kind of like how Tina Turner says ‘sometimes we like it hard and sometimes we like it soft,’ in Proud Mary. This way you can hear some roots and dance hall. Both singing and deejaying. That’s how I like to get down.”

Doors 8pm / Show 9pm

$5 at the door

www.myspace.com/benyaro

The Right Now CD Release Party with S Five

Home is the feeling that bubbles up irrepressibly inside of you when you arrive exactly where you belong. Coincidentally, the feeling that you get when you listen to The Right Now is awfully similar.

The Right Now plays soul music, and soul music is all about feeling; not style, not fashion, but emotion. The band’s new album Carry Me Home, released on March 3, 2010, lives within the four walls erected by the arresting lead vocalist Stefanie Berecz, the stellar songcraft of Brendan O’Connell, the spot-on horns and layers of back-up vocals, and a solid bedrock of rhythm.

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88.1 KDHX presents The Gramophone 2 Year Anniversary Party with The Diplomats of Solid Sound and JC Brooks and The Uptown Sound

Join us and 88.1 KDHX in celebrating the 2 year anniversary of THE GRAMOPHONE!!! We are gonna get down and dirty with The Diplomats of Solid Sound plus JC Brooks and Uptown Sound

Since the release of their first 7-inch single, “Bullfrog Boogaloo,” in 2001, the Diplomats of Solid Sound have been mining America’s vast deposits of soul music to create a sound all their own — a spare-but-spicy groove sired equally by progenitors such as Booker T., James Brown and The Funk Brothers. Now, after three full-length releases as an instrumental outfit, the Diplomats of Solid Sound have expanded the family with a trio of sultry sirens who liked to be called the Diplomettes for a new set of soul stunners they like to call “The Diplomats of Solid Sound, Featuring The Diplomettes.”
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Everett Thomas CD Release Show (Early Show)

With the lines of the artistry and industry being blurred together more everyday, singer/songwriters seem to get categorized as either full-fledged commercial superstars or pensive underground poets. St. Louis-bred/Wisconsin-based troubadour Everett Thomas certainly falls into that latter category, though he’s quickly ascending beyond a niche in-the-know to become one of the Midwest’s most authentic and accomplished tunesmiths who’s already opened for the lauded likes of Nickel Creek’s Sean and Sara Watkins, G. Love & Special Sauce, Over the Rhine, Lifehouse, The Wood Brothers and Matt Nathanson.

Everett Thomas CD is the early show
Doors 7pm
Show 8pm
$5 at the door

Nneka w/ Black Spade

Nneka schedule update (2/13 at 1:45 p.m.): Nneka will be taking the stage at 10 p.m. Come early so you don’t miss it!

Born in Nigeria, Nneka relocated some 10,000 miles to Hamburg, Germany, at the age of nineteen to pursue a career in singing along side a degree in Anthropology. Having landed in the German port, the singer hooked up with DJ and Hip-Hop beatmaker DJ Farhot and ever since, their strong musical relationship has been the backbone of Nneka’s success. Her influences reflect her younger days in Nigeria as well as her time in the Western world. The distance she has travels shines through in her voice as does her diverse musical influences. She cites famous compatriot Fela Kuti and legend Bob Marley as well as contemporary rappers Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Mobb Deep and Lauryn Hill as key influences in her pursuit of musical recognition.
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JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound w/ Freddie T. and The People

JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound are for the people remaining awake through a great revolution… for people who want to move and not just sit tight… for soul people! Guaranteed to make you dance by any means necessary, JC Brooks is the new sound of Chicago.

JC Brooks and The Uptown Sound Myspace

Indiana’s Freddie T and The People will open the show

Freddie T and The People Myspace

Doors at 8pm
Show at 9pm
$5 at the door

The Right Now (Chicago)

"Soul is still alive, due in part to a bunch of white dudes from Chicago…the real draw here is lead singer Stefanie Berecz, whose dusty, hypnotic voice puts her in line to be another Jennifer Hudson–type success story." – Avant/Chicago
"The band is not afraid to channel Motown soul, punch it up with groovy funk, or lay down some radio ready pop hooks. The rhythm section keeps it bouncing as the horn section alternately defines or smoothes the edges with jazzy panache." – 365 Ink
"[The Right Now] met [Berecz's] big, fluid voice with the full-bodied support it needs, striking just the right tone on everything from the bluesy “Afraid Not to Die” to the sticky-sweet “Candlelight and Satin Sheets.” – Chicago Reader

Doors at 8 p.m., show at 10 p.m.

$5/21+

www.myspace.com/therightnowmusic

Tags: The Right Now

The Diplomats of Solid Sound featuring The Diplomettes

Since the release of their first 7-inch single, "Bullfrog Boogaloo," in 2001, the Diplomats of Solid Sound have been mining America’s vast deposits of soul music to create a sound all their own — a spare-but-spicy groove sired equally by progenitors such as Booker T., James Brown and The Funk Brothers. Now, after three full-length releases as an instrumental outfit, the Diplomats of Solid Sound have expanded the family with a trio of sultry sirens who liked to be called the Diplomettes for a new set of soul stunners they like to call "The Diplomats of Solid Sound, Featuring The Diplomettes." The album is available on CD and for download from Record Kicks. This supercharged new set of prime cuts is a dance party in a jewel box, guaranteed to groove its way into your head and your body — and get both moving fast! Its sound is both new and old. Timeless. Soul. Full-length DOSS releases "Instrumental Action Soul" (2001, Prescription Records), "Let’s Cool One"(2003, Estrus Records) and "Destination … Get Down!" (2005, Estrus) captured the band in its natural habitat, a dimly lit bar where people appreciate a good smoke, a vodka gimlet and a funky little combo that knows how to get the cats and kittens out of their seats and onto the dance floor. The sound got the boys a gig backing R&B legend Andrew Williams, with whom they cut "Aphrodisiac." It was released by Pravda Records and Spanish label Vampisoul in May 2006.

The Diplomettes bring the sound of The Ikettes, the Raylettes, maybe a little funky Marva Whitney. Now imagine the girls kicking up the perfect soul storm in front of the DOSS’ trademark heavy funk artillery. The band polished this new act on a tour of Italy in Summer 2007, then went into Iowa’s City’s Minstrel Studio to lay down their new soul ravers. It was produced by the band with help from Justin Kennedy and John Svec, and mixed in the UK by Adam Gibbons (a.k.a. Lack of Afro). The group has shared stages with Sharon Jones, Robert Walter, Wilco, The New Mastersounds and The James Taylor Quartet and toured in Italy, France and Spain. DOSS tracks have been played on the John Peel Show and The Craig Charles Funk And Soul Show on The BBC, and have served as soundtrack music for many televsion progams, including "Reaper" (WB Network), "Breaking Bonaduce" (VH1), "Made" (MTV), "My Super Sweet 16" (MTV), "The Osbournes" (MTV), "Parental Control" (MTV), "Punk’D" (MTV), "Room Raiders" (MTV), "Cathouse" (HBO), and "Sons Of Hollywood" (A&E). The show begins at 10 p.m. and costs $5 at the door. To check them out in advance, visit their MySpace .

Tags: Diplomats of Solid Sound, Diplomettes