Lynn Stokes & Sol Surfers

Finally ...

One of those sample CDs in Relix magazine features a band that's worth finding out more about ... Lynn Stokes & the Sol Surfers of San Antonio, Texas, playing "Sacred Moon's Light."

A intriguing combination of jamband, maybe a little New Age, a lot of what I'd call good commercial jazz and (on an old album by Stokes) kinda Grateful Dead-ish traditional ballads and sea shanties ... their MySpace page has video clips, downloads everything you need to get a feel for their music ... including this blurb:

The Sols Surfers were formed in 2007 by Lynn Stokes to showcase new original material. All members of the group have extensive professional experience performing live for many years. The band plays original songs with a classic rock feel blending the sounds of soul music with the rhythms and chord structure of surf-rock and new-age, retro-psychedelic.

... which turns out to be a pretty accurate description of their sound.

The sea shanties are on a 2001 disc called Off To Sea Once More ... Stokes, from the liner notes:

While researching my family’s Scottish and English heritage I came across a body of songs which captivated me to the point where I decided I had to record and perform them. The songs are ballads and Sea “Shanties” some of which date back several hundred years. The melodies are haunting, their rhythms suggesting the bobbing of the tall sail ships, and their lyrics tell the colorful stories of the joys and hardships of the men who’s lives were dependent on the world’s oceans.

The ones I heard, "Jackaroe" and "Pretty Peggy-O," were covered first by Jerry Garcia.

© 2001 Lynn Stokes (634479524288) (format: CD-R)