'Got A Story To Tell' was written by founding members Alejandro Garcia, Salvador Samano and Josh Lane. Garcia (drums, guitar), Samano (bass, drums) and Lane (vocals) recorded the album, with additional horn, string, percussion, organ players and background vocalists. Special guests include Larry Rendon on saxophone, an original member of Thee Midniters, the East LA band from the ‘60s that made history as one of the first Chicano bands to have a major hit in the U.S. (and in part what inspired Thee Sacred Souls’ band name). The live band features Garcia, Samano and Lane, as well as Riley Dunn on keys, Shay Stulz on guitar, and Astyn Turrentine and Viane Escobar on background vocals.
What swirls together on Got A Story To Tell is an appreciation of decades of soul music, and beyond - a sound and feel that is timeless, lived in, and very much in the now. Songs that take their time and relish in the moment. Album opener “Lucid Girl” champions independent women, set to some of the toughest sounding drums and bass the band has yet to put to tape. The song started with an idea from Garcia; it came to him on a Christmas morning of quiet solitude and heartache. “She chose herself and then she grew,” Lane sings in his pure tenor before the drums and Samano’s bass hit a stutter-step and the chorus kicks in. The album is full of characters and stories, and “Lucid Girl” sets the stage.
Thee Sacred Souls began when Garcia and Samano, just 23 at the time, started the framework of the band by writing songs together. Lane joined as the vocalist and songwriter, moving to SoCal from Sacramento, and they were offered a record deal by Daptone after their soon-to-be producer Gabriel Roth saw one of their early gigs. Their debut - described by Uncut as “music of terrifyingly high quality” - earned them performances on NPR's Tiny Desk, which debuted in February of this year, as well as several TV show appearances: Jimmy Kimmel Live!, CBS Saturday, Kelly Clarkson, Jools Holland, and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. They have six million monthly listeners on Spotify, over 250 million streams on the platform so far, and “Can I Call You Rose” has been the soundtrack to nearly a million posts between TikTok and Instagram, a virality that took off in January of this year. An ever-growing list of fans includes SZA, Alicia Keys, Leon Bridges, and Kylie Jenner.
