ROXY ROCA Featured on Sounds of the Soul

We recently came across this cool blog post on Sounds of the 60s and 70s about our recent show at LUNA in San Antonio, TX. Here’s a little taste:

I have not had such a great night in a very long time. The group was simply fantastic. And you all know how hard it is to please your old Raggedy.

I had looked them up on the net before; well, in case you do that too, don’t think that what you hear there is what awaits you at their live shows. There lie worlds between their youtube clips and their real live music.

First, Roxy Roca’s lead singer, Taye Cannon, is phenomenal. There is no doubt about his Deep South roots where his father’s love for soul music, i.e Marvin Gaye, Otis Redding, James Brown or Jackie Wilson exposed him to the royalty of the genre.

I can imagine very well what Taye meant when he described on the group’s website the reaction to his coming out, so to speak, as a white guy aspiring to become a soul singer. “… I got a lot of sideway looks, like, ‘Really? Where is this coming from?’” he explains. At that time he was the front singer of the Mocktigers, an Austin “darkwave” group (whatever that may be). To make a long story short, Taye at last gave in to his urge to sing what he apparently was meant to be singing: soul.

I was completely taken by his gritty voice and the naturalness with which he sang his heart out. Taye is a natural born soul man. Believe it or not. (You all know, though, that your old Raggedy would not lie to you.)

Okay, okay … Taye, however is not the only star of the group. The musicians — all of them — are of the finest sort. The trombonist, the lead guitarist, the saxophonist, the drummer — superb. Once they start playing, there is no way to escape the rhythm (which makes for a huge part of rhythm and blues, after all). They draw you in and — booooom — there you go.

Read the full show review here: Too Good Not To Be Shared.