Contemporary alternative pop from Hawaii.

15 MP3 Songs in this album (65:05) !
Related styles: POP: Today's Top 40, EASY LISTENING: Adult contemporary

People who are interested in Sublime Jethro Tull Jack Johnson should consider this download.


Details:
Soul Package is a band from the Hawaiian island of Maui in the Kula Kanaio area. The group got started at Phil Bond's practice studio behind his house in Kula Maui. Luke and Dave had quite a few original songs and they got busy developing their sound in 1999. All of these recordings were done between 2001 and 2008 by Franklin Russell. The fact that it was two sets of brothers; Dave and Phil Bond and Luke D. and Josh Maynard, gives the band a cohesive sound. Also since there is a 25-30 year difference in their ages the styles are blends of old and new. Philâs drumming style is a rather 60âs approach with plenty of ride cymbal and fills. Lukeâs style is newer in the tradition of Sublime and at the same time Jethro Tullâish. Luke D. has developed into a great pop writer and singer over the years. He now plays a Hofner violin bass and flute as well as singing. You can hear his violin bass on Overflow and Canât Deny. The sound is easy to listen to with Dave Bondâs acoustic guitar and Lukeâs flute. Luke has a unique singing style that goes from mellow to an AC DC evil troll. My favorites are Love Like Revolution,Overflow, One Lucky Girl, Little Box and Volga Jam. The Bill Gets In The Way is great too for the Ian Anderson-ish intro and the great lyrics by Dave that seem to lament the food service busines. Thanks to Phil Bonds practice room and plenty of rehearsal time Soul Package was born. In 1998 Luke lost his wonderful little brother Nick to childhood cancer. It was painful for everyone and especially Luke. The band was a good way for all of them to blow off steam and get some creativity out. The CD is dedicated to Nicky. Angel song was the first tune recorded in Philâs studio. Volga Jam, Soul Package/ Seed Song were tracked there as well. The rest were done at Franklin Russellâs studio the Bamboo Room in Kanaio. All the mixing and art work were scanned and done in Kanaio too. The power is generated by the sun and wind. Luke did a great job creating fimo art for the panels and for the on disk art. If you look at the web site you will see the gif animation of Lono made by Luke out of fimo and animated and photographed by Franklin. We spent all day setting up and tuning Philâs drums to the songs so they blended to the music. Some of the songs like Hard Workinâ Woman and Little Box were written about real people on Maui. We left in almost all of the recordings for artâs sake even though some of the lyrical content may be controversial. Luke and Dave have thousands of tunes and want to record more. The cover tune âWhat About Meâ was by Chester Powers AKA Dino Valenti of Quicksilver Messenger Service and the lyrics were remembered and rewritten by Phil. Comparing them to the original there is only a few lines that went in unaltered, none the less itâs still clearly a cover tune.
To this date Luke has never heard the original cut from the Hawaiian recording done in 71 by Quicksilver. I think that is way cool. I love the guitar and flute on the song and the protest nature of it has validity today. I wanted that tune on the album because I knew an ex Quicksilver member Jim Murry and my old partner Middle John would talk a lot about John Cippolena and his chord warping concept. The sound is rich and a treat for your musical/lyrical ear. If you are on Maui or an island anywhere youâll love it. All in all itâs a great stereo recording and historical in nature. Listen to it with headphones to hear the stereo guitar tracks and all of the backup vocals. Thanks to all of you that have helped us and especially Sandra Bennett Lukeâs mother who made the dream possible with a deluxe mastered 6 panel eco wallet from Disk Makers.
Mahalo,
Franklin Russell 2008