Soulful artist and producer Diane Durrett has delivered a unifying and celebratory visual for “Make America Groove”. Featuring members of Durrett’s backing band, Soul Suga’, the video brings all the vibrant fun of their live show direct to your screen. She explains, “having lost all of our LIVE shows during this pandemic I’ve turned to creating a video to share with you the message of love, hope and laughter which has always been the Soul Suga’ experience.” The video includes shots of Durrett’s personal live show highlights in the year before Covid hit, and the Recording Academy member is keen to mention that “as a music creator and as a patron I support the HITS act to restart our music community.”
The track is a horn-loaded soul cut that showcases both Durrett’s dynamic vocals and, what has to be, one of the tightest bands in the south. The track’s inspiration is rooted in Durrett’s work as a board member of the Recording Academy, best known for the GRAMMYs, where she has been a force in their work to secure music creator’s rights. As part of this work, Atlanta native Durrett was involved in a nationwide day of community action which had her meeting with her local Representative, Hank Johnson. During this meeting there came a point when the attendees were discussing the hope and inspiration that music can offer. As they discussed the unifying power of music, Rep. Johnson started a point that hung in the air unfinished. “We’ve got to… we’ve got to…” Durrett’s reply? “Make America Groove!”
Durrett explains how her phrase was still with her by the time she returned home. “It really made me reflect on my musical career and how it’s brought me together with people from so many diverse backgrounds and at so many different stages of life” She continues, “‘Make America Groove’, then, is a celebration of the power of music to unify people from all walks of life.” The video is a celebration of community, whether it be the socially-distanced reunifying of Soul Suga’ band through green screen technology, or through the multiple cut shots that exemplify the spirit of togetherness.
“Make America Groove” is the third single release from Durrett in 2020 and follows the feel-good funky, “Blue Water”, and sassy blues strut “Good News”. These songs are from her upcoming Diane Durrett & Soul Suga’ album entitled, Sweeter Love Grows set for release in early 2021. Soul Suga is Durrett’s long-time backing band and features Melissa Junebug on drums, Yoel B’nai Yehuda on keys, Fuji Fujimoto, and Gregg Shapiro on bass. On “Make America Groove”, Soul Suga is joined by the powerful Good Times Horns, featuring Mike Burton on sax and Melvin Jones on trumpet, as well as Ian Schumacher on guitar and Peggy Still Johnson on backing vocals. Mixing was handled by legendary engineer Thom ‘T.K. Kidd’ (Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, John Driskell Hopkins of the Zac Brown Band).
Durrett’s musical journey has been as colorful as anyone might hope from someone who’s been involved in the music industry for three decades. From a stint as a limo driver shuttling music royalty around Nashville (as chronicled in her 2008 book Driving Music City) to singing with luminaries including Sting, Gregg Allman, and Indigo Girls, to opening for heavyweight legends such as Tina Turner and Koko Taylor.
Durrett has long reflected the musical passions that inspired her while growing up in Atlanta, GA. From her energy-driven breakthrough debut 50,000 Volts of Soul (1993) to her superbly executed Rhythm of Life (1998) to her acoustic soul CHILL (2004), to the live recording Georgia On the Groove (2007), the groovy Blame It On My DNA (2009) produced by Ike Stubblefield to her holiday album Georgia Christmas (2012) to her release where she joined forces with drummers Yonrico Scott and Melissa Junebug on Soul Suga’ (2015) to her soulful single of Grammy award-winning song The Rose (2017) to her electrifying live album recorded at Eddie’s Attic, Diane Durrett & Soul Suga co-produced with Thom ‘TK’ Kidd (2018) to her sultry holiday single ‘Another Ride Around the Sun’ (2019). Durrett is the former vice president of the Atlanta Chapter of the Recording Academy and the chair of Women In The Mix ATL, which is a Recording Academy initiative dedicated to expanding opportunities for female producers and engineers.
Diane Durrett
Home page of Diane Durrett, a R&B/Soul group from Atlanta. With a blend of raw soulful vocals, sultry tones and strong original songs, Diane Durrett has long reflected the musical passions that inspired her while growing up in Atlanta, Georgia. Durre
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