The Bo-Keys don't simply replay the Memphis instrumental tradition –they deliver a hard-hitting and authentic take on the city's original soul-stew sound. A devotee of Stax instrumental groups like the Mar-Keys and Booker T. & the MGs, bandleader and bassist Scott Bomar formed the Bo-Keys as an homage to the quintessential Memphis sound – yet he has both feet firmly planted in the 21st Century.

Their story goes back to 1998, when Bomar was asked to put together a band to back Stax sensation Sir Mack Rice. The idea for a soul-jazz combo was born, but it took Bomar a few more years to assemble the perfect line-up for the Bo-Keys.

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The incendiary soul/jazz/funk of The Royal Sessions is a hard-hitting and authentic modern take on Memphis’ original soul-stew sound – a mixture of original instrumental and vocal features that fuse R&B fundamentals with elements of modern hip-hop.

An all-star section of Stax sidemen – Ronnie Williams (The Bar-Kays, David Porter) on Hammond B-3 organ, drummer Willie Hall (The Bar-Kays, the Blues Brothers), and Charles “Skip” Pitts (Isaac Hayes) on wah-wah guitar – joins garage rock prodigy Scott Bomar (Impala) on bass to lay down deep funk grooves for a mighty horn section consisting of Memphis’ finest young players.

Recorded and mixed at Willie Mitchell’s (Hi Records, Al Green) Royal Studios, The Royal Sessions is steeped in the Memphis tradition. But it’s much more than an homage: it’s the sound of Memphis now– familiar, fresh, and unquestionably fantastic.