At a typical music gig, it is likely that you will see a guitarist or two, a drummer, maybe a keyboardist. It is less common to come across a nine-member band with a four-piece horn section, but a group of local musicians have joined forces to bring a new (or old) sound onto the scene.
The Hounds of Soul, which is composed of four horn members and five rhythm members, made their debut in August at the Tussey Mountain Wing Fest and will play its second gig Jan. 30.
The band’s repertoire includes soul, funk, Motown, and rhythm and blues by artists such as Chicago, Tower of Power, Blood Sweat and Tears, Aretha Franklin, Hall and Oates and James Brown. The band also “funkifies” pop songs with its unique horn arrangement.
The Hounds of Soul is the brainchild of vocalist/auxiliary percussionist Sherri Orlofsky, who in 1987 formed an acoustic trio called Bitterblue that played in the State College, Lewistown and Huntingdon areas for several years. She then joined a country/Southern rock band called SouthWEST, which opened for acts such as Brad Paisley, The Bellamy Brothers and Dan Seals until 2001.
Orlofsky then formed a duet act with another SouthWEST member, Mark Johnson, and they still perform together a few times a year.
Orlofsky had always wanted to form a horn-based band that played soul music, she said, and in 2008, she decided it was time to make a run at it.
“I wanted something that would challenge me and that would push me,” Orlofsky said.
She found bass player Mike Siggins, who has played in groups in the New York City area and State College for about 40 years, and vocalist/keyboardist John Wise, formerly of Cliff Turner and the Afterburners, through friends. It took another year to audition and hire the rest of the musicians, including Andy Harbison, Tom Gallagher and Chris Gamble. Wise took on the role of musical director.
In the beginning of 2009, after the musicians were assembled, they recorded a demo CD and started playing at events.
The band’s horn section includes a trumpet, trombone, clarinet, flute and a variety of saxophones. Drums, keyboards, bass guitar, electric guitar and other percussion fill out the rhythm section, along with vocals and harmonies.
The horn section is what sets the Hounds apart from other bands, the members said.
“It allows us to do songs that no one else can even think of trying,” Siggins said.
While most of the songs that the Hounds cover may go back three decades or earlier, the musicians themselves represent different generations. The youngest member, drummer Jordan Thompson, 22, has played with the Earthtones at the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts for the past five years.
Guitarist Ryan Alford, 27, has played with local band Cootie Brown, where he met Thompson and the Hounds’ saxophone player, Michael Fortunato.
Thompson and Alford said they prefer the classic songs that the Hounds cover to mainstream pop fare, which Thompson said is based on image rather than musical quality. Soul music has been going through a revival in recent years, Orlofsky said, as younger pop stars such as Joss Stone and Beyonce have incorporated soul music into their material.
“It’s classic, it’s popular, it’s timeless,” she said.
At a recent performance at Café 210 West, the band members said, everyone in the audience, including college students, was dancing. Because of digital music downloading, they said, young people are exposed to a variety of music from different eras.
“Once people hear us, they realize we are playing music they like,” Wise said.
The Hounds of Soul will perform at 7 p.m. Jan. 30 at Café 210 West, 210 W. College Ave., State College. Visit www.houndsofsoul.com for more information.
