SOUL COLLECTOR

Based in Loveland, Ohio, Tery Cole founded the Colemine label in 2007 and, with his brother Bob, he started his own record shop Plaid Room Records in 2015.

- By Lois Wilson

The latter has an all-analogue studio and live music venue which he uses for his label's acts. His CV is vast, with writing and production credits for the likes of Delvon Lamarr, Andrew Gabbard, Kendra Morris, Parlor Green and Okonski but when time allows he’s also an artist in his own right, first honing his craft in Soundscape, a hip hop, funk, soul fusion band he helmed while in college, and more recently as a solo artist working under the sobriquet LEROI CONROY. A Tiger's Tale (★★★★ Colemine) is his impressive debut album, an atmospheric work that could pass as an old 70s blaxploitation movie soundtrack. Itis also crammed with what will surely become future classic breakbeats ~ key track Tiger Trot, first issued as a 45 back in 2017, has since been sampled by DJ Premier, Raekwon and Ghostface Killah. Conroy is definitely one to watch.

Meanwhile, Colemine’s GA-20 are heading up the vintage blues renaissance. Since their last outing, 2022's US Billboard Blues No 1 album Crackdown, guitarist/founder Matthew Stubbs has changed the group's line-up with drummer Joshua Kiggans replacing Tim Carman and Cody Nilsen, a suitably raw, energetic vocalist and slide expert, taking over from Pat Faherty. However, little has changed sound wise as EP Volume 2 (★★★★ Colemine) is both elemental and joyful, with the power trio adding devastating crunch’n’clang to among others, covers of James Brown's I Don't Mind and Billy Boy ‘molds Cryin’ & Pleadin’.

GWEN MCCRAE cied earlier this year aged 81. She was rightly crowned ‘the queen of rare groove’ as her music, charged with deep feeling, was both dance floor focused and incredibly popular.