With music that variously is gospel-tinged, soulful, rock inspired and downright funky Keite Young is all set to make his debut on the excellent Hidden Beach label with ‘The Rise and Fall of Keite Young’. Slated for release on June 12, 2007 it is an interesting showcase for this singer, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist who was born and raised in Fort Worth Texas and whose musical influences include artists as diverse as Al Green, Muddy Waters, Led Zeppelin Sly Stone and the Beatles. The collection, with Steve McKeever and Wayman Tisdale taking the credits for executive production, includes several tracks with the potential to cross over from R & B into the rock and pop market.
With ‘Pressure’ evoking the Commodores at their funkiest and the almost ‘Isley-esque’ haze of psychedelic guitar that permeates every sinew of ‘The Wash’ there is ample evidence that retro threads abound. ‘Thinkuboutmi’ has a distinct feel of Sly Stone to it while ‘Hey Joy’ is quite simply a hugely enjoyable piece of soulful rock. The advance single ‘Pray’ is a delicious mid tempo smoker with a soul factor at the very top of the scale and just as good is ‘ENS (Everybody Needs Somebody)’. Chilled out and with Keite sounding eerily like the great Al Green this is an absolutely terrific number that is bolstered to even greater heights by the use of a wonderful gospel sounding choir.
Indeed Keite’s music is massively grounded in his faith. He has toured with gospel music legends such as Ce-Ce Winans and the immensely gifted Kirk Franklin & The Family, a band to which his mom and dad, Carrie and Dalon Collins, belonged. With ‘The Rise and Fall of Keite Young’ he is stepping out on his own with an edgy vibe that crosses boundaries and deserves to get him noticed. For more on Keite Young go to www.hiddenbeach.com