Soul Explosion

Soul music seems to be on an endless march at the moment, with genre veterans like Al Green releasing top-selling albums, and younger artists such as Mayer Hawthorne and Richard Swift producing their own takes on the Motown and Stax sounds.

One group caught in the grip of this exhilarating renaissance is The Dynamites, a Nashville, Tennessee-based ten-piece that’s teamed up with legendary soul man Charles Walker to not only pay tribute to the past, but also cut a path into the future with their mind-blowing blend of deep-soul and funk.

“I definitely think there’s a renewed interest in soul music and I have my own theories about why people are turning away from mass-marketed, major-label stuff,” says bandleader Bill Elder, aka Leo Black.

“I guess that’s a whole other conversation, and I wish I could guess where the market’s going to go because I would have a lot more hair on my head and my fingernails wouldn’t be peeled to the core! But, thankfully, they are listening, and there is an appetite now for real music played by real people on real instruments on real tape in real time about real topics. So, I don't think that will ever go away. It just all kind of comes down to why the artist is doing what they do – that's the way I feel, at least.”

Elder’s professional background is in music production, with The Dynamites originally just an avenue for a bunch of talented players to get together and have some fun at the occasional Nashville soul revue. But the band slowly became a regular gig, and when Elder came into contact with Walker he knew they were onto something.

“Charles was part of an exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame, of all things,” he laughs. “The curator there had put together an exhibit called ‘The Night Train To Nashville’, which highlighted the R&B era in Nashville in the 60s and early 70s. It was actually quite thick with a very storied group of musicians, and Charles was part of that whole cast. So, as part of this exhibit the curator put together a show and just tried to call around and find all the people that were still alive, still working and still able to sing. Charles ended up just blowing everybody away at that thing. I’d been keeping half an eye out for a frontman and so I met Charles for a couple of beers and here we are.”

They may be known for the intensity of their stage shows, but The Dynamites and Walker recently completed their second album together, ‘Burn It Down’, and Elder is over the moon with the way it turned out.

“Absolutely. Our second record, and that's always a progression for any band, but especially in the soul music vein where it’s just a special challenge to keep things fresh and interesting. We do the recording basically the way it was done back in the day, almost everybody in the same room and we do takes on tape; it's a live recording, so to speak, in the studio. We go in there and our only goal is to make the world a funkier place, as well as try to make timeless music, and I think that really comes out. That was the goal of this album and I'm real, real proud of it. There's barely anything on there that I would change.”

And now The Dynamites featuring Charles Walker are coming to Australia, with a short run of dates that coincides with the April 2 release of ‘Burn It Down’.

“Australia is the one place that everybody dreams of going. Everyone I talk to just says, ‘Man, that’s the one place I’ve always wanted to go!’ and I feel totally the same way. We’re jazzed to get over there and hang out with you guys and drink some beer. People can expect high drama and fireworks, and at the front of it all is a veteran soul man at the top of his game. Charles gets up there and pours every last ounce of himself into every single show, and to stand next to him night after night has been an amazing experience.”

The Dynamites featuring Charles Walker play the Step Inn April 3. ‘Burn It Down’ is out April 2 through MGM.