Pushing the depths of the underground jazz scene, cutting edge New York City-based Out to Lunch will be releasing its third album, No One Left Behind, creating a sound that hits both the mind and feet. Out to Lunch has not only established itself as a mainstay on the New York scene, but has toured extensively through North America and Europe. Billboard magazine has called Out to Lunch, “a distinctive brand of funk…expanding the range of the listener’s experience,” while the Village Voice has hailed Out to Lunch as an, “ambitious and funky groove-prov octet.”

This five men band is made up by: trumpet, flute and guitar player Josiah Woodson; New York-based pianist & keyboard player Walter Fischbacher; bassist, composer and DJ Zack Lober; drummer Jason Kruk and founder and leader: Canadian-born multi-instrumentalist David Levy, who has released three albums with Out to Lunch, Excuse Me While I Do the Boogaloo, Melvin’s Rockpile and No One Left Behind. David plays bass clarinet, soprano saxophone, bansuri flute and Ableton Live.

We really enjoy working with Out to Lunch, Pro Soul is making their career better by creating a whole new website for them that allows the band members to update easily with no coding knowledge, and it interconnects with all their social networking and features a number of other cool things that help them connect with fans and sell music.

Adrian was born and raised in Lagos, Nigera but later moved to Canada by himself to explore a new life.

Adrian discovered his love for music at an early age when singing with his high school choir, playing the drums and flute alongside. Influenced early by Euro pop/Rock bands like U2, Robbie Williams, All saints and Jamiroquai, he often tried to experiment by mixing these sounds and tweaking the lyrics. Over the years his taste of music has evolved to become an electronic, synth pop style, with a Neo Soul flavor. Although he gave music a break for about 5 years to focus on college, he managed to practice the art of song writing.

Shortly after leaving Winnipeg and relocating to Vancouver, Canada he met with Producer Pierre Armstrong and penned a number of songs for an EP project.
Adrian’s songs have been influenced by his life and experiences during his travels. The resulting EP set to be released soon, is an ecletic mix ranging from upbeat electronic dance tracks, to laidback, emotional pop songs. The debut track ‘Crazy world’ is a cross over from contemporary pop with a dance feel.

Welcome to Pro Soul Adrian!
We look forward to assisting you connect with new fans that will appreciate your music.

Ali Youssefi has been surrounded by music his entire life. Growing up in Chile and traveling around South America and the Caribbean, he has been exposed to many different musical expressions, many of which find a place in his own music. Ali studied classical guitar in Chile before moving to Argentina to pursue a degree in music therapy. His musical curiosity and love for diversity combine to make him a versatile and original composer and performer, blending genres, instruments and cultures into a unique sound.

Gustaff Besungu is a multi-talented performer who hails from a lineage of drum players. Born and raised in Cameroon-West Africa, he brings to life a unique blend of traditional rhythms with music from around the world. He has performed with many groups in Africa, Israel and the United States. In his travels, he shares aspects of his culture through drum playing, story telling, music and dance.

Pam Hill has been a professional violinist since 1978, performing in twelve symphony orchestras, several commercials, a National Geographic Special and at Carnegie Hall as an orchestra member with a five hundred person chorus. She has taught strings and music in seven music schools and eleven public schools since 1984. Pam loves teaching violin, viola and cello students of all ages and playing levels.

Together they form a unique and diverse trio that has just released an album of Inspirational music that warms hearts, uplifts spirits, and inspire souls.
Pro Soul is assisting them set up a small tour in the summer, and launch a new website with integrated social networking tools that will allow them to connect with their new fans they will meet on that tour, as well as their existing ones.
Welcome to the Pro Soul family!

Hear their unique sound here

“My name’s Jamie one half of Biljanaires. The other half belongs to Eddie Biljan. People pass through, but the two of us are the core. A band, song writing collective, and friends, we are all of these. This started one day on my way to work, making music was the farthest thing from my mind. As I went to cross the street a car I recognized drove past and Eddie pulled over and got out. It was like dropping the needle back on the record. I say that because I hadn’t seen him in a long time and we have a history tied up in a band that was called Crush Groove. A fitting name for what it was and will remain. Good times.

So groove to the music. It was written for you, wherever you are.”

The Biljanaires (pronounced billionaires) is an extension of vocalist Jamie’s account of their inception. The songs are about where they live, in a city beside the Pacific Ocean. Some are about the people that have passed through their lives and how they get remembered. Stories told with words and rhythm. Good clean rock.

This is the band Biljanaires.
Welcome to the family guys.
You deserve to be heard!

Until the site is ready: www.myspace.com/biljanaires

We now have our two winners in the recent Pro Soul Alliance next great Indie artist contest!

There was some great talent that entered so it was a tough decision to make…

Congratulations goes to Antoine C. Smith indie composer/artist and aspiring producer, that “loves to write everyday” – This gifted, now 17-year-old first rate drummer and pianist composes and plays contemporary jazz and other genres. Antoine is actively pursuing his music career receiving rave reviews as a very popular young artist on the air in rotation of many wonderful hosts on Blog Talk Radio, Black Talk Radio (e.g. Black Teen Enpowerment Radio). Along with composing his music in the tradition of the original jazz masters, his future plans include to enter an excellent music college, and continue his studies in composition and performance. His winning track “Emotional Explosion” blew the team at Pro Soul away – there is no doubt this talented young man is an up and coming music sensation for his generation. Already compared to Jazz greats like Coltrane, Miles, Blake, and Byrd, Antoine Smith is just getting started!

The Return of the Magnificent HPhenomenon also known as Hassahn Phenomenon, shares Pro Soul’s belief that music speaks to the Soul. An accomplished MC that understands that MC means, “Move The Crowd”, HP says “Whether I move the people to dance, sing, cry, think, make a change, stand up, or just listen, I truly understand that my music is only a catalyst for me to aid in changing the world for the better.” Rapping positive messages in tracks like “That Aint Me”, and a smooth R&B roll like “Down and Up” raised the bar, and HP clinched the winning spot. Writing his music with integrity in the lyrical rhyme, True Magazine stated, “HP breathes new life and energy into a somewhat asthmatic industry.” We’re proud to be a part of Hassahn’s journey – “if you are searching for someone that is ready to make a significant mark on the world, then I am definitely the Soulful entertainer you want.” Yes you are Hassahn!

This was an amazing contest. We received some very talented submissions. Special thanks to the Runners Up: Doc 00 Johnson and Jeanette Berry. Watch for Angela Predhomme, Marc Doiron, Michael Trapp, Claire Cameon and Katrina Colantoinio. You are all no doubt going places with your music, let us know if we can assist you make that happen.

Best of luck to everyone and once again thanks for entering our contest – from all of us at Pro Soul!

Tim Sweeney, one of the music industry’s most sought after experts and consultants, offers this advice….

A few weeks ago a new artist called me and asked how he can get more people to a new venue he wanted to play. The booker told him as the opener he had to bring 25 people. Not an overwhelming number by any stretch. The only problem was he was averaging 5-10 people per show.

I asked him what he had done to promote his previous shows. He sent me copies of his emails or should I say, “show announcements.” He discovered about 2 percent of his mailing list responded to his emails and he wasn’t sure if anyone was ever coming to a show. With that in mind, I told him let’s start with a basic idea, go through your mailing list and make a list of fans you feel you can count on to really support you. He came back with a list of 57 people who lived in the area of the new venue. I told him to start calling each one. For the people he didn’t have phone numbers for, simply email them a note asking them to call him, nothing else.

We talked in great length about what his conversations should be about and also we wrote a new email to go out to the rest of the list. While he first complained about the amount of time it would take to call everyone, I reminded him of the joy of playing to an empty venue.

To make a long story short, 39 people came because of the phone calls and another 16 came from the new email. Then as life goes, he learned some other important lessons that night at the show.

As the “opener” he brought 55. The person who played after him brought 10 and the “headliner” brought 4. Not only did the booker get mad at the other artists, he gave their money to my guy and told him he would pay him double if he played there next month as the headliner! The other artists asked him how he got so many people to come. They said they had sent out emails like they always did and didn’t know why people didn’t come.

The comical ending to the story is that the artist sold 21 CDs to the people including fans of the other artists and even one to the writer from the newspaper who always ignored him. The writer told him he was there to review the headliner but came early because he really liked my guy’s email about the show. Good thing he called all those people and connected with them more personally then an email!

The moral of the story? Most likely you got someone’s email address from talking to them in person. You had a connection with them for them to give it to you. Pick up the phone whenever possible and continue the relationship. You call the bookers to get a show, the press for a story, industry people to see if they reviewed your music, call your fans!

- Tim Sweeney (www.TimSweeney.com)