Souled American is an American
alternative country
Alternative country (commonly abbreviated to alt-country; also known as alternative country rock, insurgent country, Americana, or y'allternative) is a loosely defined subgenre of country music and/or country rock that includes acts that diffe ...
band from
Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
that was active mostly in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The band started in 1986 with a quartet of musicians from Illinois. The initial lineup consisted of rhythm guitar/singer Chris Grigoroff, bassist/singer Joe Adducci, lead guitarist
Scott Tuma
Scott Tuma is a musician from Chicago who is best known for his live performances and also for having played guitar in the pioneering alt-country band Souled American. Since his departure from Souled American in the late 1990s Tuma has released num ...
, and drummer Jamey Barnard. The band made six records between 1988 and 1995; Barnard left the group during the making of the fourth record
Sonny, while Tuma departed during the making of the sixth record, ''Notes Campfire''. Since then, Souled American has survived as a duo featuring the original songwriters Adducci and Grigoroff, aided and accompanied by a variety of other musicians.
In 2023,
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...
-winning musician
Jeff Tweedy
Jeffrey Scot Tweedy (born August 25, 1967) is an American musician, singer songwriter, author, and record producer best known as the lead vocalist and guitarist of the band Wilco. Tweedy, originally from Belleville, Illinois, began his music care ...
wrote about Souled American in his book, ''World Within a Song''. Though Souled American, he explained, were contemporaries of his first band
Uncle Tupelo
Uncle Tupelo was an alternative country music group from Belleville, Illinois, active between 1987 and 1994. Jay Farrar, Jeff Tweedy, and Mike Heidorn formed the band after the lead singer of their previous band, The Primitives, left to attend ...
, they never achieved widespread popularity; instead, as
Uncle Tupelo
Uncle Tupelo was an alternative country music group from Belleville, Illinois, active between 1987 and 1994. Jay Farrar, Jeff Tweedy, and Mike Heidorn formed the band after the lead singer of their previous band, The Primitives, left to attend ...
shot to stardom in the burgeoning
alternative country
Alternative country (commonly abbreviated to alt-country; also known as alternative country rock, insurgent country, Americana, or y'allternative) is a loosely defined subgenre of country music and/or country rock that includes acts that diffe ...
movement of the early 1990s, Souled American fell from sight. Consequently, Tweedy wrote, this Souled American song he was celebrating, "was likely the hardest track to find of any" he wrote about.
Nor was this Tweedy's first effort to bring attention to this forgotten band. In 2016, in a video for
Pitchfork Magazine
''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music magazine founded in 1996 by Ryan Schreiber in Minneapolis. It originally covered alternative and independent music, and expanded to cover genres including pop, hip-hop, ...
entitled, "The One Song I Wish I'd Written," Tweedy nominated Souled American's "Before Tonight."
In 2025, to rectify this imbalance,
Omnivore Recordings
Omnivore Recordings is an independent record label founded in 2010. It specializes in historical releases, reissues and previously unissued vintage recordings, as well as select releases of new music, on CD, vinyl and digital formats. Omnivore R ...
issued ''Rise Above It'', a compilation of twenty Souled American songs. In a highly-starred review published April 25, 2025, Jon Dale of
Uncut pointed out how the band used
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...
as "the shell, of sorts, for a quixotic combination that pulled from all kinds of genres – the heartbreak and melodicism of
country
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...
and
folk
Folk or Folks may refer to:
Sociology
*Nation
*People
* Folklore
** Folk art
** Folk dance
** Folk hero
** Folk horror
** Folk music
*** Folk metal
*** Folk punk
*** Folk rock
** Folk religion
* Folk taxonomy
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Fo ...
; the groove of
reggae
Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...
and
dub; and touches of
R&B in some of the singing and playing, and in their choice of covers."
This followed an earlier attempt by
tUMULt Records to revive interest through the 1999 reissue of their first four records in a remastered CD box set ''Framed'', which inspired reviews and features in
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason.
The magazine was first known fo ...
,
Pitchfork
A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials.
The term is also applie ...
, and others.
Novelist/songwriter
John Darnielle
John Darnielle (; born March 16, 1967) is an American musician and novelist best known as the primary, and originally sole, member of the American band The Mountain Goats, for which he is the writer, composer, guitarist, pianist, and vocalist. H ...
penned an essay ("How Souled American's Flubber Changed My Life") which underscored what songwriter/musician (Camper Van Beethoven/Cracker)
David Lowery told a radio DJ in 1990 that "...in the way
The Pixies
The Pixies are an American alternative rock band from Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1986 by Black Francis (vocals, rhythm guitar, songwriter), Joey Santiago (lead guitar), Kim Deal (bass, vocals) and David Lovering (drums).
The Pi ...
sorta summed up all the sort of musical undercurrents in underground rock over the last ten years, Souled American did it for a different set of musical undercurrents (namely the American
folk
Folk or Folks may refer to:
Sociology
*Nation
*People
* Folklore
** Folk art
** Folk dance
** Folk hero
** Folk horror
** Folk music
*** Folk metal
*** Folk punk
*** Folk rock
** Folk religion
* Folk taxonomy
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Fo ...
roots tradition). They took it and stood it on its head, in maybe the way
Beefheart did, but in a more pop/folky way..."
History
Mark Guarino, in his book ''Country & Midwestern'', describes Chicago's developing music scene of the late 1980s that helped bring attention to this new style of roots music. "Souled American was likely playing Phyllis's Musical Inn, a corner dive on Division...
hey were
Hey, HEY, or Hey! may refer to:
Music
* Hey (band), a Polish rock band
Albums
* ''Hey'' (Andreas Bourani album) or the title song (see below), 2014
* ''Hey!'' (Julio Iglesias album) or the title song, 1980
* ''Hey!'' (Jullie album) or the ...
drawn to the fatalism and soul of the early twentieth century string-band music." In 1988, they were signed by the newly-formed Rough Trade US, a division of
Rough Trade Records
Rough Trade Records is an independent record label based in London, England. It was formed in 1976 by Geoff Travis, who had opened a record store off Ladbroke Grove. It is currently run by co-managing directors Travis and Jeannette Lee and ...
, which released three Souled American records over the course of the next eighteen months: ''
Fe'' (1988), ''
Flubber'' (1989), and ''
Around the Horn'' (1990). Rough Trade US folded soon after.
In 1992, Souled American recorded an album of American country covers called
Sonny that was released only in Europe by
Rough Trade Records
Rough Trade Records is an independent record label based in London, England. It was formed in 1976 by Geoff Travis, who had opened a record store off Ladbroke Grove. It is currently run by co-managing directors Travis and Jeannette Lee and ...
.
The band re-emerged in 1994 with ''Frozen'' and 1996's ''Notes Campfire'', both released on the small German label Moll Tonträger.
In 1997, guerrilla artist
Camden Joy created a poster project with his best friend Mark Lerner which they called, "Fifty Posters About Souled American," consisting of typewritten comments and stories by various artists and musicians; Joy then plastered the posters around New York City.
Since 1996, the band has released just three songs. One was a cover of
Kris Kristofferson
Kristoffer Kristofferson (June 22, 1936 – September 28, 2024) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He was a pioneering figure in the outlaw country movement of the 1970s, moving away from the polished Nashville sound and toward a m ...
's "Please Don't Tell Me How the Story Ends," on a 2002 tribute album. The second was "Ringside Suite," included on a 2006 compilation CD in issue No. 4 of
''Yeti'' magazine. The last and most recent was "Sorry State," released in 2024 via the group's Bandcamp pag
Personnel
*Joe Adducci,
bass guitar, bass,
vocal
The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound producti ...
s
*Chris Grigoroff,
guitar
The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...
, vocals
*
Scott Tuma
Scott Tuma is a musician from Chicago who is best known for his live performances and also for having played guitar in the pioneering alt-country band Souled American. Since his departure from Souled American in the late 1990s Tuma has released num ...
, guitar (left the band in 1995)
*Jamey Barnard,
drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a ...
s (left the band in 1992)
Discography
; On Rough Trade Records
* 1988: ''
Fe''
* 1989: ''
Flubber''
* 1990: ''
Around the Horn''
* 1992: ''
Sonny''
;On Moll Tonträger
* 1994: ''Frozen''
* 1996: ''Notes Campfire''
;On tUMULt Records
* 1999: ''Framed'' – 4-CD re-issue of the first four albums
;
;On Omnivore Recordings
;
• 2025: ''Rise Above It: A Souled American Anthology''
;Compilation appearances
* 2002: "Please Don't Tell Me How the Story Ends" on "Nothing Left to Lose: A Tribute to
Kris Kristofferson
Kristoffer Kristofferson (June 22, 1936 – September 28, 2024) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He was a pioneering figure in the outlaw country movement of the 1970s, moving away from the polished Nashville sound and toward a m ...
"
* 2006: "Ringside Suite" on the Yeti Magazine No. 4 compilation
References
External links
Official websiteOmnivore Recordings listingBandcamp albums and merchandise
{{Authority control
American alternative country groups
Musical groups from Chicago
Rough Trade Records artists
Musical groups established in 1987
Tumult Records artists
1987 establishments in Illinois