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A tight rhythm section, jazz-derived harmonies, and unusual, often intellectual lyrics combine to create music the likes of which has seldom been heard before.

Songs: 1. Tabitha Stone 2. Love Is Finite 3. My Name Is Barack 4. Lu Sien 5. The Unemployment Song

Ben Shelton added George Dyer as a friend on Facebook two weeks before the start of classes at Duke, based on a common love of blues and funk. After a meet-your-peers session on their first day at college, they retired to George’s hamster-cage dorm room to play the blues. Two weeks later, bassist Spike Brehm heard the two in the Blackwell commons room and dragged bass and amplifier halfway across campus to join in. Thus began the Soulless Dogs, a juggernaut of a band that would swiftly conquer the other three bands in the Duke music scene.

By their junior year, the band was ready to cut their first record.

After a summer playing with St. Louis blues legend Bennie Smith, a stint in the Duke jazz ensemble backing musicians like David “Fathead” Newman and Joey DeFrancesco, and a lengthy obsession with John Coltrane and Allan Holdsworth culminating in a switch from standard tuning to all-fourths, Ben’s guitar playing had drastically improved. In addition, his vocal and keyboard chops had developed to the point where they were no longer an embarrassment.

After careful study of Freddie King and Roy Buchanan, George’s guitar chops had evolved to the point where Ben was content to play keys and sing, knowing that George could burn up the stage as well as anyone, and play great rhythm as well.

After a six-month sabbatical in South Africa, Spike’s bass playing had matured, focusing on the groove while dancing through the chord changes.

Finally, drummer Rob DiMauro had joined the band, bringing with him a deep knowledge of drumming history, an incredible feel for time and groove, and infallible ears.

That first record, "Loose Cannonry," was released in spring 2008 to good reviews. Tracks from that record are available to stream at this site.

After graduation, Ben took an engineering position with Cisco Systems in RTP, George began teaching at a French immersion school, and Rob continues to teach private lessons in Raleigh. Spike was offered a job with a solar company in San Francisco that was too good to turn down, but we've found a new bassist, Brett Bowers, who has learned all the charts and shows incredible promise.

The Soulless Dogs finished recording their second record, "Vinyl Records Presents...," last month, and it is available to stream and download for free at the link above.