South Florida band, Southern Blood, is coming to Royal Palm Beach to close out the Fall Concert Series.
Photo by Southern Blood.
Sponsored by the Village of Royal Palm Beach.
Occasionally a band’s name tells you everything you need to know about it before you hear a note.
Southern Blood (southernbloodband.com) fits that bill.
The 5-year-old, South Florida-based quintet calls itself a “salute to American Southern rock” and performs the material to prove it: Allman Brothers Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, ZZ Top, Black Crowes, .38 Special, Marshall Tucker Band, Molly Hatchet, Blackfoot, Blackberry Smoke and more.
Southern Blood features lead vocalist Jimi Robinette, guitarists and backing vocalists Greg Smolla and Thiago, bassist Alan Vine, and drummer Rodrigo Valente. You could say classic Southern sounds from the late 1960s through today are in their blood.
They’ll put them on display during a show in Royal Palm Beach’s Fall Concert Series at Commons Park.
“We’ve all lived in South Florida for a long time,” Robinette says, “between West Palm Beach and Hollywood. We do have two immigrants in the band, one from Brazil and one from Uruguay, but they’ve been here for most of their lives. We’ve all been in bands down here forever as full-time musicians, so we’re all essentially steeped in Southern rock.”
Robinette didn’t have to look as long and hard as most in putting together the lineup for Southern Blood. Main Event Talent Agency, the live entertainment production company he works with, has been a local institution for 32 years.
His quintet’s twin lead guitar lineup is a staple of Southern rock, existing in many of the bands listed above. Lynyrd Skynyrd even added a third guitarist, Steve Gaines, to its original lineup before he was killed in the 1977 plane crash that also claimed his sister, backing vocalist Cassie Gaines, and lead singer Ronnie Van Zant.
Southern rock emerges out of places like Texas, North Carolina and South Carolina, but its hotbed has always been the Southeast. Georgia has historically left an oversized imprint on all popular music, and its Southern rock contributions include the legendary Allman Brothers Band, Black Crowes and Blackberry Smoke.
But Florida, particularly Jacksonville, overshadows the neighboring state to the north, contributing .38 Special, Molly Hatchet, Blackfoot and, of course, Lynyrd Skynyrd.
“With Skynyrd, we do about 15 or 16 of their songs,” Robinette says.
The Fall Concert Series started in September and has featured tributes to The Cure, Billy Joel, Elton John and Toby Keith; cover songs and original material by the Bryce Allyn Band; and covers by Tuxedo Zebra.
Performing outdoors on the main stage at Commons Park in the cooler air of December, Southern Blood should be in its element in closing out the village’s seasonal concert list.
“We’re a Southern rock band that plays mostly material from the late ’60s and the ’70s,” Robinette says. “But every once in a while, if we get an encore, we’ll even throw in something by Metallica, AC/DC or Black Sabbath.”
Royal Palm Beach’s Fall Concert Night on Dec. 16 runs from 5 to 9, with Southern Blood starting at 6:30, at Commons Park, 11600 Poinciana Blvd. Attendees are encouraged to bring seating. For further information, call 561-753-1232, or visit www.royalpalmbeach.com.
