Interview with Laura Reed

August 13, 2008

Interview by Scott Preston

Laura Reed & Deep Pocket fill the stage with captivating, soul shaking, conscious music. The crowd is emerged with lyrics of truth and a voice of intensity backed by bass, organ, and drums, horns, and harmonies reminiscent of the past days of motown and funk.

The roots of their sound and message stem from Laura’s diverse experience of growing up in South Africa and the American South. Formed in the summer of 2006, the band switches up the music between funk, progressive R&B, and pure SOUL behind Laura Reed’s captivating stage presence.

Throughout their career Laura Reed & Deep Pocket have shared the stage with/recorded with: The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, George Clinton, Peter Rowan, Belita Woods (PFUNK), Gary "Star Child" Shider (PFUNK), Rob Mercurio (Galactic), Larry Jackson (Earth Wind and Fire), Ike Stubblefield (The Funk Bros), Kendra Foster (PFUNK), Sam Bush, The Blue Rags, The Overtakers, Natti Love Joys, The Lee Boys, Dan Adams (Chaka Khan), Blueground Undergrass, DC (Dr. Dre/Erykah Badu), and Pato Banton.

This music is visionary in it's strive to spread a message of empathy and love for humanity in the unconditional form of music and the raw reflection of the human condition. Laura states music as the most honest and pure expression in her life, a language that allows her to release "what I could never even admit to myself or say out lout, but can sing.” When she sings you can feel her soul coming through the speakers, whether it’s smooth R&B, funky reggae, or just down right SOUL MUSIC.

Cincy Groove: Did your gig go well at Floydfest?

Laura Reed: In fact I think it might be in my personal top 5 favorite show we have ever done. There was a really good energy from the crowd. They came with a really nice vibe and we responded to that. It was really awesome.

Cincy Groove: Is there any live recordings of your shows?

Laura Reed: Yeah, there is a lot on archive.org and on our website. We are also releasing a live album in October. There's quite a bit of live material out there. I'm not even sure how much, because there are always tapers at our shows.



Cincy Groove: Is the live recording your releasing in October one whole show or a combination of shows?

Laura Reed: It's actually part of 2 shows. One was on New Years Eve at Tree Sound Studios in Atlanta, which is the studio we work from. The other show was a Pandora private party we did. Pandora footed the bill for hiring a professional film crew to come in and video record the show. The live album will come with a disc of live music from those 2 shows and a live dvd that is in high def.

Read the full interview here