Neo-soul group Thee Sacred Souls are making their much anticipated return to Denver with an August 20th show at The Junkyard for which they’ll be joined by Daptone Records label mates The Womack Sisters and LA LOM. Thee Sacred Souls make music that makes you want to bring your lover close, to dance with them barefoot in the living room while moonlight glows through the window, your hand on the small of their back, their chin on your shoulder. Smooth and patient but overflowing with emotion and undeniably sexy, the music feels as if it exists independent from the standard flow of time, combining sounds from eras past with distinctly modern sensibilities to create music that proves that such integral parts of the human experience such as love and the need to move to the rhythm never grow old. The songs are filled with breaking hearts, love found amidst uncertainty, these timeless ideas that have been sung about for generations. Thee Sacred Souls will be bringing their sound to The Junkyard on August 20th so that the lovers of Denver may hold their partners close in the city they call home and groove until time becomes irrelevant and the moments shared during the music last forever.
Ahead of the show, Denver Dive spoke with Thee Sacred Souls bassist Sal Samano about how he became interested in music by collecting records as a kid, how the band started and has evolved, sharing a label with some of the most impactful musicians of all time, touring with his label mates and much more.
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Samano grew up in a household filled with music. Describing his parents as “strong music enthusiasts,” Samano recalled his dad’s record collecting obsession and how he would bring Samano to “go on the hunt” with him. From a young age, Samano found himself immersed in “collector culture,” his dad taking him to swap meets where he’d learn about the “crate digging mindset,” referring to attending large record collecting events and literally digging through crates of records to find gems. His mother was also a heavy music lover, always playing music in the car or in the background in the kitchen. Growing up this way allowed Samano to form a wide ranging musical taste, with him saying some early favorites were East Side Story compilation albums which was how he was first introduced to soul, R&B and Motown as well as The Smiths.
Samano spent most of his young life as an appreciator, a music enthusiast, but didn’t pick up an instrument until “just after high school.” He had this idea to start a band with his friend, an “incredible guitar player.” The only problem with this idea was that Samano didn’t play anything himself. He found himself drawn to the bass because “it had the fewest strings and seemed the easiest to learn quickly.” His dad picked him up a $60 bass at the swap meet and brought it home, which Samano described as the real moment “everything started.”
Samano quickly learned the bass isn’t as simple as he thought it’d be and it wasn’t long before he really started to take it seriously, recognizing that a band is only as good as its rhythm section. He became quite prolific playing in his original band which led him to the San Diego DIY scene. This where the first inklings of what would become Thee Sacred Souls began to come together. Samano was playing a show “at some San Diego or Los Angeles DIY spot” and was sharing a bill with future Thee Sacred Souls guitarist and drummer Alex Garcia’s band. They were friendly, had seen each other play before. Samano said it was hard not to know people in the same scene as the “San Diego DIY scene is pretty small.” Samano remembers them chatting outside and sharing a drink. “I had some whiskey on me,” Samano said. “[Garcia] asked if he could have some and we started talking about about music and what we were into at the time. I had just started getting back into revisiting all the music that my dad had put me onto like The Midnighters and The Royal Gestures, bands like that. I was just excited about it again and [Garcia] was showing me the music that he was into which was a lot of the same style music and it kind of just clicked. I asked him ‘Would you would you be down start a band? and that’s how we got started.”
The two met up not long after. Garcia had been working on some instrumentals and they started fleshing those out together. Eventually, they realized they needed a singer and a lyricist in order to have an actual band. They found frontman and main songwriter Josh Lane and all the pieces were in place. They started out in that DIY space, writing songs in their backyards with Lane coming over to lay down vocals when he could. It wasn’t long before people began to take notice and the band itself grew in personnel alongside their success. Thee Sacred Souls now feature a horns section, background singers, another guitar plays, keys players. The small local three piece soul band is now a powerhouse.
Samano said that because of the way their career has gone, they no longer write songs in each other’s backyards. Instead, it happens on tour, during downtime, when they’re home, any chance they get. He described it as more individualistic than before. Each member of the band writes their pieces when they can and they put the pieces together when they have the opportunity to do so.
Their sound is now so defined, distinct yet timeless, pulling from eras past but making music that feels alive today. It didn’t take them long to arrive at their sound. Lane, Garcia and Samano were all raised on soul music. He said Lane was versed more in the Stevie Wonders and Marvin Gayes while he and Garcia had more obscure tastes. Nevertheless, the interest in that classic soul sound aligned. Samano said the sound came naturally, a melding of everything each member loved and grew up with. He went on to say, “I don’t think that it was a goal to to sound a certain way. I think you take the production style of that tone and it does a lot of the the work of giving it that classic sound. You know it when you’re when you’re listening to it.”
After playing for sometime, Thee Sacred Souls were found by Daptone Records. For those unfamiliar, Daptone Records is a label founded in 2001 by members of The Dap Kings Gabriel Roth and Neal Sugarman. It has grown into the eminent home for soul musicians, boasting a roster that includes such legends as Charles Bradley, Lee Fields, The Budos Band, The Poets of Rhythm, The Mystery Lights, Menahan Street band, LA LOM, The Womack Sisters and so many more.
Samano described being approached by Daptone as a shock. “We weren’t shopping around. We weren’t talking to any labels.” Thee Sacred Souls had made a demo which a friend passed along to Gabe Roth. He dug it and told them that he’d becoming to a show they had lined up to check out their set. Samano described this as rather surreal as Roth asked them to wait for him to show up before they played, which led to them stalling, dragging their feet until he showed up. They played and Roth loved it. Samano said, “After the set, he came and talked to us and after the conversation he just came out and asked if we wanted to cut a record. A few weeks later we were in the studio cutting what would end up being our first 45′.” The recording featured “Can I Call You Rose?” which took off, still the band’s biggest hit and for good reason. It’s a beautiful song and its success led to the band cutting their first full length self titled album which also blew up and solidified the band as worthy of being apart of the Daptone Family.
Now, Samano said sharing a label with such illustrious names is no less surreal than it was. He said, “The only difference is now these people are peers.” He said he constantly is able to hear stories from the road and learn about music history from people like Charles Bradley. “But really, at the end of the day, we’re all just musicians.” There’s a mutual respect that happens and Thee Sacred Souls are actively solidifying themselves as soul legends in their own right.
It’s all led them to this current tour on which they are joined by label mates The Womack Sisters and LA LOM. The tour kicked off on August 4th and Samano said that it feels great to be back on the road. He said he loves the experience of traveling to new cities, the uncertainty of it all. He said that he’s in high hopes that this will be the best tour yet for the band and he’s happy to be sharing the bill with such incredible musicians. He also mentioned how living on a bus is just “like living with roommates but on wheels” and that while it can take some getting used to, it usually leads to everyone becoming even closer, something he’s looking forward to happening on this tour.
As such, Samano’s very excited to be joined by the artists Thee Sacred Souls will be joined by. Thee Sacred Souls have done a short tour with LA LOM — whose music is a sort of blend of instrumental, psychedelic Cumbia and traditional Mexican sounds — in the past but they are excited for a much more extensive experience with the group. Samano said that while Thee Sacred Souls have never toured with The Womack Sisters — the daughters of Cecil and Linda Womack otherwise known as Womack & Womack and the nieces of Bobby Womack who are making their own name for themselves as the next iteration of soul royalty — they have shared the stage on many occasions and are looking forward to furthering that relationship as well.
They’ll be stopping at The Junkyard — the massive outdoor venue adjacent to LoHI — and it’s sure to be something special, that huge venue overflowing with love and soul and that which brings people together. It marks a welcome return for Thee Sacred Souls and a step up in size from their previous stop at the Bluebird last year. Samano says the band loves Denver and is excited to be coming back. “I can’t wait, man,” Samano said.
Thee Sacred Souls represent this dedication to authenticity, a willingness to celebrate how much beauty a group of creative people can make when they come together. “Creating is really different for every for everyone,” Samano said. “Everybody has a different relationship with with creation and when the creativity comes, that spark is different for everyone. For me, it can’t be forced. You have to let the moments come and be ready to catch them.” Don’t miss the moment and make sure to catch Thee Sacred Souls, The Womack Sisters and LA LOM at The Junkyard on August 20th. It’ll be a show that reminds you to hold those you love most as close as you can. Don’t let go.
Get tickets to Thee Sacred Souls, The Womack Sisters and La LOM at The Junkyard on August 20th here!
Check out the entire Daptone Records roster here!
