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Image for The Nightowls, with The Savants of Soul

The Nightowls, with The Savants of Soul

  July 25, 2017 8:30 PM

Doors Open: 7:30 PM
Advance Price: $8 / Day Of: $10

For The Nightowls, that process began with the release their debut album, 'Good As Gold,' which took Texas by storm in 2014. The Austin Chronicle hailed it as "suave, energetic, blue-eyed soul" and named it one of the Top 10 of the year at the annual Austin Chronicle Music Awards, Austin Monthly named them a Band To Watch, and Texas Music Magazine called the album "a smooth addictive blend of pop, R&B and funk that will delight the band's dance-happy fans." They spent the next year bringing their ecstatic live show to stages around the country, including a triumphant hometown gig at the Austin City Limits Festival, and followed it up in 2015 with 'Fame Sessions,' recorded at the titular, iconic Muscle Shoals studio. That album earned the band serious national attention and love everywhere from The Atlantic and Southern Living to Relix and Pollstar, and it saw their lineup solidify into its current, electrifying status.

"Our live shows continue to get more and more choreographed and exciting," says vocalist Ellie Carroll of the band's evolution during the last year on the road, which included a much-lauded return to the ACL Festival. "The whole front line is out there dancing and we're always upping our game and our performances. The visual power of ten people doing the same thing at the same time is immense, and everybody in this band is an incredible dancer and performer."

Whereas the songs on 'Fame Sessions' were peppered with special guest performances by members of the legendary Swampers rhythm section—including the likes of Spooner Oldham and David Hood—as well as vocal contributions from the Shoal Sisters, everything about the 'Royal Sessions' EP showcases The Nightowls coming into their own as a band.

"In the past, it was mainly me writing, arranging, and collaborating with a small handful of band members," says Harkrider, "but this one was much more of a full band effort. I'd take a song idea to the rhythm section to flesh it out, and then take that to the horn section for their parts, and then from there we'd work out the final arrangement as a full band to make sure everything worked together and everybody got to express themselves and be creative and have their stamp on it."

The result is an energetic blend of classic soul and modern pop, as the band transcends the "retro" tag that described their early releases in favor of a more unique sound reflective of all ten personalities, with influences running the gamut from James Brown to Michael Jackson. Bright, bold horns dance and leap over a funky rhythm section, while Harkrider's soulful voice shimmers out alongside gorgeous female harmonies. The infectious vitality of the music is due in no small part to the fact that the band recorded the entire EP live over two days at the famed Royal Studios in Memphis, TN.

Over the past two years, a phenomenon has taken Gainesville's live music scene by storm. That phenomenon is the 10-piece soul band The Savants of Soul. Blending the sounds of 1960s and 1970s soul with influences as far-ranging as indie rock, ska, punk and jazz, this veritable soul orchestra is sure to keep you moving and grooving to their big, horn-driven sound.

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