J. Brown Thinks Out Loud

It’s Friday and we thought that you guys might enjoy another track from our recent live recording. This song, titled City Lights, is a Brown Soul Shoes original. It seems to be a fan favorite, but let us know what you think about it.

Good Monday morning to everyone and happy October to you all. I wanted to share another track from my band’s recent live recording. This one is a cover of The Thrill is Gone, an old B.B. King favorite. Enjoy!

My band, Brown Soul Shoes, recently recorded a show on the rooftop of Michaelangelo’s in Conway, Arkansas. Take a listen to the opening track and let me know what you think. It’s a cover of a Herbie Hancock song called Chameleon.

As most of you know, I try my hardest to pretend to be a musician here in Little Rock. With that being said, I keep my eye on all of the shows coming to town and try to catch as many as my schedule will allow.

I’ve recently noticed that we have a GREAT run of shows coming to town before the year’s end. This is my attempt to share those shows with you. Please feel free to add to the list as you see fit. As always, thanks for reading! 

• Twista - July 13; Rev Room
• Tedeschi Trucks Band - July 15; Robinson Auditorium
• David Allen Coe - August 4; Rev Room
• Chris Robinson Brotherhood - August 14; Rev Room
• Yellow Dubmarine - August 21; Stickyz
• Little Feat - September 10; Rev Room
• Pretty Lights - September 26; Riverfest Ampitheatre
• Henry Rollins: Capitalism - October 3; Juanita’s
• Needtobreath - October 9; Robinson Auditorium
• Galactic featuring Corey Glover - October 28; Juanita’s

Now that you know what’s going on, I hope you’ll get out and enjoy some live entertainment. Cheers!

I attended the Beale Street Music Festival in 2011 for the first time in almost ten years. As I’ve grown older, I’ve discovered something about myself and I’m not proud to say it. I’m much less tolerant of stupidity, especially at music festivals. I know, I sound like a grumpy old man.

I decided to attend last year’s festival because the lineup was too good to turn down and it looks like 2012 might not be much different. Below you’ll see the entire lineup as it stands and my list of bands to see. I look forward to hearing who you all will be going to see. Happy festival-ing!

My Picks

• Jane’s Addiction
• My Morning Jacket
• John Hiatt
• Florence and The Machine
• Wiz Khalifa
• Girl Talk* 
• Allison Krauss and Union Station
• Al Green
• The Civil Wars
• Grace Potter and The Nocturnals
• Lupe Fiasco
• Michael Franti and Spearhead
• Herbie Hancock
• Buddy Guy
• Needtobreathe
• Cold War Kids
• Three Six Mafia*
• Son Volt
• Jerry Lee Lewis*
• The Chris Robinson Brotherhood
• Gary Clark Jr.
• Johnny Winter
• Robert Randolph and the Family Band*
• Dr. Dog
• Big K.R.I.T.
• North Mississippi All Stars*
• Old 97’s
• Charlie Musselwhite
• Jimbo Mathus and The Tri-State Coalition*

* - bands I’ve seen live

As most of you probably know, I play music with a group of guys here in Little Rock. We call ourselves Brown Soul Shoes and we mostly like to play blues and soul. We’ll be taking on a new venue this Friday night in Conway, Arkansas and we’re looking forward to it. The Ford Theater is Conway’s newest venue and we’ve heard nothing but great things. Here’s a preview of what you’ll see at the show. Come out and see us if you’re local!

As most of you know, I started playing music with a group of friends a couple of years ago. We call ourselves Brown Soul Shoes and you’ll hear lots of blues and soul when you come out to one of our shows. I love playing music with these guys. It never gets old and it’s the best hobby in the world. 

We’ve always played Little Rock for the most part with the occasional trip to Conway. Here lately, we’re getting calls from all over the state. We’ve got a couple of dates booked in Jonesboro for March and we’ve been receiving calls from Texarkana and Fayetteville. We’ve been to northwest Arkansas once before, but never south of Pulaski County so we’re pretty excited about getting down south. We’ve booked a couple of weddings this spring, one in Dumas and one in Star City. We like to play at weddings, so that should be a lot of fun.

The next pin on our “Atlas of Soul” is jabbed in Memphis where it all started. We’ve had missed opportunities in Memphis in the past and we would love to get over there this year. Our favorite compliment to hear is “You guys sound like Beale Street.” We love to play anywhere, but Memphis would be our dream spot.

If you see us out and about, please stop in and have a listen. Let us know what you think and tell someone about us. We’ve got a website and we’re on Facebook and Twitter too. If you follow along, you’ll always know where to find us.