California music Archives - KUT & KUTX Studios

Last year, Monophonics bandleader Kelly Finnigan released his second solo album A Lover Was Born, a stellar study in psychedelic soul extending cleanly from the classic Monophonics sound. A song that didn’t make it onto the album was “Keep Me In Mind,” a smooth soul bop featuring Chicago soul legend Renaldo Domino.

While most of the Monophonics and Finnigan’s solo discographies have a prominent neosoul sound, “Keep Me In Mind” is a cover of a 1967 tune by the New York duo Samson & Delilah and distinctly sounds like a love letter to the classic days of solid gold soul duos. The kind that may have wound-up on the soundtrack of an Olsen twins movie in the 90s.

With summer entering full swing and live music quickly trickling back, seasons are certainly changing. And all the earthly elements seem to be pointing the same way, Jah Sun & The Rising Tide. This California-bred reggae project has been surfing through the states in promotion of their upcoming album Running Through Walls, wrapping up a month-long leg that launched in late May this weekend in Texas.

Jah Sun & The Rising Tide brings their polished Caribbean sound to Empire Control Room this Wednesday along with Massachusetts’ Mighty Mystic, drops another new single from Running Through Walls on Friday, and makes your Monday a lot brighter with their latest song and video, “Rock Paper Scissors“.