In 2022, David Byrnes’s Luaka Bop label reissued When Do We Get Paid, the 1975 debut by Staples Jr. Singers — the family gospel trio of siblings Edward Brown, R.C. Brown, and Annie Brown Caldwell. While they continued to play together after the making of When Do We Get Paid, they never made another full-length album together…until now with their new album Searching (June 4th via Luaka Bop), their first new album in nearly 50 years, which they will be touring in Europe later this month, including UK dates in Manchester and London.
In his review of When Do We Get Paid, KLOF Mag’s Bob Fish said, “You don’t have to be religious to feel the spirit that imbues these songs. The Staples Jr. Singers have put it in every groove of the original record…they still have hope, which is what makes their message so powerful.”
That hope is underpinned by great communal strength, as their bio states: They came of age in the ’60s in northeast Mississippi between the black prairie and the pines. Back then, the South was desegregated on paper but not always in practice. Their parents found refuge and support in the church against the backdrop of an unwelcoming town (and nation), while their kids found refuge and a greater purpose in life in the music.
Following the album’s reissue, the Singers recorded Searching live over two evenings in October 2023 from a single-room church in West Point, Mississippi called The Message Center. Produced by Ahmed Gallab, who performs as the artist Sinkane, and engineered by Albert Di Fiore, the siblings and their rhythm section (R.C’s son Gary, his grandson Jaylin, and Edward’s son Troy) sat in a semicircle, some even on pews, playing their music in a room as it was meant to be played. “There’s nothing like a family bond/band,” says Gallab. “It was so special to watch how locked into each other everyone was. You can hear and feel that on this record.”
Their positive ethos lives on in their new album, Searching, out June 14th via Luaka Bop. It couldn’t be clearer than on “I’ve Got A Feeling,” on which guitarist R.C. takes a rare turn at the mic.
Pre-Order Searching here: https://luakabop.lnk.to/Searching
This summer, the Staples Jr. Singers will return to Europe kicking off June 29th in Paris at La Défense Jazz Festival on a double bill with Gregory Porter. Followed by dates in the UK at Manchester’s Band on The Wall on Sat. June 30th and London’s 229 Tues July 2nd. A full list of dates are below, with tickets available for purchase here.
Staples Jr. Singers Tour Dates:
Tue. June 25 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Music School
Sat. June 29 – Paris, FR @ La Défense Jazz Festival
Sun. June 30 – Manchester, UK @ Band on the Wall
Tue. July 2 – London, UK @ 229
Thu. July 4 – Roskilde, DK @ Roskilde Festival
Fri. July 5 – Haarlem, NL @ Patronaat
Sat. July 6 – Rotterdam, NL @ BIRD
Fri. July 12 – Barcelona, ES @ Jamboree
Sat. July 13 – Martorell, ES @ PAS
Sun. July 14 – Oldenburg, DE @ Kultursommer
Mon. July 15 – Berlin, DE @ Quasimodo
Tue. July 16 – Frankfurt, DE @ Palmengarten
Tue. Oct. 15 – Prague, CZ @ Palac Akropolis
Fri. Oct. 18 – Stockholm, SE @ Stockholm Jazz Festival
Thu. Oct.24 – Oslo, NO @ Cosmopolite