JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound

Emerging from Chicago in 2007, JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound forged a high-voltage mix of garage, funk, and soul that observers compared to Otis Redding fronting the Stooges. The lineup included guitarist Billy Bungeroth, drummer Kevin Marks, bassist Ben Taylor, the Lowdown Horns section of Chris Neal and Andrew Zelm, and magnetic frontman JC Brooks, whose background encompassed theater and acting alongside music. Their ferocious live shows rapidly built a loyal following, with Brooks projecting the intensity of James Brown, Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, and other soul icons while the group evoked a sharp-dressed punk band augmented by horns. The band issued its self-released Beat of Our Own Drum in 2009 and followed two years later with Want More on Bloodshot Records. Late spring 2013 brought the full-length Howl, the first of their albums to reach the R&B Albums Top 100. Howl marked their final release for Bloodshot. After extensive global touring the members conducted a searching internal review, electing to drop “Uptown Sound” from the name, expand to a sextet, and rebrand as the JC Brooks Band. They then signed with the WEA-distributed Rock Ridge Music label. In this new formation the group spent 18 months writing and recording with producers Josh Richter, Isaiah Sharkey, and Steve Gillis. Brooks characterized the resulting Neon Jungle, released in spring 2017, as an attempt to portray “one crazy, incredible night out” across a complete album.