(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . IVH: The BellRays - Maximum Rock 'n' Soul [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-01-26 Lisa Kekaula of the BellRays Tonight’s selections from the BellRays fifth full length, The Red, White & Black. It would be fair to call them Motown soul, if you are referring to the MC5. (No surprise that they've appeared with Wayne Kramer.) Chanteuse Lisa Kekaula shares the raw energy of Tina Turner, the rough soul of Aretha and throw in a little Koko Taylor. The fuzzed-out psychedelic blues and hard energetic soul feed off each other, building and spiraling. — Hybrid Magazine . Voodoo Train [2003] x YouTube Video . The Bellrays don't so much take the stage as combust. And this isn't a brief, blinding flash but a sustained series of rock'n'roll detonations that rain down from the skies with devastating effect. As Black Lightning explodes, it's hard to believe that it's been five years since the band last hit these shores, a fact not lost on the force of nature that is frontwoman Lisa Kekaula. “Last time we played here, this was new!” she quips introducing the aching soul of Anymore This is one of the few moments of respite as, with the aid of guitarist Bob Vennum and the rhythm section of bassist Justin Andres and drummer Stefan Letrownik, Kekaula creates a wall of sound that rolls as hard as it rocks. They may have their origins in sunny California but the sound is pure Detroit as they effortlessly infuse soul with a cracking punk sensibility. And while their own material gets its groove on in a way that recalls Led Zeppelin at their funkiest, that they inject Black Sabbath's otherwise moribund Never Say Die with a degree of bump'n'grind never thought possible is testament to their vision. Likewise Blues For Godzilla that sounds like a band trying to outpace its audience and succeeding. — Louder Sound . Stone Rain [2003] x YouTube Video . The Bellrays are known for explosive live performances, I've seen you guys and it's true. How did you get yourself hyped up for shows and do you have a special warm up technique? Lisa Kekaula: I always feel like it's our opportunity to really live. Whatever you're committed to- at that moment that you get to do that, that's your moment to shine. And that's what we do when we do our shows, it's like an expression of “If I died right now I'd die doing what I love right this minute,” I'm not there to do a half-way good show, I'm there to do a great show, and fail trying if I don't… — Vinyl Writers . Revolution Get Down [2003] . For those of us who've been able to catch a live BellRays show before in the North East, you'll know they tend to be something that sticks with you for a while after the event. As it happens, the same is true for the band themselves: “Those [North East] gigs, and especially those at The Cluny; they tend to be wild,” confirms vocalist Lisa Kekaula, “and the fact that we're coming over in January for our next show means we'll need to play with extra energy to warm us from the cold. Man, we've been warned about that January weather!” A madcap combination of funk, soul, garage rock and punk, a BellRays performance is a non-stop journey into the heart of rock ‘n' roll. Spirited by the genre's original intent to bring three chords and the truth, The BellRays remain fiercely independent and loyal believers to its transformative power. “The only way to play live, and to do anything, is to put one hundred per cent energy into it, no matter what may come of it,” continues Kekaula, “and there's never any guarantee that your actions will end up with the result you want, but the only things you can control are your actions and thoughts. We try to apply that belief to our live shows and to our whole lives. Music, whether it's soul or punk or funk or whatever needs to come from a true place of meaning; and we try to find that meaning every time we play.” — Narc Mag . You're Sorry Now [2003] x YouTube Video . SLUG: It's as if rock n' roll has taken a complete reverse or a step back. When it started out, it was blues-based, so obviously there was a heavy amount of black musicians playing what appeared to be rock n' roll. You know, Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley could be considered proto rock n' roll. But something seems to have happened where it is now a predominantly white male sport. Bob Vennum: Yeah. Somehow. If you look at KISS and you look at Parliament, what's the difference? They're doing the same thing. The music sounds different. But … SLUG: They were both theatrical. BV: Yeah. Somehow one became for white people and one became for black people and I don't understand it. Again, I think it's more of a marketing thing. The record companies of the day just kind of figured, “This is the way we're going to sell this,” or “We can sell X amount by doing it this way,” and it just became that. SLUG: The 70s seemed to be the large turning point where everything started to veer off and separate even more than it had prior, that's when disco and rock music became completely separate. Whereas before, with R&B and rock n' roll, there were a lot of similarities. And then within the '70s, rock n' roll became rock music and had the amalgam and so it became uncool for white people to listen to black music; kind of reverting back to before the '60s even. BV: Yeah, again, I don't know why. I grew up in a predominantly white environment and my dad was a big blues freak so I always listened to T-Bone Walker and Blind Lemon Jefferson and those kind of guys. He always had all these blues albums around. And the stuff I was into, The Beatles and the hard rock, if you look at the songwriters, you see Bo Diddley and those kind of guys and you think, “Oh, I'll go check these guys out.” I just never codified it as black or white or anything. It was just like, “This shit rocks or this shit doesn't.” — SLUG Mag . Sister Disaster [2003] . WHO’S TALKING TO WHO? Jimmy Kimmel: George Clooney, Snoop Dogg, Coldplay Jimmy Fallon: Michael B. Jordan, Hugh Dancy, Måneskin, Tom Morello Stephen Colbert: Audie Cornish, Tom Hanks, Elle King Seth Meyers: Alex Wagner, Bowen Yang, Danny Carey James Corden: David Duchovny, Mike Sabath & the Moongirls Daily Show: Sherrilyn Ifill, guest host Wanda Sykes SPOILER WARNING A late night gathering for non serious palaver that does not speak of that night’s show. Posting a spoiler will get you brollywhacked. You don’t want that to happen to you. It's a fate worse than a fate worse than death. . Last track from a one off project featuring BellRays singer Lisa Kekaula along with a few Texan musicians including Tim Kerr (Texas Music Hall of Fame member; in Big Boys, Lord High Fixers and many other fine bands). . The Now Time Delegation :: Keep on Pushin' [2001] . LAST WEEKS POLL: WHAT IS GEORGE SANTOS' GREATEST ACHIEVEMENT? Inventing Penicillin 9% Nobel Prize in Literature 6% Signing the Declaration of Independence 38% Starring in Urban Cowboy 19% World Series MVP 6% Other (please specify) 3% Pie 19% [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/1/26/2148524/-IVH-The-BellRays-Maximum-Rock-n-Soul Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/