Juanita Place

The link includes an article and video profile of Juanita Place c/o Zia Nizami - Belleville News Democrat

Congratulations to the following bands for making it into the Top 10 for their respective regions:
- Flavorpill

Juanita Place served as the house band for two seasons, playing their original music on the TV show Laugh Out Loud. The show airred throughout the US. - Lecia J. Rives

http://issuu.com/deluxmagazine/docs/august_2011/61 - Keith Griffin

B.J. Rice isn’t just the singer, keyboardist and principal lyricist for R&B/rock outfit Juanita Place. At several points on Her Hero, Rice (with the help of multi-tracking) becomes a many-membered gospel choir and lends heavenly, soul-powered harmonies to these groove-based songs. On songs like the soul ballad “Just to Us,” the layered vocals help fill in the space left by broad, open piano chords and Jason Warren’s jazzy guitar lines. Rice’s self-harmonies are a case of musical indulgences paying off for the band. - Christian Schaeffer (Riverfront Times)

The first thing one notices about St. Louis' Juanita Place is its name.

It sounds like a venue, not a band name, a fact the band's lead singer-keyboardist BJ Rice acknowledges.

"Most of the time we laugh when people find out it's actually a group," he says, adding that Kentucky has a venue called Juanita's Place. "We find it kind of funny."

The name came about through texting between group members, who quickly ruled out names such as Smooth, Suave and Swoop. Juanita Place is the street in Belleville where they practice.

"It was a joke, but after a day of thinking about it, we said, 'Let's go with it,' Rice says.

Juanita Place, which also features Jason Warren on guitar, Kyle Jeffrey on bass and Shontez Jones on drums, has a new album "Her Hero," a blend of R&B, rock and funk.

"We bounce around different styles," Rice says.

The band considered using "Hello Venus" as the album's lead-off song. But, Rice says, "then we released the album, and everybody was talking about 'Just to Us.'"

"Her Hero" is the band's first full-length release, following the 2009 EP "Let it Play." "Cold Front" and "They Say," two songs from "Let it Play," carried over to "Her Hero."

Rice says the band has grown in the time from "Let It Play" to "Her Hero." The EP was recorded at Jupiter Studios, and Rice says the band paid careful attention to the mixing and mastering and brought that knowledge to its own studio, where it recorded the new project.

Juanita Place formed in November 2008. The group started off as a jazz band of sorts, with no vocals. Rice remembers an early poster for a performance advertising "the jazz stylings of Juanita Place."

"We later got hired to play at a 'grown and sexy' event and just figured I should sing," he says.

From there, Juanita Place became an R&B cover band. Rice and a female vocalist shared lead vocals, and after she left he took over that role.

Performing cover songs paved the way for what the band really wanted to do.

"When we first got together, we always knew we wanted to be a band where people would associate our own music with us," he says. "That was always our thing."

As Juanita Place will demonstrate at its show next week at Cicero's, the band sometimes mixes cover songs into original tunes, like the way "Hello Venus" morphs into the Script's "Breakeven."

"We try to stay with the unexpected," Rice says.
- Kevin C. Johnson of St Louis Post Dispatch

With Strong local support, Juanita Place's debut album "Her Hero" was one of the top five sellers for two weeks at Vintage Vinyl. - Riverfront Times

Juanita Place being interviewed by Tim Ezell on Fox 2 - Fox 2 News

J'rel London coverage of Juanita Place at the Koken Art Factory show. - Metromix

"Juanita Place Band is a band with unmatched energy and originality, completely original, exciting and refreshingly talented musically. [Displaying] musicianship, passion, force and groove every performance. A must see band." Jim Callahan Jupiter Studios Owner, St. Louis MO - www.jupiterstudios.net

Link:

http://feedstitch.com/stlhiphop/taste-of-st-louis - Taste of St. Louis

http://www.stltoday.com/blogzone/the-blender/tag/jessie-taylor/ - STLToday.com