New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Are you ready to hear the rock and blues side of R&B songstress LEELA JAMES?
The next chapter of her musical journey is a collaborative effort as LEELA JAMES & THE TRUTH. Today, they released the five-song ARE YOU READY? EP on Entertainment One (eOne). The first single and video (directed by child.) for "That Woman" can be seen on JAMES' official YouTube page. She debuted "That Woman" at the inaugural
Black Girls Rock! Festival that was held at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC on March 10. Her performance electrified the crowd with the lyrics, "I'm not 'that woman'/You know my name/Don't start this fire/You'll go down in flames."
This is a liberating project for James, who has joined forces with three super pedigree musicians to create songs that combine a little bit of blues, a little bit of soul, and a whole lot of rock 'n roll: guitarist Jairus "JMo" Mozee (Prince, Mary J Blige, D'Angelo, Anderson Paak, Kendrick Lamar), bassist Eric Ingram (who currently tours with Arianna Grande and has played with Lil Wayne), and drummer
David "Dae-Dae" Haddon (who currently tours with Gwen Stefani).
As she explains, "I was most excited to join forces with The Truth band in creating this ARE YOU READY? project, because I knew it would become something magical. We pretty much recorded the project over the course of two weeks and it was effortless, because the music just flowed naturally. It felt good to work on music and not be inhibited in the approach. I'm constantly evolving as an artist, not to mention I love all kinds of music, always have and always will, and I think this project is the beginning of showing just that."
"This is classic Psychedelic Soul in a digital world," declares Jairus "JMo" Mozee. "A breath of fresh air."
While
David "Dae-Dae" Haddon continues, "Creating magic with
Leela is a breeze, straight vibes. I can't wait for you guys to hear this swag rock soul! The Truth band and
Leela James are SWAG/ROCK/SOUL."
And Eric Ingram concludes, "So dope to work with Leela! She is a BEAST!! Amazing voice, amazing energy and a creative monster! What else can me and my bros ask for working with an artist?! I'm sure everyone will feel those vibes when you hear these records!"
Produced by LEELA JAMES & THE TRUTH along with executive producer Rex Rideout, and mixed and engineered by Ray Bardani (Beyonce, Meat Loaf, Scritti Politti, Dr. John), ARE YOU READY? was recorded at Sunset Sound in Los Angeles, CA, the studio where The Rolling Stones, Van Halen,
Prince and many other legends recorded some of their biggest hits.
LEELA JAMES has already conquered the R&B world after releasing six critically acclaimed albums, hitting #1 on Billboard's "Top 10 Hip-Hop" and "R&B Artists To Watch" charts with her smash hit, "Don't Want You Back" (the video for which has over 6.7 million views on YouTube), and performing at big music festivals such as Bonnaroo, Essence Festival, Capitol Jazz Fest, among others. She has opened the 2018 televised Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. She received a Soul
Train Award for "Best R&B/Soul or Rap New Artist" and has been nominated for a NAACP Image Award for "Best New Artist." Now she's ready to break out her Rock 'n Roll and Blues side with a new band and new EP, and excited for her fans to come along for the ride.
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