KISS co-founder & frontman, best-selling author and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer PAUL STANLEY has spent the last few years developing a project close to his heart. Soul Station is a band gathering some of today’s leading musicians to pay tribute to the greatest artists and songs from the R&B and soul catalog to keep this vital music current. While a surprise to many, Stanley’s early pivotal roots in this music has quietly turned this passion into a celebrated touring and recording band. Stanley’s 15-piece ensemble group has toured the U.S. and Japan, and recently recorded an album of nine classic soul songs and five new original songs. NOW AND THEN will be released March 5 on UMe available for pre-order, the first single “O-O-H Child” (The Five Stairsteps) is available today.
Speaking to new music, Stanley said: “Between us doing some great Soul Station shows and starting the album I started to think that neither the band or the music we love should depend only on the past so I started writing with the goal of seamlessly taking songs into the present. From what a lot of people I respect have told me, that mission was accomplished.”
When Stanley conceived Soul Station, the group excelled in the live venue setting, playing smaller, intimate clubs – a setting where Paul Stanley would reflect on those classic hits that were his early inspiration, playing the songs with reverence and respect for how he and the band believe they should be performed and heard.
“Long before I ever heard the great British bands, I grew up listening to Philly Soul, Motown and so much more. I was lucky to see Otis Redding and Solomon Burke among others. That music and its storytelling gave me strength and hope even in some tough days. The great classics of that era are magical medicine for most and I felt myself drawn back to that era for some sorcery I think we could all use.”
Stanley’s legendary band members will include: Rafael “Hoffa” Moreira (guitar & backing vocals), Sean Hurley (bass), Alex Alessandroni (Musical Director, keyboards), Ely Rise (keyboards), Eric Singer (drums & backing vocals), RayYslas (percussion), Gavyn Rhone (backing vocals), Crystal Starr (backing vocals) and Laurhan Beato (backing vocals) and Jon Pappenbrook (lead trumpet).
The band is augmented by three string players and two horn players of the same stature enabling Soul Station’s wall of sound to be firmly rooted in the past while staking claim to both the present and future.
Reviews from Soul Station U.S. shows:
“Paul Stanley of Kiss found some genuine emotional power in a set of classic Sixties and Seventies…” Rolling Stone
“Stanley and company crackled life into more than a dozen soul and Motown classics in versions that featured arrangements mostly faithful to the studio versions while gaining an additional edge played live. Stanley not only hit those lofty notes, but delivered the songs with authentic emotion that gave the overall performance an artistic sense of purpose that more than justifies future outings from Soul Station.” – Orange County Register
