The mainstream success of Black Pumas has made Austin a destination for lovers of retro R&B-soul. But of course, that style’s not strictly property of the Pumas, and certainly not the only act in town to flaunt the sound. Take for example, Donovan Keith, who moved down here from the midwest in 2009 and began unleashing some serious dance skills and killer pipes. Choreography aside, Keith and his project Soul Track Mind couldn’t stop captivating local dive bar crowds and eventually graduated to opening spots for Erykah Badu, Fastball, Tower of Power, Snarky Puppy, Enrique Iglesias and even the late, legendary Charles Bradley.
More recently though, Donovan Keith has doubled down on an eponymous solo adventure, which received a Black Fret nomination in 2018 and has continued to capture the vintage magic of mid-to-third-quarter-century funk-soul-R&B. In the next couple days, Donovan Keith drops his debut solo album Hot Off The Wire and celebrates with a release show 8PM Thursday night at Antone’s alongside Aaron Stephens and Emily Keeley. So for this cloudy week, invite Keith’s sunny vocals, call-and-response chorus singers, and warm horn riffs into your home with Hot Off The Wire‘s final lead single “Cruel Fools Eye”.
–Jack Anderson