I had little idea of what to expect from Southern Soul Assembly, who performed at the House of Blues this week.

Southern Soul Assembly (Luther Dickinseon, Marc Broussard, JJ Grey, and Anders Osborne, l to r)

I knew this show was billed as ‘southern songwriters in the round’ and that’s an accurate description of it. It does not being to convey, however, the quality of what I heard this night.Southern Soul Assembly comprises Marc Broussard, Luther Dickinson, JJ Grey, and Anders Osborne. The only one of these fine musicians who I’d seen perform a full set is Marc; I saw Anders sit in with some other bands last year but he wasn’t performing his music.

Marc

Luther

JJ

Anders

They took the stage to thunderous applause. It seemed that most of the audience were there specifically to see one or two of the musicians; I was there to see them all.

Sitting in chairs placed across the stage, Marc began the show. He is often referred to as a master of blue-eyed soul; he has a gorgeous voice and it was showcased wonderfully at the show. He sang the early Blood Sweat & Tears hit ‘I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know’ which brought tears to my eyes because it was so incredibly soulful. JJ (I think) told us that Marc had the best voice on the stage; I agree with him.

Marc

JJ did the next song, followed by Anders and then Luther. They continued in this manner for the remainder of the show. Some songs were purely solos while on other songs all played as support.  I presume they each did their own songs for the entire show; since I am not as familiar with their music as I would like, I cannot be sure.

JJ

JJ is as good as I expected and then some. He has an infectious smile that radiated from the stage throughout the show.  Judging by the screaming at him (including that done by a few people near me who were among the most obnoxious concert-goers I have encountered), much of the crowd was there specifically to see him.

Anders is a fabulous guitarist and singer who was almost understated during this show. He was the only musician to have multiple guitars with him, other than Luther who had an unusual upright bass as well as something that looked like a home-made tin can guitar.

Anders

Luther was the real surprise to me because I was familiar only with his name prior to this show. He is an incredible guitarist, possibly the best one on the stage. He also has a wide vocal range that added much to the show, especially when he sang at the lowest register of his range.

Luther

They played for nearly two hours. When they took the stage for their encore, they played for another 40 minutes and could have gone on for a lot longer as far as the audience was concerned. During the encore, even though they took turns at lead they played as if they were a band (and not as merely supporting musicians for the lead).

Southern Soul Assembly

There was a lot of respect on the stage this night; they paid attention to each other, following leads, smiling and clapping for one another. It was truly a joy to experience.

Southern Soul Assembly

At one point, Anders thanked the crowd for ‘coming out to hear four guys playing acoustic guitars’ as if he were incredulous that people would want to do that. It is my turn to thank you for gracing the House of Blues stage with your amazing musicianship. I hope you continue to tour and put out an album or ten…