| Souled American | |
| Years Active: | 1987 - present |
| Origin: | Normal, Illinois, U.S. |
| Genre: | Roots rock, alternative country |
| Label: | Rough Trade, Tumult, Catamount |
| Current Members: | Joe Adducci Chris Grigoroff |
| Past Members: | Jamey Barnard Scott Tuma |
| Background: | group_or_band |
Souled American is an American alternative country band from Chicago that was active mostly in the late-1980s and early-1990s. The band was founded in Normal, Illinois and consists of vocalists Chris Grigoroff (also guitar) and Joe Adducci (also bass) who both previously played in a ska/reggae band called The Uptown Rulers.[1]
Souled American recorded four albums for Rough Trade Records. In 1991, drummer Jamey Barnard left the band, and in 1992 the band released its fourth album (and last for Rough Trade), Sonny, eight of the ten songs on which are cover tunes. After four albums and a tour with Camper Van Beethoven, the group was met with critical acclaim and a loyal cult following.[2] Despite this, when Rough Trade folded Souled American was left without a label.
The band re-emerged in 1994 with Frozen and 1996's Notes Campfire, both released on the obscure German label Moll Tonträger. Sometime after 1996, guitarist Scott Tuma also left the band leaving the duo of Adducci and Grigoroff still intact.[3] The remaining two members have since made sporadic appearances in their hometown and additional shows in New York City, Chicago, and Ohio. A re-release of their first four albums on Tumult Records in 1999 brought some belated attention. In 1997, New York artist Camden Joy created a poster project called "Fifty Posters About Souled American" (the ultimate number exceeded the originally planned 50), consisting of typewritten comments and stories by various artists and musicians on the mostly forgotten band. Joy then distributed the posters around Greenwich Village.[4]
Since his departure, Scott Tuma released three solo albums: Hard Again (Atavistic), The River 1 2 3 4 (Truckstop Records), and Not For Nobody (Digitalis). He also recorded a CD under the name Good Stuff House in 2006 with members of the Chicago band Zelienople and occasionally performs and records with Chicago's Boxhead Ensemble.
The only studio material available since 1996 is a cover of Kris Kristofferson's "Please Don't Tell Me How the Story Ends" on a 2002 tribute album and "Ringside Suite", a brand new song (as well as an interview) found on a compilation CD in issue No. 4 of Yeti magazine. It is the band's only available original recording in almost a decade and the only recording to feature the current duo line-up of Adducci and Grigoroff.
In the May 2006, the band resurfaced for a show at The DuKum Upp in Kirksville, Missouri. In the summer of 2007, they played two shows in Colorado and Wyoming and announced that they are working on material for a new album in their home near Charleston, Illinois.