Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
The Huckleberrys are a Soul-Rock-Funk band. They only have three years on the local scene, but they're already a pretty hot commodity. The band plays big, well-known venues, such as Owensboro's Friday After 5 and Henderson's W.C. Handy Festival, along with most of the local weekend night spots in Evansville, Henderson , and here in Owensboro.....
....The band has recently released its second CD titled "Volume II."...... "Volume II" has more of a gelled sound....Fans can buy the CD for $10 on the band's Web site at www.thehuckleberrysband.com. It is also available on www.CDbaby.com.
....As a kid, Jeremy Hall's (Bass/Vocals) musical turning point came after hearing "Johnny B. Good and I've been hooked ever since," he said. His family had eclectic tastes in music. He favored "soul music", he said.
....Hall and Cooper Bell ( Guitar/Vocals) have known each other since the second grade. They shared a love for soul music, and started playing together at age 15 and are still going strong over 15 years later.
....Tim Stanley (Lead vocals/Keyboards), who grew up in Owensboro, was heavily influenced by black gospel music. .."That's where I got my first taste of soul music, and I couldn't get enough of it" he said. "That's where I learned to play and sing." Locally he played piano, Hammond Organ, sang and led choirs in the Owensboro area. He moved to Atlanta in 1986 where he lived for over 12 years and continued to play and sing in predominately African American churches, along with fronting a couple of Rock bands.
....Jim Cauley (Drums/percussion) is the newest member. Stanley says, "and, in my humble opinion, the best damn drummer in the tri-state. He can play any genre and can really lay it down on the soul-rock-funk style we love."
Renee Beasley Jones, (rbjones@messenger-inquirer.com) - The Messenger Inquirer - Owensboro, KY
- Messenger Inquirer
....The Huckleberrys are Evansville's original rhythm and soul band. These guys have played myriad venues, from small clubs to large stages. They are perennial favorites at the W.C. Handy Blues Fest, Summertime concerts on the river-front, and at most of the local night spots across the tri-state region. The three songs used on the CD are taken from both their first album-"Cold Black Sea" and their new sophomore release -"Volume II". They offer the listener a taste of what to expect from the Huckleberrys' CDs and live shows.
From the PE in the EVSC compilation CD band page - (Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation keepingitlocal.org )
- keepingitlocal.org
....February 23rd 2006, The Huckleberrys song, "Goodship" from their new release: "Volume II", was featured on the radio show - "The upper room with Joe Kelley".
"The Upper Room with Joe Kelley" WVOF 88.5 FM Fairfield, CT (NYC area).
www.upperroomwithjoekelley.com Also live 24/7 on the internet.
March 2004, "The Upper Room with Joe Kelley", became the first radio show to have been featured on Rock and Roll Hall of Famer PRINCE'S official web site. www.npgmusicclub.com
- Press Release
....The Huckleberrys are featured on the K.E.T. (Kentucy Educational Television) program "Jubilee!" broadcast across the nation on PBS affiliates. This show was taped at the 2004 W.C. Handy Blues Festival in Henderson, KY and features songs off of their first CD - "Cold Black Sea", along with a few Soul and Blues covers.
The show features the original 5-peice line up with Jimmy Cummings on drums and Keith Burden on slide guitar. The show has generated responses all across the nation from Utah to Delaware.
The band will be taping a new segment for the Jubilee program at the 2006 W.C. Handy Blues Festival with the current 4-peice line up featuring songs of their new release: "Volume II" along with the Soul and Blues covers their fans love.
Matt Osborne - News4U and Independent Journalist
- News4U
….”Sometimes it hard for a band that’s so good live to get the same smoky beer buzz happening on tracks but the Huckleberrys have done it here. “
….”If you’ve seen the guys out at a show and liked what you heard, check out “Cold Black Sea.”
Dylan Gibbs – News4U
Review of the Huckleberys CD – “Cold Black Sea”. Rated 4 out of 5 possible stars.
- News4U - Evansville IN
….That's: "Huckleberrys". No -"ies" or apostrophe at the end. Now that the name’s fixed the band is starting to fly with an unbroken sound.
….”The band takes its bluesy, rockish, soulful sound –with maybe even a little gospel influence- to night spots and festivals over the entire tri-state region”…
….”The five have recorded a CD, “Huckleberrys: Cold Black Sea,” which is a collection of 12 originals. It’s gotten some airplay in Evansville, IN, Atlanta, GA, Louisville, and Madisonville, KY”…
Rebecca Coudret – Courier & Press staff writer Evansville Courier and Press - Evansville, IN
- Evansville Courier and Press
….”The Huckleberrys recently released an album, “Cold Black Sea.” Their sound is a funky fusion of the blues, rock and roll, and R&B. I love funky wah-wah guitar, and “Big Woman” ( a cut about a full size goddess) has plenty of it. Bell’s searing guitar makes “Traveler,” sound like Jimi Hendrix. Even Stanley’s vocal are reminiscent of Hendrix on the track…
….”Cold Black Sea” is getting some airplay in Evansville, Madisonville, Louisville and Atlanta. It’s a fine effort, and the Huckleberrys are a fine fit for the W.C. Handy Festival. (Henderson, KY)…
Wendy Knipe Bredhold – The Gleaner Community News Editor - The Gleaner, Henderson, KY
- The Gleaner - Henderson, KY
Discography
"Huckleberrys Volume II" - 2005 Izabella Records.
Available online at cdbaby.com and most major digital download sites.
Regional Air Play: Louisville, KY; Evansville, IN;
Owensboro, KY. Other airplay in Conneticut/NY NY area (and the net) on: The Upper Room with Joe Kelly. Also in Limoges, France.
"Cold Black Sea" - 2003 Izabella Records.
Available online at: cdbaby.com, and most major digital download sites. Regional Air Play: Louisville, KY; Evansville, IN; Owensboro, KY. Also some air play in Atlanta.
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
In an era when all bands sound indistinguishable, the Huckleberrys are a breath of fresh air. The Huckleberrys are fusing together a blend of: Old School Soul, Rock, Funk, Blues, and the Singer-Songwriter genre, to formulate an innovative sound that takes a direct route to your senses and stirs your soul. The core of the band has been together for over a decade and played from Marquette, MI to Memphis, TN and just about everywhere in between.
It all begins with the foundation: Jeremy Hall on Bass and Jim Cauley on Drums. When you listen to these two, you don’t just hear them, you feel them. Their sound begs comparisons to the great rhythm sections of all time: Motown’s Funk Brothers, Bonham and Jones, the Mussel Shoals Band, just to name a few. These two don’t just “play” a song they grab your soul, make you start moving, and convey to you what the song is really all about.
Cooper Bell is the smooth, dark and mysterious gunslinger. Coop has tastefully blended all of his early influences: Clapton, Hendrix, Cropper, and Freddie King to invent his own style of Soulful R&B drenched guitar. Cooper communicates more with one note than some of today’s guitarists do in an entire song.
Tim Stanley is the “voice” of the Huckleberrys. His infectious blend of Soul, Funk, Rock and Gospel, resonates from the first note he sings. You can hear the influences: Stevie Wonder, Billy Preston, Al Green and James Brown. But Stanley’s first love was the “Black Gospel” sound that he grew up playing Hammond organ on and singing in African American churches across the Midwest and eventually Atlanta. In the tradition of all great Soul singers, Tim gets emotionally involved in every lyric of every song.
If you haven’t experienced a live show by the Huckleberrys then you haven’t really heard them. Like all great bands, the “sum” of the Huckleberrys is greater than its individual “parts”. That “sum” is the unique sound the band has put together: Phat, greasy, layer after layer of music, rhythm, and emotions, that move you. It really is “Music for the Soul.”
Matt Osbourne - News4U
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