JP Soars Bio
Like every musician, guitarist and vocalist JP Soars is a combination of his influences.
JP Soars has a unique and uncommonly-deep, influential reservoir to draw from. His latest CD, 2014's Full Moon Night in Memphis, offers proof in its blues variations. From funky, tongue-in-cheek "Back To Broke," to the Latin-peppered jazz of "Lil' Mamacita," to the story telling of homelessness, "Somethin' Ain't Right," which was featured in an MTV style music video and received frequent airplay on Little Steven's "Underground Garage" XM Radio program.
In his formative years, Soars recorded and toured as far as Europe with metal bands from South Florida. Now, with years of entertainment experience from diverse cultures under his belt, he's been able to win over thousands of eager young and old blues and jazz fans the world over with his now famous band, The Red Hots quartet. The band is on the road touring throughout the year, in the USA and Canada. JP Soars and The Red Hots have recently played the Baltic Sea Festival in Germany, the Liberation Day Festival in Holland, Blues à Tournon d'Agenais France, Keepin' The Blues Alive Netherlands, as well as several blues festivals in Germany and Austria.
JP Soars has completed several cigar box guitar workshops in addition to his performances on stage, as well as hand-crafting his own line of cigar box guitars, and other string instruments. P also fronts and leads the "Gypsy Blue Review", which pays homage to jazz guitar icon Django Reinhard. In this performance, h tak o the more hallenging and omplex styl of azz guitar while creating his own fusion of Bohemian fluidity and groove.
All of Soars' studio releases, including Back of My Mind (2008) and More Bees With Honey (2011), offer a unique blues dialect that helps him stand apart from the run-of-the-mill guitar rat-pac.
Soars' expressive vocals, and one can hear why all of his efforts have gotten frequent airplay and accolades from Little Steven, plus earned him a Blues Music Award nomination for "Best Contemporary Male Blues Artist of the Year" and multiple "Best Blues CD" and "Album of the Year" awards throughout his career. Such success comes as no surprise to knowledgeable fans or critics. Soars and the Red Hots won the 2009 International Blues Challenge (and Soars the Albert King Award for best guitarist) against competition from around the globe in Memphis, TN.
For the past few years, the singing guitarist has also been part of the regional all-star blues act Southern Hospitality. Tampa vocalist/guitarist Damon Fowler and Memphis vocalist/keyboardist Victor Wainwright, in addition to the Red Hots own drummer, Chris Peet, and Matt Walker from Fowler's band, garnered a Blues Blast Award for "Best New Artist Debut Release" for their 2013 CD Easy Livin,' and have been touring worldwide in-between the three bandleaders' own schedules.
Of Note: "Full Moon Night in Memphis" has expanded Soars' profile, attention and airplay even further appearing in constant rotation on B.B. King's "Bluesville" XM Radio program and landing in the Top 50 on the 2014 "Living Blues" chart. Little Stevie Van Zandt plans to use the title track in his forthcoming cable TV series, "Viva La World".
A true professional businessman as well as musician, Soars prides himself with having one of the tightest bands on the scene with a consistent lineup, and still records his own CDs on his Soars High Productions label despite other offers. He's recently returned to the familiar Studio 13 in Fort Lauderdale with the Red Hots (Chris Peet, guitarist Steve Laudicina, and the newest member, bassist Charles Gasper are in the stages of their most anticipated release yet in 2016.