Stacey Morgenstern-Bass Guitar,
James Lucas-Electric Guitar,
Randy Gzebb-Drums,
David Bates-Trumpet
Heather Levroni-Vocals,
Sarah Reed-Guitar and Vocals,
Kelly Parrott-Vocals,
Marvin Hollins-Vocals,
Jaime Guzman Jr-Trumpet,
Jeff Tabloff-Tenor Sax
Influences
ACDC, The Action, Allen Toussaint, Alton and Hortense Ellis, Beehive and The Barricudas, Betty Davis, Betty Harris, Black Sabbath, Blind Willie McTell, Blowfly, Blue Cheer, Bo-Diddley and The Duchess, Bob Marley and The Wailers, Booker T and the MGs, Bootsy Collins, Brenda Lee, Brian Wilson, The Brood, Buddy Holly, Buzzcocks, Candi Stanton, Chuck Berry, Coachwhips, The Cramps, Cream, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Crytals, Curtis Mayfield, Dan Sartain, Dead Moon, Dennis Brown, Demolition Doll Rods, Drunk Horse, Dirt Bombs, Earth Wind and Fire, Earnest Tubb, Eddie Cochran, Edwin Starr, Elvis Presley, Etta James, The Flakes, Funkadelic, Girls From The Garage Compilation Series, The Go-Gos, The Gories, Gravy Train, Gregory Isaacs, Harold Ray Live in Concert, Hazel Atkins, Honey Cone, Hot Snakes, Hound Dog Taylor and the House Rockers, Howlin Wolf, The Ikettes, Irma Thomas, Iron Maiden, Isaac Hayes, Isley Brothers, The J.B.'s, Jackie Wilson, Jackie Mittoo, Jackson 5, The Jam, James Brown, Joan Jett, John Lee Hooker, King Coleman, Kiss, Koko Taylor, Labelle, Led Zepplin, Lee Scratch Perry/The Upsetters, Loosin Streaks, The Love Exchange, Lyn Collins, Mahalia Jackson, The Makes Nice, Malo, Martha and the Vandells, Marva Whitney, Marvin Gaye, MC5, Memphis Minnie, The MilkShakes, Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels, The Monkeys, The Mothballs, The Mothers, Muddy Waters, Nagg, Nuggets, Otis Redding, The Pandoras, Peter Tosh, The Pointer Sisters, The Pretty Things, The Prisoners, Rainbow, Ray CHarles, Richard Pryor, Rocket From The Crypt, Rod Stewart and The Faces, Rolling Stones, Roxy Music, Rudy Ray Moore (Dolemite), Rufus and Carla Thomas, The Runaways, Ruth Brown, Sam and Dave, Sam Cooke, Sex Pistols, The Shagri-Las, The Shirelles, he Skatalites, Sly and The Family Stone, Smokey Robinson, Solomon Burke, The Sonics, Sonny Terry, Stevie Wonder, The Stooges, Sugar Pie Desanto, The Supremes,Tina Turner, Early Van Halen, Wanda Jackson, Weakling, Wilson Pickett, The Yardbirds, The Young Rascals, Yvonne Fair
Sounds Like
.........Review from SF Weekly April 12th 2006:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
PLEASE SAY GRACE.........
Sweat flyin, thighs showing, and fringe on the move, Her Grace The Duchess Soul Review is deeply and proudly indebted to the hot, thumping sounds of Ike and Tina Turner. The new band's nine-strong lineup is full of sweet horns, funky bass, and the synchronized dance moves of front women Heather Levroni, Sarah Reed (also of The Husbands) and Kelly Parrot. The pre-disco inferno this act intends to whip up should leave dance floor victims sore for a couple days; as Reed puts it, "Finally you can let it loose, let it all hang out, get uptight, AND do the Four Corners, the Buttered Popcorn, the Unwind and The Camel Walk, both euphemistically and literally." DJ Charlie gets it started with some vintage soul tracks, but there's no opening band. It's all Duchess, all night. -Hiya Swnahuyser
We are a 9 piece soul band from SF fronted by 3 singer/dancers, driven by a 3 piece rhythm section and royally adorned by our 3 piece horn section. We play originals and covers. Here's what we think about some of the songs we decided to cover...
Break In The Road: We had to do that one. Has it ever been harder to find the one? I mean seriously, where's the one? It's insane. Betty Harris's powerful shout might be a tall order and sure you can say that it's awfully bold to even to try to follow Zigaboo Modeliste on this pinball machine of syncopation, but history favors the bold and so does the dance floor.
River Deep Mountain High: There's a reason why Phil Spector sank thousands of dollars and wagered his career on this song. So what if everyone and their mother has done it at one time or another, it's a compositional masterpiece so quit complaining and be happy you know the words.
Rock Me Again and Again and Again-This is one of a handful of songs that you literally HAVE to dance to when you hear it. Try to not dance to this song, it's impossible. Plus the lyric "Rock me baby make my face get soakin wet, rock me babe, bout to work me to death"
Buttered Popcorn -What is it about novelty songs? Songs about potato chips or baboon eyeballs and baking soda coolers. It's as though by the end of the 50s the sheer number of songs flooding the jukeboxes of the world achieved some sort of critical mass and they were just running out of things to sing about. And the weirder things got the cooler the songs became. This gem of nearly-double entendre features the lyrics "greasy, sticky, gooey, and salty" all in one place.
I. Miller Shoes- Betty Davis doing I. Miller Shoes is the scariest fucking thing ever. You can keep all your Incest Cattle, Nick Cave, Impaled Nazarenes, your Gyorgi Ligeti-Apocolypses of St John Of The Cross. Current 93 Shmurrent 93, that's not scary! Betty Davis is scary. A downbeat like an ax murderer that keeps chopping long after your corpse is nothing but hamburger is scary. Here's the thing about this beat: it's an evil 1970's super hard funk that has nothing to do with the James Brown feel and nothing to do with the Isley Brothers feel and nothing to do with disco. It's closest relative is probably "Got Me Floating" by Jimi Hendrix but this song is MEAN! Nothing about it is floating.
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