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BUY The 12th Street Blues now!The Staxx Brothers’ 12th Street Blues
A Blind Black Rapper, a 1/2 Puerto Rican Jagger, and Gypsy – walk out of a bar with one of the seminal Rock & Roll Records of the past decade. Backed by Seattle Jazz & Rock heavyweights Joe Doria, Dave Carter, Andy Coe, and RL Heyer - The Staxx Brothers have created a living document, that uncovers Seattle’s lost identity as an urban crossroad for classic R & B, Hip Hop & Hard ASS Soul. It all starts with The 12th Street Blues.
-Dylan Van Keef
In 2003 as wide eyed college students, The Staxx Brothers distributed 2500 copies of their Black Market Music EP (Almost Live at Commonfire), receiving acclaim from the local press for that record and the run of live shows that produced it. Play on college radio through out the Northwest soon followed, earning The Staxx Brothers another round of rave reviews for their astonishing blend (and command) of classic rock & soul, filtered through a Hip Hop sensibility that defines their generation.
Back in Seattle with a vast catalog of material, The Staxx Brothers spent the next three and half years perfecting the band’s opus, The 12th Street Blues. Armed with a singular vision of selling out the Apollo in 2012, the band continued to improve and evolve. Sympathetic to their story and impressed by their songwriting chops, The Staxx Brothers soon connected on record and stage with some of the most respected names in Seattle Jazz, Funk, and Rock. The band continued to build a reputation as a popular live act, but The 12th Street Blues was still unfinished.
In the Fall of 2006, after laboring in countless studios, The Staxx Brothers finally found a home and the perfect mentor in Chip Butters and The Columbia City Theatre. As Butters helped craft The Staxx Brothers trademark sound, The 12th Street Blues took shape in the midst of a Seattle landmark; inside a playground of vintage gear and pristine acoustics.
At the classic LP length of 46 minutes, The 12th Street Blues takes the listener through an analog signal path and back out on the streets in a journey that defines The Staxx Brothers experience. Breaking the rules by realizing the true range (& influence) of American Soul, The 12th Street Blues is paved with gold. ‘Slowdown’ and ‘Easy rider’ are post rap suites, the rave up ‘Black Market’ rocks relentlessly, and the Hip Hop opera ‘Keep The Motor Runnin’ / ‘Toshin’’ amble easily from New Orleans to Jamaica. As the album takes on another surprising turn towards the home stretch, the whiskey soaked ballad ‘Back Home’ (recorded live) chases country back in arms of Ray Charles. When the curtains finally close in full salute to Seattle’s greatest icon, ‘JMH I & II’ & The Staxx Brothers, give it all up for Jimi Hendrix in 10 incendiary minutes.
All songs of experience, The 12th Street Blues is like peering up from the storm drains of Seattle seeing nothing but stars, all pointed towards heaven. Or Memphis.
The 12th Street Blues was produced by Chip Butters, Dan Schmidt, and Davin Michael Stedman, with important contributions by Nate Walters and the artist formerly known as Rob... -- -- PayPal Logo --
