The RootSoul Project is a two-piece band from Wilmington, North Carolina that blends the soulful aspects of numerous genres from rock and blues, to reggae and hip-hop. The band has been together since Spring of 2004, and has performed alongside names like Tim Reynolds, Matisyahu, Widespread Panic, Culture, Victor Wooten, Steve Bailey, Corey Smith, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Badfish, and The Nappy Roots. The RootSoul Project is just what the name says it is. It started as a project to fuse the styles of roots music that the band loved with the styles of rock & roll, hip-hop, and soul that they grew up listening to. The result is a sound that pays homage to their musical role-models, while staying fresh in its approach and delivery.
Randy McQuay (vocals, keyboard, guitar, harmonica) fronts the group, writing most of the songs and laying down the soulful vocals that have become the calling card of RSP. Randy’s musical education began in high school, and continued through college, where he majored in percussion. It was in college where he met back up with a high school friend, Justin Johnson (lead guitar, slide guitar). During a gig in the summer of 2002, Justin was asked to sit in on a few songs. The few songs turned into the whole night, and he began playing every gig with the group, adding his unique style of lead guitar to the bands sound. Eventually, the group’s name was changed to The RootSoul Project and Randy and Justin began touring around North and South Carolina as either an acoustic duo or full band.
In January of 2005, Randy and Justin went into the studio with a few friends to record their first album, featuring acoustic guitar, mandolin, harmonica, slide guitar, percussion, and cello. The tracks were recorded and produced by Tommy Brothers at Audio Genesis in Wilmington, NC. The songs formed their first album, “Little Things”, which has gotten a great response from fans, good reviews, and airplay on several radio stations. You can purchase a copy of Little Things at cdbaby.com/cd/rootsoul.
Another year of gigging and writing followed, and in the Summer of 2006, The RootSoul Project went back into the studio to record a self-titled full band album. This time they brought along TJ Prystal (drums), Mike Hickman (bass, cello), and Rich Zimmerman (saxophone), who they had been playing with for several months. The recording was done at Matrix studios in Wilmington, NC, and released in 2007.
The RootSoul Project was WINNER of Blues-A-Palooza in March of '08 @ House of Blues in North Myrtle Beach. House of Blues booked RootSoul as house band for the summer. After a very exhausting summer in '08(nearly 100 shows), the band took a short break.
Realizing the potential of a new set-list rendered by numerous church services and full-gospel shows, Randy and Justin went on to start a Gospel record("Will You Be Ready") in late september. The band is currently touring around the east coast promoting the latest record, and working on a new record set for early summer.
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