TJ Hooker, Shay Denise, Hardway Connection, Jesi Terrell, and J Red - Dr. Nick's 1st Annual Southern Soul Festival

I had the pleasure of attending Dr. Nick's 1st Annual Southern Soul Festival at Lamont's Entertainment Complex down in Pomonkey, Maryland!  Yes, a place called Pomonkey actually does exist. It kind of reminds me of The Playground near Possum Bend in Camden, Alabama, and that made it even better - it truly felt like a southern soul festival.  It is the kind of place where you bring your own lawn chair, roll out your cooler, and sit back and enjoy the party. The crowd was laid back and the sole purpose of everyone there was to have a good time.  The music was fantastic, the weather was beautiful, and the day was great; we had a ball.  Thank you Dr. Nick for this event and I am so looking forward to next year!

I missed Jim Bennett and The Stone Pleasure Band & show but got a chance to see TJ Hooker, Shay Denise, Hardway Connection, Jesi Terrell, and J Red.

TJ HOOKER
TJ is one of Johnnie Taylor's sons and he sang a medley of his father's music:
Your Love Is Rated X
Big Head Hundreds
Still Called The Blues
Stop Dogging Me Around
Just Because
He also sang Down Home Blues and Mel Waiters' Hole In The Wall. He closed his show with his father's Disco Lady.  You can see Jim Bennett on guitar in the middle picture - his band, Unique Creation, played for TJ Hooker.

SHAY DENISE
Shay Denise is a new r&b singer recently presented by the Soul Mop Music Group.  She sang several songs including her latest, Man's World, along with Clean Up Woman, No Chick On The Side, and the line dance - Move.  I had a chance to speak to this lovely lady and found out a few things about her.  Shay is originally from Palm Springs and currently lives in Atlanta.  She has four children and one grandchild - you wouldn't know by looking at her!  She is a fun person, is outgoing, and loves to sing.  Shay's been singing since she was a little girl and you can tell that she loves what she does. She said that the type of music she sings is feel good, catchy music and that she sings a lot of material about the things women go through. She has a beautiful spirit and I'm looking forward to hearing her voice and her music for a long time to come.

Here's Man's World:


HARDWAY CONNECTION
Hardway Connection is a crowd favorite and the southern Maryland fans love them. They have also won plenty of awards for their music. I always love watching them perform; they put on a classy act and have a great deal of talent.  In addition to singing happy birthday to someone in the crowd named Rodney (he cooks seafood in the area), here are some of the songs they sang:
Twerk That Thing
I'll Take You There
Somebody
The Choking Kind
Leaving on the Morning Train

Here is one of my favorite Hardway songs - "It Must Be Love."


JESI TERRELL
Jesi is a rising star and is popular in the DC area.  She is very talented and her lineup included Trapped By This Thing Called Love, Sleep with One Eye Open, Clean Up Woman, and her hit, Love Mechanic.  Here's a little info that I found on her from the Gigmasters' website:

The rising songstress, known to all as Jesi Terrell (Ms. Sweetheart of Soul) is a contemporary R & B Superstar. One cannot help but notice her voice. Jesi delivers a cutting edge, sultry sound, with sweetened around the edges.

Jesi has shared the stage in concerts with some of the top names in the music business to include artist such as; Bobby Blue Bland, BB King, Little Milton, Koko Taylor and more.

In 2009 Jesi Moved to Washington, DC where she formed her band, The Love Mechanic Band. The LMB is a high energy funky blues, soul band, which is consist of 7 members. 

J RED, THE NEPHEW
The headliner for this great show was J. Red.  You can tell that he loves to perform and it shows in his personality!  He is personable and friendly and can sing on top of all that.  J Red loves the crowd and the crowd loves him.  He is definitely a great entertainer.  He opened up with Never Too Much and sang the following:
Hole In The Wall, Give It To Me
Just Keep On Dancing
I Will
Love On You,
Good Thang
Step Out - the line dance he helped us learn how to dance!

See my interview with J. Red, the Man Behind The Music:
http://southernsoulparadise.blogspot.com/2015/10/j-red-nephew-man-behind-music.html

And last but certainly not least, here's a picture of Dr. Nick.  He is truly a phenomenon in the DC area and is a hard, hard, hard working man.  Thank you Dr. Nick for keeping southern soul music alive in this area!!!  We love you!

There is no show like a southern soul show!
XXOOXX
Southern Soul Paradise
southernsoulparadise@hotmail.com