The Shana Blake Band

The Shana Blake Band is an innovative new take on the old soul cover band. The ensemble hails from Charlotte, North Carolina and features singer/songwriter Shana Blake (The Near Misses, Wavy Space, Tesser), veteran guitarist Keith Shamel (Virgo Musik, Daily Soul), bassist Dave Eatman (Bellyful, Automatic Chi) and drummer/percussionist Scott Newell (Vonce, Justice League). The expressive vocals and rich textures of the instrumentation fuse coherently to create a sound that's as smooth as honey, with a hint of R&B, funk, reggae, southern rock, gospel, country, jazz and the blues. The repertoire covers the gamut from emotionally-charged ballads to energetic, danceable grooves. The song choices are anything but ordinary and, along with the original compositions, appeal to a broad spectrum of listeners. An evening with Shana Blake & Pivotal Soul is like a breath of fresh air. Funky fresh air. Shana, in the tradition of many singers, began her musical career as a church vocalist and has been influenced by all forms of traditional and world music. She's performed at various rallies and benefits, delivered singing telegrams and has been featured on a wide variety of recording sessions, sound-alikes and karaoke performance tracks. Blake was deemed Creative Loafing's 2001 Critic's Choice Best Female Vocalist and has gained some notoriety from her diverse projects. She was featured on Jerry Springer for her song "Springer" and "This Is Your Day" was adopted as an anthem for the Susan G. Koman Race For the Cure. Keith joined his first band at the age of 14 in his hometown of Winston-Salem, NC. He provided guitar lessons in the area until he headed off to college at VCU in Richmond, VA, where he majored in classical guitar, piano and composition. After moving to Charlotte in 1979 to attend UNCC, Shamel was involved in several progressive rock bands, such as Guilty Pleasure and Strictly Genteel throughout the ‘80s & ‘90s, and was a featured guitarist for musical theater productions at CPCC and Theatre Charlotte. In 2008, Keith formed the acoustic trio Virgo Musik, which released their CD “Drive” in 2011. He is currently an instructor at The Guitar Workshop, as well as the house guitarist for the Tosco Music Parties and various projects. Scott began making music in the ‘70s, first playing trumpet, then picking up guitar in the early ‘80s and later, the drums. He grew up on the sounds of the ‘70s and ‘80s, gravitating towards funk and rock styles until discovering jazz in his early twenties. Newell dove head-on into everything Miles Davis, as well as all the musicians that sprang from Miles in the early ‘90s. These players shaped his musical attitude and influenced his guitar and drumming techniques. In addition to holding down the beats for Pivotal Soul, Scott is the guitarist in his original outfit, Justice League. Dave Eatman, a native Charlottean, has been a guitarist for 27 years and has been honing his bass skills since around 2005. He’s been a guitar and bass instructor at Howren Music and Landau Guitar Co. for the past 7 years, and has 22 years experience on stage, performing with such bands as Bellyfull, Wavy Train, Automatic Chi and Nita B. & the Swingin' Soiree. Dave has shared the stage with the likes of Oteil Burbridge, Yonrico Scott Band, Kofi Burbridge, Garaj Mahal, Jimmy Herring, Jimmy Vaughn and Drink Small.

Charlotte, NC