WITH his new album, The Rhythm Of The City, droppin’ on February 19th on Wild Honey, and with a video for album opener “How Can You Walk Away” with us just under a fortnight ago, John Paul Keith is a busy man right now; but not so busy he can’t seduce you with a classic, classy, gospel-soul lament, “I Don’t Wanna Know”, full of that tearful grace of true heartbreak and absolutely steeped in the soul of his native Memphis. Take a listen below.
He says of the track: “We had already recorded the ten songs I’d planned for the record, but there was one song I just wasn’t happy with, so I decided to shelve it. That meant I needed one more song. I told the band to give me a couple of days and I went home and wrote ‘I Don’t Wanna Know’.
“I knew right away the album was going to be better for it. And I was happy the other song didn’t work out, because I probably would never have written this one.
“We went back in and recorded it, and Tirienii and Tikyra Jackson wrote the perfect background vocal arrangement for it. It just all came together.”
Keith’s fifth solo album, and his first that he’s produced himself, The Rhythm of the City finds him in thrall to the classic sounds of Bluff City soul and rock and roll.
The vibe came about organically from playing Beale Street and Graceland and working with horn sections more frequently the last few years,” says Keith.
John Paul Keith’s The Rhythm Of The City will be released on digital, trad black and limited edition blue vinyl by Wild Honey Records on February 19th; you can pre-order your copy from his Bandcamp page, here and from Wild Honey themselves, here.
Follow John Paul at his website and on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
