THE REVELATIONS

Welcome to The Revelations featuring Tré Williams (Decision Records/Traffic Entertainment). Here, there are no teenage whines, no auto tune, no samples: nothing but pure, unadulterated soul sung by a red dirt artist with the vocal chops of yesterday’s soul legends and played by a band with passion and talent. The Revelations featuring Tré Williams represents a renewed dawning in soul music, one that marries the concrete jungle grit of the streets with the midnight blues of the rural South. The rawness of Stax and propulsive drive of Motown has been re-imagined for contemporary listeners needing relief from timeless problems. Far from a historical artifact straining to use yesterday’s sound as tomorrow’s gimmick, the songs painstakingly crafted on the Revelations’ debut project, Deep Soul, are born from the pain, frustrations and experience of soul men struggling to give expression to their lives and loves through song. To cull the level of unabashed honesty present on these tunes requires a return to one’s roots to give them the proper weight, meaning and, most importantly, a resonance for the world. Few voices resonate like that of baritone powerhouse Tré Williams. As bandmate and supporting vocalist, Rell, declared, “His voice fills a room.” One listen is all it takes to be hooked to his silk and gravel tone reminiscent of David Ruffin and Johnnie Taylor. But the awe and respect for Tré’s cavernous four-octave instrument is not limited to fellow vocalists. Ever since Tré first left the projects of Daytona Beach, Florida for New York, his church- honed artistry and searing sound has enraptured anyone who encounters it, from the ever-critical audience of Harlem, New York’s Amateur Night at the Apollo, to the rap game’s seasoned veterans up and down the east coast. His soul-shaking baritone landed him on Petey Pablo’s 2004 title track of Diary of a Sinner: 1st Entry; “I-95,” the 2005 track by Styles P of The L.O.X.; and into a record contract with hip-hop icon Nas’s Ill Will Records, who had Tré shining on the single “Let There Be Light” off Nas’s Hip-Hop Is Dead. Although years of hip-hop grind earned Tré industry praise and accolades, his much-anticipated 2007 debut, The Depths of My Soul, was never released. Rell, Tré’s Deep Soul co-lyricist, has his own hip-hop story of glory and patience. The first R&B male singer signed to Roc-a-fella Records, the multi-talented Rell was a featured vocalist or lyricist on the label’s releases for nearly a decade. A self-professed team player, Rell has worked with a virtual “who’s who” of urban music, including: Mary J. Blige, Raphael Saadiq, Kanye West, and Dr. Dre. While Rell released a few singles of his own—including the club anthem “Love For Free”—his much-anticipated album never materialized amidst the much-publicized devolution of the founding partnership of Roc-a-fella. Far from bitter, Rell moved on to greater success in founding an independent record label in his native South Carolina, writing the title track to Usher’s Here I Stand (2008) and several others for his forthcoming solo project, and, eventually combining forces with Tré to lend his refined tenor-baritone and proven pen to Deep Soul. .