MAJESTIC MACHINES: What is a soul? Deeply imbued as it may be within ourselves or within our collective idea of who we are, preachers and anatomists may come to different conclusions of its substance and occurrence in our bodily vessels, as the search for soul has led some to confirmation of its existence and others to its denial. Yet, no matter your belief, you can at least take comfort in knowing that this indefinable thing is as common as the also vague quality of “cool” in music venues, and as soul is the most welcome secret ingredient to any live set or song or singer.
This weekend brings not one but two soulful Santa Barbara acts with whom you can share soulful moments: Soul Majestic, the reggae veterans who play SOhO Restaurant & Music Club (1221 State St.) on Saturday, October 1, with a special two-set evening, and Soul Machine, the much-enjoyed R&B cover band who play High Sierra Grill on Sunday, October 2.
PASS THE SOUL AROUND: The year 2016 sees Soul Majestic reaching a watershed moment as they look behind and look ahead. In May of this year, they released Pass It Around, a compilation originally conceived as a sampler CD that could be given away to fans after shows. The disc has some of the band's favorites, a remix, plus the four new singles they released this past year as part of a monthly song campaign. "It's a good way for someone new to our music to have our most popular songs along with our most recent, plus a bonus track for our fans that have our entire catalog," Eric Iverson said.