Stone Foundation
Never let it be said that sweet soul music belongs only to those who hail from the USA…
The band, their music, and gigging with Weller… Simon Wells finds out all.
While America has spawned some of the greatest exponents of the genre, homespun talents such as Steve Marriott, Joe Cocker and Steve Winwood have demonstrated that it’s the heart, not the location, that dictates where the soul lies.
Quality indigenous soul appears a rarity these days, but my senses have been joyously enlivened by Street Rituals, the glorious new album from Midland marvels Stone Foundation. And yes, let joy be unconfined, the collection is an absolute classic, fully deserving of the praise that it has received of late. The disc rarely off my turntable these past few weeks, I’ve run out of adjectives to describe the sheer variety that dominates the album. Warm, exciting, danceable, thoughtful, melodic; it’s been the soundtrack to my summer, and I imagine it is the same for many others too.
While it’s likely that Street Rituals is the first opportunity for many to eavesdrop on Britain’s most exciting soul outfit, Stone Foundation have been working their proverbial socks off for years, building up a following that’s now guaranteeing sell-out gigs and copious media interest. Their recordings are maturing in strength and depth and the band’s releases are becoming a virtual gathering place for the great and the good, with legends such as Paul Weller, Nolan Porter, Betty Lavette and William Bell sharing track space with the group.
The spark that ignited Stone Foundation came from two Neils – Jones and Sheasby. Both unashamed soul fans, they’d traversed the mod revival of the late 1970s before it splintered off into
I was deciding whether I wanted to carry on with my group. But Neil’s voice just knocked me out. It was the spark that pulled us together. Neil Sheasby.
numerous directions. While inhabiting the same Midland corridor, the pair didn’t meet until the 1990s, when they found themselves sharing a stage in London, albeit in different groups.
“We were both coming to the natural ends of our bands,” says Neil Sheasby. “I was deciding whether I wanted to carry on with my group. But Neil’s voice just knocked me out. It was the spark that pulled us together.”
With Stone Foundation created, the group would embark on a lengthy indenture of schlepping around the UK, enduring the predictable carousel of revolving musicians, radio sessions and low-level releases. Nonetheless, despite the hard graft, the core nucleus bonded through a love of playing rather than searching for success.
A vibrant buzz growing, in 2011 the freshly reformed Specials invited the band to support them on their sell-out UK tour – the engagement winning them numerous admirers. In 2014 the band released To Find The Spirit, a beautifully crafted collection of songs elevated by the likes of Nolan Porter, Carleen Anderson and Andy Fairweather-Low. Despite precious little airplay, the album made it into the UK charts. The following year, A Life Unlimited was unveiled. With guest spots from the likes of Graham Parker and The Blow Monkeys’ Doctor Robert, the album was received with considerable interest.
With successful trips to Europe and Japan already under their belts, the band received canonisation from none other than the Modfather himself, Paul Weller. Clearly holding a torch for indigenous soul, Weller had evidently been monitoring the group’s material over the years. The band were fans of Weller’s remarkable career, but they had little inkling that their paths would collide so productively.
“We never said we were going to do a record with Paul Weller,” says vocalist Neil Jones. “It just happened. A mutual friend had sent him the last couple of records we’d done and I got a call from Paul. He said he had this demo called ‘The Limit Of A Man’ and asked if we’d like to add something to it. We ran with it, put some brass on and sent it back and he loved it. Paul then invited us over to his studio for a jam and we had a brilliant time. We just got on so easily. We ended up recording about seven songs and he just looked at us and said, ‘I think we’ve got a record here.’”
Ultimately, this creative union would produce Street Rituals, Stone Foundation’s most successful release to date. While Weller’s patronage has helped the record’s popularity, it’s obvious that he’s in tune with the album’s themes. “I think they’ve made a great bit of work with a strong message, one you don’t hear much about these days,” says Weller. (It’s) a very mature, very accomplished album and I’m glad to have been part of it.”
Soul has long held an association with empowerment and challenging inequalities, and Street Rituals has proved no exception. Neil Sheasby: “We were looking back at records like Syl Johnson’s ‘Is It Because I’m Black?’, Curtis Mayfield’s ‘Back To The World’ and Marvin Gaye’s ‘What’s Going On’, and we realised that in what they were speaking about nothing in the last four decades has really changed. It’s very appropriate to what’s happening in the UK now. We thought: ‘We should be talking about this.’ While we’re not there to offer solutions, we do want to offer a little bit of hope and optimism – a record of unity and solidarity.”
“Those old soul records held up a mirror,” says Neil Jones. “They almost immersed you in the music you were listening too. That’s what we’re trying to do. In my mind, I thought it would be wonderful to make a record where you actually felt you were almost walking through city life, in amongst the environment and the problems that surrounded you.”
Having just completed a sold-out tour of the UK and a coveted spot at the Glastonbury Festival, further touring is set for later in the year with new recordings to follow. Stone Foundation gigs are euphoric occasions, with a mass of shared affection from audience and band on display.
“The gigs have become an inclusive affair,” reports Neil Sheasby. “The album made 25 in the charts without any major publicity or mainstream airplay, so it’s really down to the people who follow us. It’s as much their story as it is ours.” www.stonefoundation.co.uk