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6/1/2004

You've got to hear this blistering new Memphis band to believe them. The Bo Keys boast an all-star section of Stax sidemen: Ronnie Williams (The Bar-Kays, David Porter) on Hammond B-3 organ, drummer Willie Hall (The Bar-Kays, the Blues Brothers), and Charles “Skip” Pitts (Isaac Hayes) on wah-wah guitar, joining garage rock prodigy Scott Bomar (Impala) on bass to lay down deep funk grooves for a mighty horn section consisting of Memphis’ finest young players. Their new album, THE ROYAL SESSIONS, is a hard-hitting and authentic modern take on Memphis’ original soul-stew sound – a mixture of original instrumental and vocal features that fuse R&B fundamentals with elements of modern hip-hop. Recorded and mixed at Willie Mitchell’s (Hi Records, Al Green) Royal Studios, The Royal Sessions is steeped in the Memphis tradition. Visit their website and sample the sound, and whatever you do, don't miss them on Thacker Mountain Radio and at their full-length concert at the Library in downtown Oxford, beginning at 9 p.m.