Inna Soul Steady Situation

Description

If you asked Joey Quiñones where he draws his musical inspiration from, you wouldn't have to look far: just listen to his music, and you'll be transported within a two-block radius of his neighborhood, from the grocery store to the record shop Sign of Music on Whittier Boulevard, and then back to a friend's house. In those two streets, you can hear cumbia resonating in the shops, punk rehearsals in a garage, and old hits escaping from the neighbor's yard: a true sensory explosion that follows you home, all these musical genres blending in your head. This is no surprise to Quiñones' long-time fans. He has established himself as a major performer of his generation, dedicating his career to offering his unique vision of the Chicano soul repertoire. But before Thee Sinseers, before the lush orchestrations and impeccable harmonies that have become his trademark, Quiñones honed his skills by accompanying various Jamaican ska and dancehall bands on tour in Southern California. He describes those years as his reggae school, where he would get yelled at by all the Jamaican artists releasing a record. Those years of learning rocksteady and roots reggae profoundly influenced everything that followed – and on his new solo album, Inna Soul Steady Situation, Quiñones finally brings those influences to the forefront.