I’d never heard of Secret Stash Records before the ever-indispensable Heavy Soul Brutha hipped me to the existence of Sonny Knight and the Lakers’ new I’m Still Here LP, but based on the aforementioned evidence, I’m convinced that the Minneapolis label is doing the Lord’s work.
Bluntly put, this is some fine, fine stuff — sweet, authoritative soul, impeccably captured in its fullest, sweat-drenched bloom. It’s truly a group effort, too — Knight is a gifted belter, and that’s his name in big print on the record, but he’s persuasively aided and abetted by his band: drummer Eric Foss, guitarist Blair Krivanek, bassist Casey O’Brien, keys man Sam Harvey-Carlson, and a three-piece horn section consisting of trombonist Tony Beadersadt, trumpet player Bryan “Lumpy” Highhill, and saxophonist Cole Pulice.