Black Alley. Many people here in DC hear the name, find out they are a band and assume they play Go-Go music. Though the influence of the city’s original style of music– a subgenre of funk and categorized by it’s heavy use of percussion– is apparent in their style, Black Alley is so much more.

They describe their sound as “Soul Garage,” because they didn’t want to limit themselves to any one musical genre. From covers of contemporary pop, rock and R&B songs, nods to Soul legends of the past, and their own original material, Black Alley is a sound unlike anything else you’ve heard out of DC.

Having had the opportunity to open for acts such as Chrisette Michele, Rashaan Patterson, Common, Angie Stone, Kindred and the Family Soul, Meek Mill and hometown heroes Wale and Raheem DeVaughn, Black Alley sees themselves headlining a national tour soon, and eventually touring the world within the next five years.

Word that malls in Singapore, Japan are playing tracks from their debut album “Soul.Swagger.Rock.Sneakers.” has piqued the band’s confidence, and raised expectations for their future.

The band, which has been around for about eight years with a few revisions to the line-up, is a collection of perfectionists who took over a year to produce the 16-track EP, and still didn’t feel it was as perfect as it could be– however, fans don’t seem to have any complaints, as they sell out venues from U Street‘s Liv to the historic Howard Theatre.

What’s behind the album’s name, you ask? The band draws inspiration from so many different things that they had trouble narrowing it down. So they decided to draw from their musical and performance style to coin the term, “Soul.Swagger.Rock.Sneakers.”

“[Black Alley] definitely brings soul to the table, and we all have our own swag. We rock so hard and we do it all in sneakers,” says drummer “Animal,” regarding the unique title.

Download your copy of “Soul.Swagger.Rock.Sneakers” from iTunes today!

Check out their latest visual for the track “Virgin Suicide” from the album here.

Be sure to connect with the band online for shows and new releases:

Website: http://blackalley.bandcamp.com/

Twitter: @WeAreBlackAlley

YouTube: WeAreBlackAlley

Facebook: Black Alley

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