Come Back Alice w/ Savants of Soul

Come Back Alice (SOUTHERN GYPSY FUNK) Come Back Alice is a Southern Gypsy Funk band. Soulful Vocals, melodic guitars, baroque style violin and funky bass & drums make up the heart of CBA’s sound. Tony Tyler (lead vocals/guitar/B3 organ), a native of Dublin, GA, began making music at the tender age of 3. With a father in the music business, it was simply in his genes, inspiring him to sing and play drums like his dad. By age 12, he was given his first guitar, and after hearing Duane Allman play slide, his focus soon shifted to fronting and leading his own band. Tony is an accomplished multi-insturmentalist with a vocal range and style that tops off his many exceptional talents. As front man for Come Back Alice, Tony brings this talent to the stage for all to enjoy. Dani Jaye (harmony vocals, violin, guitar) began her life on horseback. Her enormous passion for animals and competitive riding kept her busy through high school, but it was music that brought her true happiness and a strong sense of destiny. The gift of a violin from her aunt at age 13 planted the seed for her enveloping love of music, making her into the music power house she is today. Dani’s sweet yet devilish stage presence matched by her intense fiddle styling captivates all who witness her performances. A jack of all trades, a master of 3; engineering, snowboarding, and bass. John was always musically inclined, and at the age of 19 found his instrument in the bass. A rambler, John has since traveled across the country, and spent 3 years off and on in Colorado. He attained a level 2 snowboard instructor certification, and enjoyed his time in the rockies as a jeep guide in the Elk Mountains and a raft guide on the Colorado and Roaring Fork rivers. He has since achieved a degree in engineering from UCF, and moved back home to lay mind melting, face shattering, earth quaking bass lines with CBA. His influences include Les Claypool, Jaco Pastorious, Allen Woody, Paul McCartney, James Jamerson, and Aston “Family Man” Barrett. Yral Morris, a native of Miami FL, has a playing style that is deeply rooted in gospel and jazz. First picking up the sticks at the age of 2, he was certain from the beginning that his calling was to make music. “Being on stage is indescribable. It’s really unlike any feeling you could have, there are no words to describe it. A dream come true to be honest.” He brings to Come Back Alice a rock solid foundation that makes everyone in the room start to groove. “If you ain’t movin’ and groovin’ I’m not doing my job.” comebackalice.com

w/ Savants of Soul (SOUL) It all started with three. Three Gainesville musicians with a vision to recreate a sound of an era long forgotten but remembered always: The Sound of Young America. Motown. 1960s soul. Three years later, the band that started as a soul-punk trio stands before you today a full-fledged, 10-piece soul orchestra, poised to release its debut album, Downtown Sound. The band chose the name Downtown Sound as an homage to the area it cut its teeth. The Savants of Soul grew up in the clubs that pepper Main Street in Gainesville, FL. They wanted the name to conjure memories of time spent crammed onto a dance floor, twisting the night away to the band’s dynamic, theatrical live shows and big brass sound. Nowhere is their sound more emphasized than on their lead single, “Darkness.” “Darkness,” is a tale of torment and temptation over a stomping funk groove originally inspired by the Shaft Theme. It features the hard brass, powerful rhythm and dual-vocal dynamic the band has become famous for. This is their brand of soul. Soul music, like all great American popular music, is the blues cleaned up for a specific audience. In this case, divorced from its rigid 12-bar structure and filtered through jazz with a healthy dollop of rock ‘n’ roll, it retains its gritty heart but moves from the delta into the city as dance music. The Savants of Soul, in this tradition of genre melding, have taken southern deep soul and seasoned it with Motown, added some punk energy, jazz and modern R&B to end up with a sound that reveres its traditions without slavishly emulating them. The Savants of Soul are here to spread their gospel their way. The influences of their musicians ranges wide. Where horn players Mandy Moo, David Rinehart, Matt Rossmann and Ray Vigil all got their start being classically trained in Florida’s band rooms, vocalist Justin McKenzie and bassist John Gray Shermyen cut their teeth musically as a part of Gainesville’s ska scene. Drummer Alex Klausner credits his frantic energy to a childhood spent studying ‘60s and ‘70s rock performers such as Freddie Mercury and Keith Moon. Guitarist Austin Van Wie grew up listening to everything from The Beatles to The Fall of Troy. Keyboardist Jason Bontrager makes his living performing gospel and jazz. Vocalist Christina Holder studied at performing arts schools but credits her vocal stylings to Whitney Houston, Tina Turner, Ella Fitzgerald and Florence + The Machine. The Savants of Soul didn’t always have this lineup. In fact, the band’s membership has been fluid. Over the years, 22 musicians have at one point called themselves Savants of Soul. That’s why the band likens itself more to theater than a live music act. “If you’re going to see The Savants of Soul, you will always see a Savants of Soul show,” Klausner said. “You just might see a different cast.” savantsofsoul.com