LeRoy Bell and His Only Friends - Jan. 29

This is a guy you gotta see and hear.

When TBPAC started its Club Jaeb Monday night series in fall of 2005, they promised a great variety of talented veteran and up-and-coming artists in folk, Americana, blues and jazz. So far, Patty Larkin, Kenny Rankin, Catie Curtis (who’s coming back on Feb. 26!) and others have fulfilled that promise. It doesn’t hurt that the Jaeb is an intimate listening room that holds only a few more than 200 people.

Now, singer/songwriter LeRoy Bell is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 29, at 7:30.

Bell may be the best singer-songwriter you’ve never heard of. One of the problems, of course, is that radio formats are so tight that there’s little room for an artist who can’t be shoehorned into a box. So we depend on indy stations, Paste and other music magazines plus iTunes and other artist referral sites to find new music. Nobody likes to be compared to anybody else, but as much as anybody, Bell sounds like the wonderfully sensitive singer Seal.

Bell built his growing reputation by opening for B.B. King, Al Green, Taj Mahal, Keb Mo, LeAnn Rimes, the Temptations, the O'Jays, Mavis Staples and Colin Hay. He recently released his first full-length CD, Two Sides To Every Story. (Check out a song sample at TBPAC.ORG) It reflects his themes of love, humanity, social issues and individualism. His first solo release Spending Time (2003) gained critical acclaim for the unique “acoustic soul” sound. Selling more than 12,000 units independently and gaining airplay on over 100 radio stations, it set the groundwork for the current release.

You won’t be disappointed.

-MichaelK, TBPAC