The Soul United All-stars …and craft of making records that can build local & global scenes, by Davin Michael Stedman

You are going to hear more about my label and production company Soul United. I am launching a new band called The Soul United Allstars to bring music to stage in some exciting ways at home and around the globe.

I have a label that has been teaming up with other labels to get music out there, Snatchee Records, Soniphone Records, Sick Donkey Records, Emerald City Outlaws, Cascade Entertainment, and Mtp Studios, to name more than a few.

The music we put out there for The Staxx Brothers was awesome.

Those are great partnerships built on friendship. But also a belief that we had songs on our hands, that if they were just produced professionally, could speak for a generation, and be relevant to the next.

Anthems man.

Songs like ‘Keep The Motor Runnin’, ‘1992’, ‘Sugarwalls’, ‘Bad Road’, and ‘White Sugar’ speak to that ethos on record players and concert stages.

We ain’t done with those songs yet. There’s too much magic left and my good friends did invest. My friends have faith in me. I have faith in me.

II. Giant Steps

Now I am teaming up with a big label to get out ‘Free Your Mind’ as a solo artist. I have a band in Brighton called Sherlock Soul and a collective behind it called Bedlam Isle. This Soul United operation is worldwide.

But what do I have cookin’ back home?

I am trying to put together a killer band, like a basketball team that has a deep bench, that can play the songs LIVE that I am releasing around the world, here on stages in Seattle…and New Orleans…and Paris.

My Bedlam Isle squad in England is stupendous. Good friends. Great session men + the lovely Roxanne Abbott. But I need an American squad.

I have an album called Sealander I want to record that captures this squad taking shape in the Northwest. I am putting together Home Cookin’ as an album to build that wrecking crew in NOLA around Justin Armstrong and Eric Struthers. Some real Muscle Shoal type music. Eric’s own network of Crescent City Heavyweights.

III. Records ain’t selling, but at least they are building new bridges.

My West Indian Rock album is building a scene in Kingston. My Sherlock Soul singles are helping shape a certain kind of scene in Brighton.

My band The Staxx Brothers developed something that really happened here. Out of a squad of Soul United Allstars that know that the music inside and out, and want to make and perform new music, that legacy can live on, and possibly breath again.

But it has to be awesome. It has to be even better. Because we know better. We are looking for the type of people that get better.

I have played 100s of awesome shows, and the next couple 100 need to be FIRE, or what is the f☆☆☆ing point?

I am looking for a few good men and women, or how ever one defines themselves inbetween. Players. I will have charts if people need them.

The kind of folks that take side projects seriously. The kind of folks that appreciate the work that goes into building a beautiful machine and catalog that allows them to just play and get paid what the gig can pay.

Folks that want to be a part of that legacy, by recording my songs and hopefully songs we can write together, when we put in that work that makes it possible. There is a high mark, and that’s a good problem. That’s a culture called excellence. But there is always room for improvement, evolution, exciting new influences.

Then there is just the magic in that room.

IV. We Got Ourselves a Hit.

I am going to chase my hit Free Your Mind around the world and front several bands in other countries, but I want a crew that will help me bring it all back home and play big shows, like Eric Struthers, Ras Jones and Lewis Harding encountered when they came to me to experience the Seattle scene.

This might take some time. But I already got plenty of projects cooking. But The Soul United All-stars can be the band that ties it all together for The Dude. Like Bobby said, “Lets bring it all back home.”

There are few rules. Just no flakes. People are flying around the world and sacrificing a lot to come to Seattle to just play a few shows with me. With us. We are trying to change lives.

In the words of The Staple Singers and the pen of Curtis Mayfield, “Lets Do it Again”.

Davin’s new song has become a global earworm and Caribbean dancehall hit. Listen here on Reggaeville: DAVIN MICHAEL STEDMAN & ANTHONY RED ROSE – FREE YOUR MIND FEAT. SLY & ROBBIE WITH LENKY MARSDEN. The video is now available on Youtube.

– Musician and writer Davin Michael Stedman has many ventures, such as the AMAZING blog, 100milesofmusic.com. In the spring of 2018 he spent weeks networking in and reporting from Kingston, Jamaica. He will return there soon for more recording. His single with British band Sherlock Soul is available here.