Check out this interview with Taye Cannon on The Peverett Phile. See the original article here: Pheaturing Taye Cannon From Roxy Roca.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Pheaturing Taye Cannon From Roxy Roca

Today’s guest is the lead singer for the nine piece soul band based in Austin, Texas, who are currently working on their first album. They’ll be appearing next at Scoot Inn in Austin, Texas. Please welcome to the Phile from Roxy Roca… Taye Cannon.

Me: Hello, Taye, welcome to the Phile. How are you?

Taye: Living the dream! Waking up to it… not from it… Thanks for having me on!

Me: I have to say Taye Cannon is a great stage name, my friend. Roxy Roca reminds me of a black woman from a 70’s film for some reason. Did you come up with the name?

Taye: Thank you kindly. It’s funny when I introduce myself people always think I say Ted Cannon which makes me feel like I should be a cop on a 70’s television show like “Hunter” Detective Ted Cannon… LOL. You are on the right track with Roxy Roca though, the band is named after Roxie Roker, best know as her role on “The Jefferson’s” as Helen Willis and also known as Lenny Kravitz’s mama. “The Jefferson’s” was my favorite show growing up watching the reruns on TBS and it had a profound effect on me in terms of treating people equally. I loved that she was married to Tom Willis.

Me: It works well with the Billy Dee Williams ad I saw. Very funny. Was that your idea? You know I interviewed Billy Dee on the Phile, right?

Taye: YOU INTERVIEWED BILLY DEE!!? Man, he too slick. Billy D and Carl Weathers were my favorite actors when I was a boy. My brother actually interviewed me on cassette tape once when we were kids and I told him that.

Me: Okay, Taye, let’s talk about the band. I read you’re on a mission from God… did you story start off in jail as well?

Taye: LOL… well… we do wear suits… and once… well that story is for another time… off the record!

Me: Your story reminds me more of The Commitment’s than The Blues Brothers. Who is in the band with you, Taye?

Taye: We’ve got Errol Siegel on guitar, Roger Wuthrich on bass, Bobby Villwock on the keys, and my super dynamite drummer Alex Moralez. The Roca horns consists of Nikolas Bouklas on tenor sax, Thomas Hays on trombone, Mr. Ryan Allen on alto sax and Sir. Tom Robinson on barri sax!! And that my friend is what ya call a lot of Real Estate!!

Me: I imagine you grew up listening to Otis Redding, Jackie Wilson and one of my favorites Wilson Pickett. Did you grow up listening to them, or did the soul thing come later?

Taye: Well then you’ve got ya’ a sharp imagination there my friend because you just named some of my idols right there!! All three of those were packed in my father’s record collection! THE record collection that kicked off my love for soul music at a very young age. Jackie, Otis, Wilson, Jr. Walker, Marvin Gaye, Chuck Jackson, The Temps!, The Tops!, The Tams, Little Anthony and the Imperials, James Brown, Fats, Smokey… they were all in there!

Me: Your band kinda reminds me of a hipper Huey Lewis and the News. What do you think of their soul styleish music?

Taye: I love Huey Lewis and The News! That was one of the first records I bought with my own money in like 3rd grade or something. I thought he was super cool and I loved their videos and style. My brother and I use to stay up late at night and record “Night Tracks” we would put the recorder next to the TV and record the songs we liked onto audio tape. Huey, Prince, all those kats were on those tapes, and we still have them.

Me: I said stylish. Is that even a word? Anyway, one of my favorite singers of all time, Graham Parker, was heavily influenced by soul as well… are you aware of his work?

Taye: The Rumours? Right? I am not super familiar with his work. I do know that they were known for having a pretty powerful live show. I will have to dig into them a little.

Me: Taye, where are you from, sir?

Taye: Born in Alabama… and I will always call Bama home.

Me: Have you always lived there?

Taye: I grew up outside of Nashville, Tenn. as a small kid and the Mississippi Gulf Coast through High School, moved around some more till the music dream finally landed me in lovely Austin, Texas.

Me: Is Roxy Roca your first band you have been in?

Taye: Roxy Roca has been a long time coming but it wasn’t my first band… rebellion and rock and roll was my poison for a while.

Me: I imagine your shows are hot. Do you just play around the Austin area? You’ll do well here in Orlando I bet.

Taye: For now we are just playing Texas, which is vast. You can travel for days and never leave the Lonestar State. Living in a music city like Austin we are spoiled because the world comes to you. Music fans flock to Austin daily but we are looking forward to getting this show on the road and abroad!

Me: So, I heard you’re working on a CD, Taye? Is it gonna have all covers, or are you gonna put any originals on it? The songs I heard from Roxy Roca are great, especially your version of “Grits Ain’t Groceries” which is one of my favorite songs ever. Who do you think did the best version of that song?

Taye: Thanks. We are layin’ down some tracks in Austin at Clock Right Studios… just compiling a vault of tunes right now, both original and covers. I love “Grits”, my favorite would have to be Little Milton’s version although I have been listening to the original Little Willie John quite a bit lately.

Me: I was hoping you’d say Savoy Brown. Have you ever heard their version?

Taye: That version is killer!! Such amazing vocals and a lot of grit, one of my favs’ in fact. I wanna go listen to it right now.

Me: Taye, thanks so much for being on the Phile. Please come back when your CD comes out. All the best, Taye. Oh, go ahead and plug your website and everything as well.

Taye: Thank you so much for having me. It’s an honor. You can check us out at Roxyroca.com. We have it set up so you can go from there to all of our media outlets and if you like what you see and here please hook up with us on Facebook!