Jeff Floyd - Keepin It Real (2008)

Jacksonville, FL, native Jeff Floyd (born October 1965) is a throwback Southern soul singer who conjures up images and the aural extremities of the genre's best purveyors, notably Otis Clay and Bobby Womack. His music evokes emotions and feelings that linger long after the song has ended. A start in his church's choir piqued Floyd's interest in music to the point of becoming proficient on many instruments, which helped tremendously in his songwriting, with his baby being the bass guitar. Floyd's mastery of instruments made him an employable commodity who has performed behind some of the industry's giants on the road. He recorded for William Bell's Wilbe Records, but cut an album prior to that association entitled Changing Times, originally issued on his Jeff Floyd Music, and reissued on Japan's P-Vine Records in 1993. Floyd headlined a concert with Trudy Lynn, and the Total Package Band at the Narni Black Festival in Italy, October of 2000. And he played regularly during the '90s with his crew, Jazz Jeff Floyd and the Sweat Band at the Contemporary Jazz Lounge in downtown Jacksonville, as well as performing opening-act duties for many of the major urban artists that rolled into Jacksonville, including a two-day concert with the Temptations at a Mother's Day show at Metropolitan Park. ~ Andrew Hamilton