Music A&R On the Rusty Yates Band's Song "SWEET LOVE"
Man, this is really excellent! All of the performances here are just stellar. The vocal on this is as strong as I've ever heard for this style of music. You guys have blended an old school blues style with a rocking dance groove. It brings to mind the best of Delbert McClinton but with a touch of old school Ray. I couldn't help but listen to some of the other cuts on here, and I just have to say "I WON'T MENTION IT AGAIN" is definitely a stand out - excellent song writing and the performance knocked me out. You guys have a solid product here.
Chameleon
Full-Length Album
Rusty Yates Band, Feb. 2012
This guy is a Baton Rouge gem, with a resume full of legends. You won’t get far before you know why Rusty Yates’ new album is called “Chameleon”…and by that, I mean it’s clear by the contrast into the second track.
“From Now Until Spring” is a sax-heavy, bluesy love tune that cries Ray Charles, bleeds Randy Newman, and is simply stunning. As you try to place it as one or the other, the fourth track (“Love In The Conscious Mind”) will throw Phil Collins into the vocal gumbo.
Oddly enough, his cover of Ray Charles’ “Georgia On My Mind” is where you’ll really hear Rusty – the vocal control on this guy is incredible, and his imitation of the classic adopts a different rhythmic expression than the original. The cover reveals Rusty Yates as a real performer – you can almost see him slinking the ivories while he belts it out in the Vegas showrooms of his past.
This is not an album for people who like one type of music, and it’s not so much fusion as it is a different genre from song to song. And between them all, somewhere, lies Rusty Yates.
" Rusty Yates Talks About Songs On Chameleon CD The Rusty Yates Band is set to release their CD "Chameleon" within the next few weeks, and I had the opportunity to talk with Rusty about a few of the songs on the CD. "When my brother Jeff and I sat down and were deciding what songs to put on the chameleon CD, we decided that we wanted to write some new songs that sound old but were brand new . Songs that someone like Ray Charles would do, So I wrote songs with that in mind. Rock Solid is one of the songs that I wrote that has that old classic feel to it. If Ray had heard Rock Solid back when he started, he might say " Man...I Want To Record That Song". Ray Charles has always been a big influence in my music". ."Another song on this CD is a song written by my aunt "Carolyn Yates". The name of the song is "I Won't Mention It Again". It's a song that she wrote for "Ray Price" back in 1971. Read More at the Web Link Below! "
- Ray E First, Music Magazine (Dec 12, 2011)
"RustyYates is from Baton Rouge, LA. and has backed and accompanied some of the biggest acts during his Vegas years. He is from a long line of family musicians. His father sang with Elvis Presley, and his aunt wrote I Won’t Mention It Again for Ray Price which was a mega hit……Many compare Yates to Elton John with his powerful tenor vocals, but he is equally comfortable and pulls off the Blues comparable to B.B. King. Rusty Yates is making his mark both with his vocals and certainly as a song writer. "
- Rip Naquin, Ambush Magazine
