“I loved 1950’s Rockabilly, in its purest form,” Kyle Lacy says of his time spent listening to Carl Perkins and the Stray Cats as a teenager. “A bandleader with the ferocity of Brian Setzer and the finesse of Ray Charles, he’s got a wild soulful voice and guitar chops to match.” After moving to New York, Kyle worked in The Buddy Holly Story, which cemented his songwriting style, firmly connected to late fifties and sixties rock’n’roll. A 2017 album with his first band, Harlem River Noise, was recorded in a head spinning two days, with 10 songs all tracked live, straight to tape. “When it’s tape, you can’t go back to fix mistakes. There’s something about the mistakes that make the record come alive,” says Kyle.
Growing up in Atlanta, Georgia, Kyle was surrounded by 90’s/2000’s hip-hop that had cemented itself into top-40 radio. He even found himself filming music videos for local rappers. But he says seeing the movie “Ray” changed his life: “From that point on, all I wanted to do was play and sing that old stuff. Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry. I loved that nobody else I knew listened to that stuff but me, and I played it all day, every day.” Kyle’s most recent obsession came when one songwriter friend suggested he should listen to Sam Cooke to improve his singing. “They told me, ‘I loved your first record. If there’s one thing that wasn’t there, it was the vocal.’”
Now, working with producer Billy Aukstik at Dala Records has helped Kyle develop the early soul sound of his new recordings and dive further into the influence of singers like Sam Cooke and Ray Charles. His debut single, Hangin’ On, was written, recorded and mixed in just one day, utilizing the signature analog approach of Dala Records. Other influences like the early 60’s New Orleans compositions of Allen Toussaint and Dr. John can be heard throughout the track, specifically during the drum and horn break.
Kyle further developed his sound with the creation of his debut album on Dala Records, The Road To Tomorrow. Featuring a team of ace studio musicians and close friends, Kyle and company laid down an album that oozed Soul, R&B and Rock n Roll. With standout tracks, Low & Slow, Miss You In the Morning and Hello Monday, The Road to Tomorrow has been featured on international radio stations such as the BBC and recevied praise from music journalists near and far.
