Soulfinger

The local R and B ensemble Soulfinger is celebrating the release of its first CD, Soulfinger Party, with a Friday full of performances, starting with the 11 O’Clock Rock show on knoxivi.com at 11 a.m. The main set will be at the Alive After Five series at Knoxville Museum of Art at 6 p.m.; later that night—the exact time depends on how quickly they can sell some CDs and pack up their gear—the band will play at Smokey’s Sports Pub in Fountain City. Here’s some of the music that inspired singer/keyboardist Tim Spencer.

- MetroPulse

Soulfinger’s live shows often take on gigantic proportions, stretching deep into the night with a sweaty combo of funk and R&B classics and original songs. This EP, the band’s first recording, is a quick introduction to Soulfinger, but it’s no less intense. It is, after all, a party—the title doesn’t lie. The eight-man band, led by convincingly gruff singer Tim Spencer and horn player Pee Jay Alexander (also of the big local R&B ensemble Aftah Party, and formerly of frat-funk favorites Gran Torino), shows that they can lay it down smooth (“Not Takin’ It Back”) or hard (“Do It!”), or even kind of dirty (“Grits N’ Gravy”). Spencer even demonstrates an appreciation for history with the epic “The Funk Is Back in Town,” based on James Brown’s 1972 Knoxville arrest.

- MetroPulse