Time Has Come for Ruby Velle and the Soulphonics
Well, well, well, it’s about time for Ruby Velle and the Soulphonics‘ debut album indeed. Time carefully spent, that is, in the writing, developing, recording, mastering, and selecting of 10 exquisite tracks to comprise It’s About Time.
From their musical beginnings together in Gainesville, FL, Ruby Velle (vocals) and Spencer Garn (producer, organ) have crafted a sound that’s as timeless as it is modern. With equal parts soul, blues and downright funk, they’ve been wowing crowds in Atlanta and around the Southeast for close to five years in anticipation of their long-awaited debut full length recording. Since the album aggregates recordings from this long period, you can hear some Atlanta stalwarts, Scott Clayton (guitar), Mark Carbone (drums), Eric Fontaine (sax), Kevin Scott (bass), and many more, as they developed their sound and their current lineup. The album really embodies the creativities and talents of the many musicians featured without overshadowing the brilliant voice and lyrics of Ruby herself.
Enough glowing. As they’ve graced our airwaves on multiple occasions, and we’ve watched them mature as a band as as people here in Atlanta, we can’t help but be proud of our little local soul band done good. The album has already dropped and the hometown party/celebration begins this Thursday Sept 13 at the EARL, with friends Charles Walker and the Dynamites headlining that bill. The fun will continue Friday night at the same acts switching time slots at the same venue, culminating(?) in a reception of sorts Saturday night at the W Midtown. And definitely check out The Electric Boogaloo this Thursday 11pm to midnight (stream it from the archive if you are at the EARL on Thursday), as we visited Soulphonics Studio for a little chat and checkin with Spencer and Ruby.
Whether you get to Thursday or Friday night’s show (or both) be sure and catch them while you can, as it may be the last time they play a venue this quaint, as they’ve already begun to garner some national recognition with the current Single of the Week, My Dear, on iTunes announced on Monday.
We thank Ruby Velle and the Soulphonics for being so gracious in their rise to success, congratulate them on their first LP, and look forward to many more performances and recordings in the certainly near future. I’ll leave you with a very raw video of one of their earlier singles not featured on this album and the song that got me really introduced to the Soulphonics sound, Feet on the Ground.