Soul Shakers

THE SOUL SHAKERS
By Ellen Hamby
Ever feel the need to have your soul shaken, way down
deep? Meet The Soul Shakers: Eric Pullen (drums,) and
the three Holliday brothers: Art (guitar and vocals,)
Adam (keyboards,) and Jacob (bass;) these four, all in
their 20's, are frequently joined onstage by harmonica great
Dr. Dixon ("the blues physician,") and occasionally
by their long-time close friend, Sean Costello, or Sean's former harmonica player, Paul Linden. Whether playing as a
four-some, or with such illustrious special guests, The Soul Shakers are one of the hottest blues bands playing the
Atlanta circuit.
The existence of The Soul Shakers is one of many things for which blues-fanatics owe a debt of gratitude to Sean
Costello. Sean's family moved to Atlanta when Sean was 9 years old,
and had just been given his first guitar; the first person to befriend
Sean was the boy next-door, Eric Pullen. As Sean developed his guitar
playing skills and moved from rock to blues, Eric was along for the ride,
taking up the drums because the 11-year old Sean needed a drummer.
The two boys spent countless hours practicing their respective instruments
and delving deep into the history of the blues. Art Holliday, the
oldest of the three brothers, met Eric in middle school; Eric introduced
Art to Sean and to the blues, and, several years later, Art did the same
favors for Jake and Adam.
The Soul Shakers' music is rooted in relatively obscure blues, with delicious
touches of soul and jazz thrown into the mix. Their blues influences
include Earl Hooker, Otis Rush, Little Walter, Muddy Waters,
Freddie King, Magic Sam, Fred Bellow, Sean Costello, and Paul Linden.
According to Art, "there are too many to list--entirely too many!
Those are just some of the most obvious "BLUES" influences we have.
There are so many, and so many from other genres as well: be-bop,
jazz, soul, funk... surf folks, too."
The Soul Shakers are all talented, dedicated musicians, with an obvious deep-down feel for and knowledge of the
blues. (Just try mentioning the name of any blues musician to Eric Pullen; no matter how obscure the blues-man,
and no matter how much you know about him and his music, Eric will know the name and, quite possibly, more information
about him than you do!) The passion these young men feel for the blues is clear in Art Holliday's description
of how the blues found him when he was in his late-teens: "When I moved back to Atlanta after spending a
couple of years in Texas, at age 18, I ran into Eric at a party and we became brothers. I was starting to get into jazz
and he was on it; he turned me on to a lot of great music he'd learned from playing with Sean Costello, and there
was so much great blues. It consumed me because it made so much sense... it was Heavy. All the good old stuff was
so personal, and there was room to express how you were feeling then and there. I knew I had to play the blues. It
found me, really, but it was through Sean to Eric to Me to Jake and Adam."
The Soul Shakers frequently play Fuzzy's (www.Fuzzys.com,) and they host a blue-jam every Thursday night at Nik's
Place (The Back Porch) in Marietta (www.NiksPlace.com.) Visit their website (www.soulshakers.org) and their
MySpace page at www.myspace.com/thesoulshakers for dates and venues, photographs, and audio & video clips.
Page 4 Spring 2006
S P O T L I G H T
O n . . . - The Atlanta Blues Society

The April 2006 Membership meeting and Jam was held on Sunday, April. 23rd 2006 at Fuzzy's Place from 3 to 6 PM. Sunday was our April Atlanta Blues Society meeting at Fuzzy’s Place. What a beautiful day and what a great way to spend it – with friends and blues! Thanks to Fuzzy’s for hosting the meeting and for continuing to be a sponsor of the ABS. The Soul Shakers were great; the future of the blues is in good hands. Be sure to go see them soon if you missed the meeting. They provided some mighty fine music and hosted a jam with lots of new faces and talent. - The Atlanta Blues Society