Soledad Brothers

I went up to visit my folks recently. They are still where I grew up at, in a town that's name isn't even worth mentioning. However, every time I go there I think of driving through the town in the dead of winter to get to the main county library in the next city over. Now, I've mentioned this in the blog many times, but it was my more formative time in musical understanding when hunting through those hundreds of albums. The Soledad Brothers was one of the bands that I began to listen to and then sought out at the library for every new release. The group began as Ben Swank and Johnny Walker, who's name is really the name of a previous band and Walker is the last time of a friend of his. While the band originated in Maumee, Ohio, a suburb of Toledo, they relocated to Detroit and were roommates with Jack White before the White Stripes hit it huge. White even engineered the first self-titled album. Afterward they were joined by Oliver Henry, formerly of the Greenhornes, and went on to make three more full-lengths. Beyond their sentimental connection to my adolescence and their story of actually moving to Detroit to do something, I still think they were a great band and totally worthy of being heard by fans of garage rock and blues punk. Soledad Brothers and Steal Your Soul and Dare Your Spirit to Move are more gospel influenced, with Walker pontificating about cars, expressways and the Cass Corridor as well as more traditional fare. Also I have a live album from 2000 entitled simply enough, Live, which features some tracks of the first release. Voice Of Treason and The Hardest Walk are unmistakably the same band yet they were put out on bigger labels and were considerably less messy and gospel-filled. I loved the messiness though, so this was a mixed bag for me, but they're very solid albums that show off the band's talents true enough. Anyhow, the more I write the more little facts and memories about them pop up so I best just cut it off, if you want more stylistic notes or true album reviews they're out there. The band has since broke-up, but Johnny Walker has a new group that I am betting I'll post soon.

To be had here:




Soledad Brothers (2000) [192 kbps]












Steal Your Soul and Dare Your Spirit to Move (2002) [160 kbps]













Live (2003) [160 kbps]

Voice of Treason (2003) [160 kbps]












The Hardest Walk (2006) [160 VBR kbps]