X-Cluzive Soul The Group that “Entertains” While Singing Soul
By Sheryl Aronson
“In this business it’s called entertainment and we simply use the word…Entertain at X-Cluzive Soul and beyond. We are bringing back that good taste for the mature audience who loves those songs, those good romantic songs with stories,” Walter Johnston, leader/vocalist of X-Cluzive Soul commented.
X-Cluzive Soul is a six- piece band that performs cover songs and original material (their repertoire consists of 150 songs) that exudes the very essence of the Motown/Philly Sound of the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s For the past ten years, X-Cluzive Soul has been entertaining the East Coast crowds with their sleek, smooth, and get down funky R&B music at numerous top-notch venues in Atlantic City such as Harrahs, Trump Plaza, Taj-Mahal, and The Hilton; at the Jersey Shore, Cape May, Avalon, and also in New York City. They were the opening performers for Nathan’s hot dog eating contest on Coney Island five years in a row, represented CTO Worldwide Entertainment at the World Champion Phillies 2008 After Game celebration; plus represented The Philly Sound of Philadelphia International Records at many galas and events. Also you can catch X-Cluzive Soul at least once or twice a month at Kaminski’s on Brace Road in Cherry Hill, NJ, Time Out Sports Bar in Barrington NJ, and the Aloft Hotel on Rt. 73 in Mt Laurel NJ, or Warmdaddys in Philadelphia, PA.
X-CLUZIVE SOUL were my guests today on SOUL RECORDS PRESENTS AFTER THE SHOW here they are Walter Johnston Ryan Gibson & Dwayne Sonni Nixon EL aka Sonni Dey
“We are going to take you on a love journey… a love train. The audience will travel through the vision of Berry Gordy, Gamble & Huff and all the way up to Babyface,” Johnston explained when talking about their show.
The members of X-Cluzive Soul are: Walter Johnston/Founding member/vocalist, Ryan (DeSoul) Gibson, Co-founder/vocalist, Dwayne Sonni Nixon (Sonni Dey)/vocalist; and Frank Green/musical director/keyboards, Anthony Chet Berry/drums/David Hicks/guitar, and Rodney Pierson/bass.
Walter Johnston explained how he, Ryan Gibson, and Dwayne Nixon formed the singing component of their band. “Sonni Dey was on my record label. When a good friend of mine had a birthday party, who happened to be Sonni Dey’s mother, we put together a show and performed for that. We had so much fun and people loved our performance, we kept singing with each other.”
Johnston had his own record label for many years, plus wrote his own original material. Sonni Dey had a solo career for many years before joining X-Cluzive Soul, and Ryan Gibson sang with a group called Chapter 3 in the late 1980’s into the 1990’s. When X-Cluzive Soul puts on a show, the audience will hear the roots of soul music come alive. Their melodic harmonies reach right into the heart of the music that enchanted the airwaves from the 1960’s through the 1990’s. For some, the fans just want to sit and listen to the expert crooning and delivery of the song, and for some, they want to party all night long and dance to the soulful groove.
Recently, X-Cluzive Soul’s three vocalists appeared on Robert E. Johnson’s, After the Show to talk about their careers and the new music they’ve created to make their very first CD, I Fell In Love, soon to be released on Soul Records. I Fell In Love was produced by Soul Records and recorded at Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia. Along with their new CD, X-Cluzive Soul has a new romantic music video on You Tube, where you can see the group sing the original song, I Fell In Love.
“Soul music is alive and you have to go find it now. It’s not on the radio. The whole
game has changed. Mature audiences who want to hear about love … the love of a man and a woman getting together, a beautiful romance, breaking up… coming back together… X-Cluzive Soul’s sound will appeal to all.” Walter Johnston concluded.
Sheryl Aronson is an award winning entertainment reporter for The Hollywood360 and also has a blog, "Arting Around" in Agenda Magazine. She is a published author of the Memoir, "Passing Myself Down to the Grave," and is in private practice as a Marriage, Family Therapist in Los Angeles and Orange County.
