LOUISIANA RED HOT RECORDS

Posts in the GOSPEL category

LOUISIANA RED HOT’S BEST OF 2018 COMPILATION

Representing the best music from the birthplace of modern American Music, Louisiana Red Hot Records is the “for us, by us” indie record label that serves as the home for the next generation of Louisiana legends.

In our 22nd year, Red Hot is experiencing a rebirth and celebrating our new team’s first full year of releases with a “Best of 2018” compilation. The compilation includes tracks from legendary Grammy winners Cyril Neville and Dr. John, as well as selections from the soundtrack of the powerful documentary One Note At A Time, which tells the story of the New Orleans Musician’s Clinic, founded to heal the musical community after Hurricane Katrina. Also featuring a broad range of emerging artists like New Orleans’ Queen of Neo-Soul Erica Falls, two-time Grammy nominee Sean Ardoin, “Future Funk” phenom Water Seed, hard-hitting funk/rock outfit Noisewater, and poignant singer/songwriter Lilli Lewis, the release will be available on all digital platforms including iTunes, Amazon.com, Google Play and Spotify starting on Friday, December 14th, 2018.

LILLI LEWIS: The Henderson Sessions

“I listen to her when I want to be high on my soul.” – Lilli Lewis fan

Set against the buoyant backdrop of the New Orleans bon vivant, “The Henderson Sessions” is an exquisitely intimate self-portrait with Lilli Lewis’s vocals set to the barest of piano accompaniment. The record was co-produced by Lewis alongside James “Jimbo” Walsh (HBO’s Treme) and Mark Bingham (Allen Ginsberg, REM, Sun-Ra) at a studio built in a country home in Henderson, LA that was once used as refuge for Walsh’s musical community after Hurricane Katrina. When the three teamed up to demo songs for a full band album, they found the songs had something useful to say in their most raw, earnest, and primitive incarnation.

​Award-winning singer/songwriter Lilli Lewis grew up on a dirt road on the outskirts of Athens, GA. She is the daughter of a southern minister and a Chicago reared civil rights activist, and her bent towards social justice is reflected in her music and stage show. The prolific writer, composer, pianist, and producer has been composing music since she started playing piano at the age of three. Lewis is known for her powerful vocals and progressive message. The classically trained “folk-rock diva” is a sought after featured performer on main stages across the United States and abroad. In 2017, feminist folk trio The Malvinas recorded Lilli’s “O, Let Your Light Shine Bright” (Louisiana Red Hot, 2016) on God Bless the Grass (Soona Songs). Lewis made New Orleans her home in 2013 where she performs regularly as a soloist and with her acoustic soul orchestra, The Lilli Lewis Project (LLP). Lewis is also a current member of sousaphone master Kirk Joseph’s Backyard Groove.

NATIONAL STREET DATE: 2/16/18

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THE MERCY BROTHERS: Holy Ghost Power!

The Mercy Brothers“…music you can dance to in a nightclub on a Saturday night or be saved by in a revival tent on Sunday morning.” – Third Coast Music

The Mercy Brothers were formed in 2011 by veteran musicians Kevin Sekhani, Mark Meaux and Garland Theriot out of Lafayette, Louisiana, and have been tearing up the Louisiana club and festival circuit ever since. Blending the spiritual fervor of an old-time tent revival with the rambunctious feel of a rural roadhouse, the Mercy Brothers combine the best elements of celestial and honky-tonk heaven.

They follow the footsteps of such fellow Louisiana musicians as the great Jerry Lee Lewis and his preacher cousin Jimmy Swaggart, mixing zealous religious lyrics with the most raucous, rowdy accompaniment. This unique holy hubbub hybrid, and a reputation for electrifying live shows that inspire impassioned sing-alongs, has won the band a loyal — dare we say — devout following.

Lead singer Kevin Sekhani, a Lafayette native, comes to the band with decades of professional experience in Lafayette and Austin, as the front man for such diverse bands as Radio Thieves, Two Minute Sinatra and Parade. Contributing mightily to the band’s arrangements, keyboardist Garland Theriot grew up near Lafayette listening to everything — rock, country, Cajun music, zydeco, blues, funk — but “it was the gospel I listened to as a kid that led me to play piano.”

Drummer Dave “Papa Puff” Nezat, formerly of Grammy Award winning Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band, has shared the stage with legends Bobby Womack, Taj Mahal, Buckwheat Zydeco, L’il Buck Senegal and Tab Benoit. A musical pilgrimage from home state Wyoming brought bassist Matt Thornton to Lafayette via Colorado band, Motorhome. Guitarist Jason Leonard is a veteran of many South Louisiana bands and is an in-demand session player. Holy Ghost Power! also contains invaluable contributions from guitarist/singer/songwriter Mark Meaux, drummer Gregory Walls and bassist Cal Stevenson.

The Mercy Brothers are the latest to joyously explore the passionate roots music border zone of O Brother, Where Art Thou? — straddling that fine line between Saturday night blow-outs and Sunday morning reflection. Hear it on their exuberant 2013 debut CD Holy Ghost Power! on Louisiana Red Hot Records.

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MERCY BROTHERS: Holy Ghost Power

mercy brothers“…music you can dance to in a nightclub on a Saturday night or be saved by in a revival tent on Sunday morning.” — Third Coast Music (Austin, TX)

The Mercy Brothers were formed in 2011 by veteran musicians Kevin Sekhani, Mark Meaux and Garland Theriot out of Lafayette, Louisiana, and have been tearing up the South Louisiana club and festival circuit ever since. Blending the spiritual fervor of an old-time tent revival with the rambunctious feel of a rural roadhouse, the Mercy Brothers combine the best elements of celestial and honky-tonk heaven. This unique holy hubbub hybrid, and a reputation for electrifying live shows that inspire impassioned sing-alongs, has won the band a loyal – dare we say – devout following.

Holy Ghost Power! is the band’s debut album, containing 11 original compositions from the Sekhani-Meaux songwriting team. Their Americana sound is a timeless and energetic brew, kicked up with a dose of roots-rock that moves both the spirit and the body. Like those famous Louisiana cousins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Mickey Gilley and Jimmy Swaggart – the Mercy Brothers are a little rock & roll, a little country and a lot of Holy Spirit.

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VARIOUS: New Orleans Gospel Tent

various - new orleans gospel tentThe city of New Orleans has always been considered the motherland of black gospel music, although the true richness of New Orleans’ rich spiritual tradition has actually remained largely unknown beyond the city itself. Every year, this “secret” is let loose to the outside world at outdoor concerts on the edge of New Orleans’ French Quarter, and at spirited performances in an outdoor tent that’s become one of the most celebrated and famous traditions of the New Orleans Jazz Fest. For the first time, there is now a single CD with national distribution that captures the spirit and excitement of New Orleans gospel music at its very best. This record is simply the only one of its kind, an unprecedented, definitive guide to the best of Louisiana gospel music, with virtually all the major performers represented.

In addition to traditional gospel audiences and the pent-up demand created by scores of Jazz Fest attendees, The New Orleans Gospel Tent also holds a crossover appeal to the awakened roots music market in America (Blind Boys Of Alabama, O Brother Where Art Thou?).

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