Success is not always built in a day, just like the city of Rome, as an old saying would state, for many music artists.
The stairway to success and notoriety can be, at times, very strenuous to achieve, especially in some music genres, like the Blues or the Blues/Rock, for example, genres that sadly don't get a lot of airplay on radio stations or any other media, in the times we are living in.
It is therefore emblematic that the renowned Florida-based singer/songwriter, Guitar Maestro and multi-instrumentalist JP Soars has decided to call his brand new album Brick By Brick, mindful perhaps of the fact that the fame and high reputation of an artist, especially in the contemporary music scene, need time and hard work to be built, in order to achieve a certain solidity and continuity.
Published by the Little Village record label, Brick By Brick has been entirely produced by JP Soars and percussionist/producer Jeremy Staska and it is a record that exalts Soars' multi-faceted musical vision in the most sumptuous fashion, through layers of Blues, Funk, Hillibilly, Blues/Rock, Western and Latin sounds, creating in this way a vast sonic kaleidoscope where Soars' raucous and powerful vocals and his stratospheric playing skills on electric and acoustic guitar, pedal steel guitar and banjo, fit all together in the most lovely and organic harmony.
Brick By Brick is a record that, as admitted by Soars himself, was born during the pandemic period in a very spontaneous and immediate way and the American artist must have just left the compositive flow running free without limitations of any sort, judging by the immediacy of the songs of his new album. The latter being an aspect that often pays back, because it helps to discover the most soulful and honest side of an artist, during the making of a record.
Many music lovers will absolutely love Brick By Brick, because has got so much to offer. From the inspired Little Milton's cover of That's What Love Will Make You Do to the suave, Latin-flavoured instrumental on acoustic guitar of In The Moment, or from the stunning display of Blues/Rock, Soul and Funk hybrid of Keep Good Company to the unstoppable, foot-stomping Country and Western rhythms of songs like Can't Keep Her Off My Mind and Merlin Stomp, it's JP Soars' incredible guitar playing that takes masterfully centre stage at every point of the record, displaying a phenomenal adaptability to every genre that very few artists possess, in the modern music industry.
Soars also, in more than one occasion, demonstrates and confirm how strong he also is as a singer; songs like the gipsy, Tex-Mex infused Jezebel or Things Ain't Working Out, among others, are the perfect demonstration of Soars' many artistic talents, especially on the latter song, where every possible aspect of JP Soars' full musicianship shine at their brightest.
JP Soars' new record is a fascinating and exciting journey into the mind of an artist that sees and feels Music at 360 degrees, without any boundary or limitation of any kind, embracing and expressing the tradition of the Great American Songbook in the most natural and authentic imaginable way. An album to embrace and to cherish from beginning to end, Brick By Brick also confirms in full the bags of talent and the artistic stature of an artist like Soars, whose musical vision and integrity is second to none.
Brick By Brick is due to be released on 30th June 2024 via Little Village Foundation.
