ROXY ROCA

Highlights were the most original acts, Trombone Shorty and Roxy Roca… - CMJ.com

This Texas group wasn’t well-known locally when they appeared at BayFest 2013, but they quickly won over believers with their dance-friendly retro-soul. The band delivered “a high-voltage dose of authentic soul with a splash of revival spirit to the festival’s opening night,” AL.com’s Tamara Ikenberg wrote at the time. - AL.com

If you’ve never seen Roxy Roca then I pity you. Front man Taye Cannon is a living, breathing legend. They find the perfect middle ground of old school funky soul that this city is missing. With elements of jazz, polished blues sound and an explosive showy rebel rock attitude, Roxy Roca is one of the most entertaining performers in Austin right now. .. - http://ovrld.com/

Funk and soul band Roxy Roca of Austin, Texas makes its first Lafayette appearance with a 9:30 p.m. show today at the Blue Moon Saloon, 215 E. Convent St, in downtown Lafayette. Tickets are $10.

Roxy Roca is a nine-piece, horn-driven soul band that plays original music inspired by Sam Cooke, James Brown, Joe Tex, Otis Redding, Al Green, Wilson Pickett and other stars from the 1960s. Taye Cannon is the lead vocalist for the band, which has shared the stage with B.B. King, Mayer Hawthorne, Maneja Beto and others.

BlackBook Magazine of New York City named the group the “Best of SXSW 2013.” The band released the “Basement Tapes, Vol. 1” and will soon release a new CD produced by Lars Goransson at EAR Studio in Austin. - The Times of Acadiana

Give me some butter! exclaims Taye Cannon, lead singer of Roxy Roca, a soulful funk band with a killer song about the classic comfort food we all know and love, cornbread. Who knew a song about food could be such a sexy good time? Roxy Roca delivers powerhouse energy from beginning to end as Taye makes the most of every moment with old school dance moves, genuine audience interaction and heartfelt vocals.

Combine that with well-written songs paying homage to all the Motown greats, a solid band line up and a snazzy horn section to boot, Roxy Roca can get any crowd grooving like the last episode of Soul Train. Come see for yourself at their upcoming Scoot Inn show with The LaRues this Saturday, 4/27/13. Doors open at 8. -- Written by Charise Sowells - The Deli

Austin based Roxy Roca has been tearing up the Texas music scene lately, playing in front of anyone willing to listen. Their brand of “Dynamite Texas Soul” is spreading like a soulful virus, garnering fans across the state and beyond. At first sight and listen, you may want to make the easy comparison to Kim Wilson and the Faboulous Thunderbirds, but it wouldn’t be fair. Its a compliment in many ways, especially considering how great the Thunderbirds are and how they similarly made their bones in Austin, too. But that’s just too easy. Taye Cannon (lead singer) ain’t Kim Wilson and Roxy Roca are not the TBirds. What they are is a group with a lot of soul and great songs that will make you get up and move something. This band is doing their own thing and you should definitely get hip to ‘em.

Check out the video for their latest single ‘Try My Love’. And be sure you check them out live in Houston at Hotel Sorella on Friday, May 17th. Don’t be surprised to see The Blastoff King in the building trying to convince some ladies to try my love. - bobbyphats.com

"...almost seemed like a religious experience..." - Mike Cortez @ The Horn

Those who say real soul music is dead clearly haven't heard Roxy Roca. The Austin band has been tearing up the town with their voluptuous funk-infused soul music, and this year they will be hitting SXSW in hopes of spreading the musical gospel. Recently Neil Ferguson spoke with Roxy Roca's charismatic lead vocalist Taye Cannon and guitarist Errol Siegel about the joys of being in an Austin soul band.

Describe your sound and influences to someone who has never heard the band before.
Taye Cannon: I would call it gritty Southern soul with funky, driving horns. In terms of influences go, if we were making a cocktail, I would say we are 1 part Wilson Pickett , 1 part Joe Tex, 1 1/2 parts James Brown, a dash of Tower of Power, and just a squeeze of Al Green.



Do you think there is a bias, either in favor or against, Austin bands getting in to SXSW, and do you think it is possible that local bands are perceived differently during the festival?
Errol Siegel: There are a lot of angles to this one, aren't there? As an Austinite, it's exciting to have all these bands from far away come to town. At the same time, Austin has a serious rep as a music city and lots of fans flock to SXSW to get a taste of what Austin music is all about. I think they strike a pretty decent balance. I hear some Austin bands complain that the cards are stacked against them for getting accepted by SXSW, but I think that has more to do with the fact that Austin has a LOT of bands for a city its size - if they all got in it would fill every venue in town a couple times over.

What will you be promoting at SXSW this year?
Errol: We have a new record that we just finished. We recorded it at EAR Studio with producer Lars Goransson. We can't wait for everybody to hear it and SXSW this year is most definitely going to be all about getting the word out about it.

For an Austin band (especially one with 8 members), what are the challenges to building an audience nationally?
Errol: The most obvious challenge is touring - it's hard to tour with a big band. Still, when you're committed to something, you can always find a way to make it happen. The other challenges are the same kinds of things that bands from anywhere face, like figuring out how to get heard amidst the sea of new releases coming out every week. On the positive side, we have found like-minded soul music fans all over the world through shows, the Internet, etc. and found that there a lot of people with a big appetite for new music -- we just have to reach out to them.

Taye, you’ve mentioned growing up in the deep South. How did that environment affect the way you approach both the music and the live performances?
Taye: Growing up in the deep South you just kind of marinate in gospel and the blues, and you can feel a sense of that all the time; when the wind blows, when the sun is out, [and] when it's raining it's all the blues. They call it the Bible Belt, so the spirituals are ingrained in a lot of us from birth. I am no exception. I think there is a natural urge to fight hard for your dream down there -- because of all the struggles that have taken place over the years. That is a passion that I think comes out of me on the stage every time we play. A Southern boy is born with a little fight in him. - Neil Ferguson @ The Horn

Often nu-soul contributors struggle with digging into the essence of the sonic spirit that drives the genre. Finding that feeling of which this style of music has built and evolved can not be manufactured. It’s not actually discoverable – it finds you. It is simply in you or it isn’t, and you usually have about 3 minutes to prove that to the astute connoisseur. With Roxy Roca it took about thirty seconds for the tight horns, noticeable organ, and affecting vocals from frontman Taye Cannon to register that their is something special this band. Sacrificing bells and whistles, the Austin octet come right out of the gate with the right amount of everything – brass overlays, tons of funky rhythm, and a positive yet simple message to tie it all together. The video shot at The Blackheart in the Silicon Hills features some cool celebrity appearances, and shows these guys know how to put the fun in funky. To be honest, I don’t know much else about Roxy Roca, but they have my attention now. - I Live Music

"...more proof that soul is alive and well here in Austin. Roxy Roca is a must hear for fans of bands like Brownout, T-Bird and The Breaks and Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears."
-- Austin Vida - Austin Vida

Having recently interviewed Taye Cannon, of Roxy Roca, I was really impressed with the concept and vision which drives this band. Not only are they one of the most energetic bands I’ve seen perform in a long time, but they are also very much involved in community development initiatives, such as their recent benefit concert to raise funds for thousands of victims affected by the recent fires throughout Central Texas. The band consisting of Taye Cannon on Vocals, Errol Siegel on Guitar, Roger Wuthrich on Bass, Bob Villwock on Keys, Alex Moralez on Drums, Nikolas Bouklas on Tenor Sax, Thomas Hays on Trombone and Ryan Allen on Alto Saxis definitely moving and shaking this town and you want to make sure you catch them at an upcoming show. Take a look at my interview with Taye. - Megan Schiebe @ blogtalkradio.com

Also playing is another band headed by a guy who's steeped in Southern music, though Taye Cannon's Roxy Roca hew from the deep south soul and R&B of Marvin Gaye and James Brown, with a boogie-woogie strut that's landed them on bills with the likes of fellow locals T-Bird and the Breaks and Brownout. The seven-piece group features a sax and horns section to support Cannon's on-stage showmanship and well-honed croon. - Phillip Pantuso @ austinist.com

To make it as a singer the way Taye Cannon does, you've got to be very much into the subject at hand. Intimate knowledge is called for. Just as Bob Dylan sings about desolation row because he's strolled those streets, Taye Cannon sings of love because that's his trip. The way Taye tells it to you in a song, you get the impression that he's been through the life mill with all of it's inevitable ups and downs. There's an unmistakable honest and gratifying feeling when you leave a ROXY ROCA show, like you've been to a funky revival, and drank the poison and all of it's splendor. The art of get down and soul evangelism! . Check out with the ROCA crew and get a little taste of Austin's best kept secret on it's way to the summit! Shake a hand with the band.. you'll make a friend... - do512.com

I have been seeing the name Roxy Roca popping up a lot lately so I decided to head down to Threadgill’s last weekend to see who this Roxy Roca is. It turns out Roxy Roca is not a who, but a what—and the “what” is a nine-piece powerhouse of southern soul. Fronted by green-eyed soul shouter Taye Cannon and backed up by a crack team of veteran players, this band is the real deal.

Roxy Roca delivered a tight, gapless set showcasing their obvious affinity for late ’60s southern soul like Al Green and Joe Tex mashed up with a slightly more modern pop sensibility, as heard in their Internet-only single, “Ain’t Nothin’ Fancy (It’s Love).”
As the band led the crowd of sweaty dancers (it was about 100 degrees outside, after all) with their driving rhythms and pounding horns, they displayed impressive swagger and confidence for a band that played their first show well under a year ago. It is evident why the name Roxy Roca is popping up all over the place—and I suspect you’ll be seeing it a lot more before you know it.

-Buckley Wineholt

- Buckley Wineholt @ thevinyldistrict.com

Getting the evening rolling was Austin’s own Roxy Roca. The up-and-coming group is part of a handful of local groups specializing in white-bred soul music that have emerged in the last few years. What sets this group apart from the pack is the tightness and dedication of the band and their frontmant Taye Cannon, who possesses a smoky voice that isn’t so much smooth, but feels gritty, authentic, and is at times reminiscent of British blue-eyed soulsters like Rod Stewart. Despite it only being an opening set, Cannon appeared to be putting everything he had into the performance, enhancing upon his Alabama roots and bearing himself to the crowd with blazing Southern passion. By the end of their set Roxy Roca worked the crowd into a dance frenzy, setting the proper vibe for what would follow. - Glide Magazine