Puffs of snow fell and lay sparkling like diamonds on Waterloo Rd. in Cleveland, Ohio this past New Year’s Eve and the scenesteres and scenestressess stood huddled together in front of The Beachland Ballroom and Tavern having braved the blistering weather to see none other than the ‘New Soul’ band from Akron, Ohio: (Enter) Wesley Bright & The Hi-Lites! This New Years Eve show, and coupled with the release of their new 45’’ single, “Tell Me” off of their label, “Hi-D-Ho!”…let’s just say it was one for the books. Young and old dressed in their Sunday best, sparkling with gold adornments swelled as we pushed our way to the front row to reveal a bow-tied, Bright and his band dancing and sweating under the hot Ballroom lights. The popularity of this band in just a few short years has been astonishing, even to the band who when they started the project thought maybe just older people might come to their shows. Little did they know… Bright, his crew and a slew of Soul DJs have breathed fresh air into the lungs of Cleveland Soul. Soul music has roots in Cleveland. In the 1960s Cleveland Soul was vibrant. E 105th Street to University Circle was the old stomping ground of the ‘O.Gs.’ of Cleveland Soul, Lou Ragland of Hot Chocolate, Harvey and The Phenomenals, along with groups like, the Imperial Wonders, , and The Ponderosa Twins.
It is only in the past few years, with Bright and crew at the forefront and flanked by “Secret Soul Club,” which is a group of Soul DJs including, DJs: ALR!GHT!, POPS & PARTY SWEAT; The latter being, Dave P of The Very Knees, The Perfect Guy, New Wave Rave, and all around local ‘celeb,’ DJ Mr. Fishtruck, Mark Leddy, music aficionado and Beachland co-founder. This motley crew reignited the Soul fever in Clevelanders like an old flame. It is reconstituted; in part I feel, by the mass amount of rock, metal and indie bands in Cleveland. Maybe there is only so much fist pumping, tear jerking, head banging to do before one requires a pair of platform dancing shoes, a brass section and a bow-tied front man, sweating running on a battery that is charged by the faces in the crowd and quick towel bath in between sets. At the live show one feels transported to a simpler time of popular music. There is nothing fake or showy about this seven-piece group of ‘souldiers,’ as they are clearly having more fun on stage than one band should be allowed to have in three piece suits. The band incubated in Akron in the spring of 2011 with bassist Bob Basone, drummer Nick Fritsch until one day Fritsch, being forced to toil in the queue at a local Verizon Wireless store, had a brief ‘convo’ with a young employee about Fritsch’s band. This young salesmen’s name would soon not just be on his VW nametag, but the name would be seen in lights on Marquees all around the North East and Mid West, Wesley Bright.
This video (below) of the band performing, “You Don’t Care About Me,” pretty much sums it up. WB&HL; a hearty voice in modern Soul Music.
Wesley Bright & the Hi-Lites can be found here.
The Secret Soul Club performs on a monthly basis at clubs all around Cleveland and can be contacted here.
Shawn Mishak is frontman of Ohio-based Kid Tested, learn more about his band here.
