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The Suffers at Santa Monica Pier's Twilight Concert 8/18/16. Photo by Derrick K. Lee, Esq. (@Methodman13) for www.BlurredCulture.com.

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“Gulf Coast Soul”. If you aren’t familiar with the genre, you only need to know two words: “The Suffers”.

Based out of Houston, Texas, this band is something special. To simply call them a “throwback band” would be a disservice to music. They are a large band (10 deep I think), and you call hear the diversity of souls in their sound as they play music that is a uniquely eclectic sonic blend of R&B, rock and roll, country, cumbia … you name it, you can probably taste it. Though one would think that this mixture of musical styles may muddle the flavor of their cooking, it all comes together and is … well … a delicious pot of Gulf Coast Soul.

The Suffers at Santa Monica Pier's Twilight Concert 8/18/16. Setlist.While each player is an essential ingredient to their musical recipe, their main ingredient is their front woman; the wonderfully soulful Kam Franklin. Her sweetly charismatic presence on stage is upstaged only by her soulfully, lush voice, which perfectly compliments the the full bodied instrumentation that serves as the music’s foundation. From the first note played, The Suffers slathered the audience with their musical marinade, making sure that everyone in the audience left their performance with a taste that they wouldn’t soon forget.

Speaking on behalf of the band, Kam expressed her gratitude by thanking the crowd for coming out early to check them out. She shared with the audience the band’s humble beginnings:

“I was a […] banker. [Another band member] was an engineer at NASA. Playing once a week would have been good enough for me on Sunday … but being here … this …. this is special.”

And the band played like it was a special performance. Kam belted out her melodies with a fierce determination as if every note was being used to draw those who were unfamiliar with their music to the table. The horns (which were particularly brilliant),  the animated percussion, the funky, steady bass, keyboards … it a musical buffet of top-flight musicianship that only made the sun setting in the west bake brighter. No one instrument overpowered another, and the amazingly balanced portions of each musical ingredient demonstrated how tight-knit this band is. The band’s unity was on full display during their performance of “Giver”, a slower jam, when I noticed that during the first time Kam sang through the hook, every member of the band had their eyes closed, giving the live performance of that song a special something … a secret ingredient. Oh, how I wish I had my camera ready at that moment. That picture would have been something otherworldly.

Towards the end of the set, Kam pointed to the audience to acknowledge her mother in the audience, and asked the audience a question:

“Everybody love food?  Where we’re from, food is love. At the end of  [“Make Some Room”], I ask if you want a sandwich [because] this song is for those who love us”

Yes, Kam … and I’ll have seconds.

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